AirPods 5 With Wireless Charging Case Works With MagSafe, But Not Magnetically

In my long take yesterday on Apple’s event last week, I wrote that when you pay $20 extra to get the $150 AirPods 5 With Wireless Charging Case, that the case is compatible for inductive charging with “MagSafe, Qi, or Apple Watch pucks”. But the compatibility section of Apple’s tech specs page for AirPods 5 doesn’t list MagSafe:

Works with USB‑C connector, Apple Watch charger, or Qi‑certified chargers

That’s because for Apple, true MagSafe compatibility means magnetic attachment. The AirPods 5 case doesn’t have MagSafe magnets (the case is seemingly too small), only magnets for the Apple Watch puck. AirPods Pro cases have magnets to attach to both pucks. So when you charge AirPods Pro with MagSafe, they snap to the puck. I can snap my AirPods Pro 3 case onto a nearly vertical MagSafe charger, like the Nomad Stand One I keep next to my keyboard. (Great product — you should get one. I have two; the other is on my nightstand.) I can’t charge the AirPods 5 case on that stand because it just falls off.

But if I lay the AirPods 5 case on a horizontal MagSafe puck, it charges just fine. That’s because MagSafe pucks are themselves Qi-compatible. I see why Apple is a stickler for this — the “mag” in MagSafe carries an obvious meaning — but by not mentioning MagSafe at all it’s reasonable to draw the conclusion that the AirPods 5 Wireless Charging Case doesn’t work with MagSafe at all.