Why is there a circle on the back of iPhone cases? It does the job.
If you’re an Android user who’s never owned an iPhone before, you might have been surprised to find that iPhones typically feature a case with a circle on the back, accompanied by a small line underneath. The first thing that comes to mind when you see this is that it’s a specific case design, but when you see it repeated across different case models and brands, it’s clear that it’s not.
So... what is that circle on the iPhone case? Although it doesn't look very complicated, it's actually a tool that performs a specific (and useful) function on these mobile phones. Let's explain in more detail what the iPhone circle is about below.
What is the circle on the iPhone case, and what is its purpose?
The circle on the iPhone case is a magnet that makes it possible to charge the phone magnetically. Not all cases have this. In fact, only those sold as a “magnetic case” or “MagSafe case” have this circle-shaped magnet on the back.
Back in 2020, with the launch of the iPhone 12, Apple started integrating MagSafe compatibility into all of its phones, which is basically wireless charging with magnetic attachment. How did they do it? Add a circular magnet to the inside of your phone that can be used magnetically for MagSafe-enabled wireless chargers. The problem is that when you put a regular case on your iPhone, the magnetic attachment strength is reduced, making it necessary to have an additional magnet in the case.
So the function of the circle on the case is to help the iPhone connect and align magnetically to the MagSafe chargers. It also allows you to use other MagSafe accessories through the case. Without this circular magnet in the case, chargers and other MagSafe accessories would not stick to the back of the phone and would slide off because the case is interrupting the magnets inside the iPhones that are not strong enough to securely adhere to the case in question.
There are also cases for Android phones with MagSafe circuitry.
At the time of writing, no Android phone uses MagSafe as such, so it’s not common to see cases with this circuit on these smartphones. It’s expected that Android devices will have something very similar to MagSafe in the near future thanks to the Qi2 wireless charging standard, but that’s not a reality yet.
However, you can find Android cases with a magnetic ring on the market. They are sold as magnetic mobile phone cases that support wireless charging, and they provide practically the same functionality as MagSafe cases for iPhones.
They even sell a metal ring that you can stick to the back of any phone or case as a sticker to add magnetic stickiness functionality.