9to5Mac Picks 8 iPhone 18 Pro Accessories Ahead of Friday Delivery

Q: Could your new MagSafe wallet secretly wipe your hotel key card during your next vacation?

Probably not—but it depends on what kind of hotel key card you have. Most hotel key cards today use RFID or NFC, not old magnetic stripes. Those tap-style cards store data on a chip, so a MagSafe wallet or the magnets in an iPhone generally will not wipe them. That is why the long-standing warning about phones “demagnetizing” hotel keys is often outdated. The real risk is with older magnetic-stripe hotel cards, the kind you swipe through a reader. Those can be disrupted by magnets. Apple itself warns not to place cards, badges, passports, or key fobs between an iPhone and a MagSafe charger because magnetic strips or chips could be damaged. Accessory guides for MagSafe wallets also commonly note that credit cards are usually safe, but hotel keys and some gift cards can be more vulnerable. In practice, if your hotel key has a black or brown stripe and must be swiped, keep it out of your MagSafe wallet and away from the magnetic ring on the back of the phone. If it is a tap-to-unlock card with no stripe, the risk is minimal. Many hotel card failures are also caused by front-desk encoding errors, expired access settings, worn cards, or lock battery issues—not magnets. For travelers using Apple’s FineWoven Wallet with MagSafe or similar accessories, the safest habit is simple: store hotel keys separately unless you know the card is RFID. If available, ask the hotel for a mobile room key in Apple Wallet or Google Wallet and avoid the issue entirely.

3 articles · Updated · 9to5Mac · Sep 14

Friday’s iPhone 18 Pro delivery window prompted 9to5Mac staff to publish eight accessory picks spanning chargers, cases, wallets, mounts and battery packs for new buyers.
40W, 25W and 70W charging gear dominated the list, with Apple’s Dynamic Power Adapter highlighted for taking iPhone 18 Pro models to 50% in 15 minutes.
MagSafe-focused add-ons filled out the recommendations, including Apple’s FineWoven Wallet, an ESR car mount, Spigen’s MagFit case and a 5,000mAh Picogo Air battery pack.
Travel and desk setups were a recurring theme, with Anker’s foldable 3-in-1 charger, Satechi’s 25W Qi2 stand and Baseus’ adapter for 200-plus countries singled out.
9to5Mac also called AirTag 2 and new AirPods Pro 3 or AirPods 5 the best broader companions for Apple’s latest flagship phones.