If you’re a frequent traveler, you know the hassle that comes with ensuring you’ve packed enough wall adapters and cables to charge all the devices you rely on daily. If you’re heavily invested in Apple’s ecosystem, that means you need a cable for your iPhone and another cable for your Apple Watch, at a minimum.
Twelve South’s $130 ButterFly is a two-in-one MagSafe-equipped charging station that’s small enough to take with you anywhere, but powerful enough to charge your iPhone and Apple Watch at the same time.
I’ve been testing the ButterFly for a few days, and it’s quickly become clear that this is the new travel setup to beat for Apple fans.
If you’re looking for a lightweight, portable wireless charger for your iPhone and Apple Watch, the ButterFly offers a well-rounded solution.
What we liked about it
It has a very unique design for a charger
Twelve South’s ButterFly travel charger for the iPhone and Apple Watch looks unlike any other MagSafe charger I’ve seen. It’s clear the company leaned into the MagSafe charging disk’s design, using it as inspiration for the overall look of the ButterFly.
The ButterFly has two main disks that magnetically close, making it look like a really big pocket watch. When you pull the two sides apart, you’ll find a MagSafe charging pad on one side, and an Apple Watch charging pad on the other. Between the two disks is a leather strap that holds them together. On the Apple Watch side of the charger, you’ll find a USB-C port to power the charging setup.
When it’s closed, the ButterFly is roughly 2.5 inches in diameter and 3/4-inch tall. It’s tiny, especially when you compare it to similar travel chargers like Apple’s $130 MagSafe Duo or Mophie’s $150 3-in-1 travel charger with MagSafe.
It supports MagSafe 15W charging for your iPhone and Apple Watch fast charging.
It’s not a one trick pony
Thanks to its design, the ButterFly can be used in several different configurations to charge your Apple Watch and iPhone at the same time — or separately — all while doing it in style.
When you completely open the ButterFly, you can place your iPhone flat on the MagSafe pad, and either rotate the Apple Watch charging pad or leave it flat to charge your watch.
However, if you only need to charge your phone, the ButterFly has a makeshift MagSafe charging stand, including iOS 17’s new StandBy mode, to watch a video or FaceTime call.
The same goes for charging just your Apple Watch: Simply flip the ButterFly over so you only see the Apple Watch charging pad, and either lay your watch across it or flip the pad up and use Nightstand mode on your Watch.
There are magnets on the backside of each puck to hold them together, but I can also see that over time, the disks may end up scratching each other. I haven’t had the ButterFly long enough to see that happen, but it’s hard to imagine it doesn’t.
What we didn’t like about it
Have an Apple Watch Ultra? Be careful
The Apple Watch charging pad on the ButterFly can be used while it’s lying flat, or you can rotate it to a vertical position, making your Apple Watch’s display visible to use Nightstand Mode as a miniature alarm clock.
I’ve found, however, that the magnet that holds the watch to the charger isn’t strong enough to hold the Apple Watch Ultra (and Ultra 2) in place when you inevitably bump the table or charger.
There’s an easy solution here, though. You can charge your watch lying flat on the disk, letting gravity work for you, holding the watch in place, and not against you by trying to pull it off the charging pad.
The cable needs to be longer
Included in the box with the ButterFly is everything you need to use the charger, and yes, that even means there’s a wall adapter (complete with international adapters), a USB-C to USB-C cable and a travel bag to carry the charger and all its accessories.
The wall adapter is well built and it’s easy to change out adapters, something that’s important for frequent flyers who are in the market for a travel charger such as this, and the braided cable feels like it’ll take some abuse as you repeatedly coil and uncoil it.
If you’ve stayed in a lot of hotels, however, you already know how much of a pain it can be to plug anything in on the nightstand. Sometimes the plug is easily available, while other times it’s hidden behind the bed or TV stand.
And because of that, the just-over-three-foot cable that comes with the ButterFly isn’t long enough. I’m certain I’ll run into issues with its length, and you likely will too.
It’s not great at staying in place
There are a lot of similarities between the ButterFly and Apple’s MagSafe Duo. They’re both small travel stations with a MagSafe charging pad and an Apple Watch charging pad. They both even fold down to decrease their overall size.
But one problem both of them have is that they aren’t quite heavy enough to stay in place when you try to lift your iPhone off the nightstand or desk. The magnetic connection is so strong that you end up picking up the entire charger.
To remove your iPhone from the charger, you have to use two hands — one to lift the phon, and the other to hold the charger in place. It’s not a huge issue, but a heftier design would have been a great “nice to have” feature.
Bottom line
The Twelve South ButterFly is an elegant all-in-one charging station for your iPhone and Apple Watch, and depending on which AirPods you own, you can even charge your AirPods with it. The ButterFly includes all the international adapters you’ll need and even comes with a cute travel bag.
At $130, it’s not cheap, but none of the MagSafe travel chargers are.
If you’re looking for a lightweight, portable wireless charger for your iPhone and Apple Watch, the ButterFly offers a well-rounded solution.
