Pick up a wireless charger box and a row of lookalike marks appears: Qi, Qi2, Qi2 25W, Qi2 Ready 25W, plus Made for MagSafe on the Apple side. They are not the same thing, and the difference is not simply old versus new. Knowing a few distinctions saves a return.
Start with the power profile: BPP, EPP and MPP
Qi splits into three power profiles. The base one is BPP at 5 watts, and a 5 watt pad can only carry the Qi mark, never Qi2. Above it sits EPP, the extended power profile, which raised interoperable power to 15 watts from 2015 onward while still using the original Qi logo. The top tier is MPP, the magnetic power profile, the one with magnetic alignment, and the Qi2 logo is granted only to MPP-compliant products. That trips people up: a 15 watt product built only to EPP cannot print Qi2 on the box even though it sits in the same family.
At 25 watts the labelling grows another layer. In December 2024 the WPC introduced two new marks in its logo guidelines, Qi2 25W and Qi2 Ready 25W, to identify products supporting 25 watts. So when a box says 25W, look for the mark beside it. A wattage number with no mark is basically the vendor talking.
Then separate the two magnetic worlds: MFM and Qi2
Made for MagSafe is Apple's own programme, tuned for the iPhone ecosystem. Third-party magnetic accessories without it may be held at 15 watts. Qi2, by contrast, is the WPC's open standard, and Apple, Samsung and Google all build on it. The 2026 flagships have converged on the Qi2.2 25 watt tier, with Samsung's foldables needing a magnetic case to reach full 25 watts and Pixel using its own magnet ring. The practical read: for one pad that serves several phones in a household, Qi2 25W matters more than MFM. If everything you own is an iPhone and you want Apple's accessory ecosystem, MFM buys compatibility rather than more power.
Two traps remain. The first is the phrase Qi2 compatible. Compatible is not certified, and such pads usually top out at 15 watts. The second is the power adapter. Magnetic 25 watt charging normally wants a 45 watt class USB-C supply, so a product rated 25 watts that ships a cable but no adapter will drop tiers the moment you plug in an old 18 watt brick. Check the mark, the profile and the bundled adapter, and what is left is only looks and price.
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