BERLIN – With iPhones finally supporting 25W wireless charging, a wave of 25W magnetic power banks has hit the market. However, they also bring on one of wireless charging’s oldest problems: heat. Sustained 25W power transfer makes a power bank uncomfortably hot.
At IFA 2026, major iPhone accessory makers unveiled an unlikely solution: power banks with built-in cooling systems designed to tame the heat.
Faster wireless charging creates more heat
Wireless charging is more convenient than plugging a cable into your iPhone, especially when you’re on the go. Not having to deal with a cable provides more flexibility, as you can quickly remove the power bank and put it in your pocket when needed. However, that convenience comes with a caveat: heat.
Wireless charging transfers power between two coils. However, it is not as efficient as wired charging, with some energy lost as heat. The faster the wireless charging speed, the more noticeable the heat becomes. This is even more problematic for power banks, as there’s little room for heat to escape.
Adding a phone to the mix only makes things worse.
The phone and the power bank both generate heat in such scenarios. As a result, the iPhone or power bank will reduce the charging speed to prevent overheating. So, while a power bank can deliver up to 25W power wirelessly, it may only do so for a few minutes.
This problem has pushed accessory makers to build active cooling directly into their power banks.
Power banks are learning to keep their cool
Active cooling is common in PCs and laptops. But accessories like power banks rarely use it due to space constraints and other complexities. However, to better manage the heat that wireless charging generates, some popular iPhone accessory makers are getting creative.
At IFA 2026, Ugreen announced its MagFlow magnetic power bank featuring a CryoPulse cooling system.
The 10,000mAh power bank uses a micro-pump to circulate liquid coolant around the battery and other key components to keep them cool. As if that’s not already ‘cool’ enough, a translucent window on the front shows the liquid circulating through the channel when the power bank is in use.
The Ugreen MagFlow Pro 10,000mAh magnetic power bank delivers up to 25W wireless and 45W wired charging. Its micro-pump liquid cooling system helps keep your iPhone and the power bank cool during fast charging, while the built-in USB-C cable doubles as a lanyard.
The Ugreen MagFlow supports 25W Qi2 wireless charging and up to 45W wired charging through its built-in USB-C cable. The company claims the cooling system can keep an iPhone 17 Pro Max’s peak temperature up to 10 degrees Celsius below some of its competitors.
A few years ago, it was wild to even think that accessory makers would use active cooling in power banks to dissipate heat. And Ugreen is not the only company doing so.
Photo: Rajesh Pandey/Cult of Mac
Anker’s 10,000mAh MagGo 2 Pro uses a small fan, dual air channels and layers of graphene to dissipate heat. The fan automatically adjusts its speed according to charging conditions. The company claims this helps keep temperatures below 36 degrees Celsius while delivering up to 25W of power wirelessly.
What’s even more impressive is that despite the addition of an active cooling system, the Ugreen MagFlow Pro magnetic power bank features the same size as a regular 10,000mAh power bank. You can’t even tell that it uses an active cooling system.
Active cooling might seem excessive for a power bank. However, as wireless charging speeds will rise in the future, it will become a necessity. Faster charging will mean little if heat prevents power banks from maintaining those speeds or makes them uncomfortably hot to hold.
