Last year, Apple revived the MagSafe brand for the iPhone 12, but its system was quite different from the one used in the old MacBook Pro. However, the classic MagSafe may yet come to the iPhone, perhaps even the iPhone 13 as revealed by a newly discovered patent. The

patent, discovered by AppleInsider, details an entirely new kind of iPhone charging cable: a cable that is neither Lightning nor USB-C and connects magnetically to the phone's charging port.

The patent features several ideas for how the classic version of MagSafe would work with the iPhone. The main idea is a cable with a 3-pin charger that is held in place by magnetic force. That way, if someone knocks or trips over the cable, it will pop out, just as it did on the MacBook Pro.

The key difference here is that while the classic MagSafe relied on a spring-loaded pin to keep the charging contacts in place, this patent suggests that a magnet could do the same job. In other words, the iPhone could have a retractable charging point. It could be pulled into place by an external magnet, such as those found on charging cables and docks.

There is also talk of a "floating" contact point that combines a magnet and a spring. [Perhaps the new MagSafe cable will be the link between the aging Lighting cable and a completely portless wireless design.

Of course. Apple may not take these designs to the production stage. There is no guarantee that the patents will be adopted into consumer products anywhere. Even if Apple is indeed stubbornly refusing to adopt USB-C for the iPhone, the Lighting is now virtually obsolete by cell phone standards; it was launched in September 2012 and has not seen any major updates in the past eight and a half years.

At the very least, a revamped version of this classic MagSafe design could end up on a MacBook. We have already heard rumors that the classic MagSafe will return in this year's 16-inch MacBook Pro.