Peter McKinnon’s MagSafe wallet vid proves what’s wrong with the tech world

What you need to know

• Apple's Leather Wallet with MagSafe has taken some heat, but YouTube influencer Peter McKinnon has a completely different take on things. And it highlights a larger problem in the world of tech reviewers.

When slating a product gets clicks and views, guess what happens.

Apple announced the Leather Wallet with MagSafe alongside the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro lineups last month and it's been getting heat ever since. Things got worse when reviewers were seeded with the thing and the videos started to appear on YouTube. And then things got a bit silly.

We've all seen the videos. People taking their iPhone 12 with the leather case stuck to the back and then making it fall off when they put it into their pocket. The takeaway? Using the Leather Wallet with MagSafe would drive you insane because it would forever be falling off your iPhone every time it goes near a pocket. Seems fair enough, really.

When I saw those videos I hadn't touched one of these wallets. I probably hadn't touched an iPhone 12, either. 2020 being the hellscape that it is, and the three-month election has everything running into one very long day for us all. And I still haven't used one of these wallets. But I have seen McKinnon's video and heard from plenty of people who seem to like it.

Here's that video, in case you haven't seen it yourself. You're going to need to watch it before you read on.

McKinnon really seems to like this thing. But if you pay attention to what he's saying and showing, I think he's stumbled upon a problem. Not a problem with the wallet, but a problem with the way things work in the tech world.

See, on the subject of the wallet falling off whenever it gets within a three-mile radius of your pocket, McKinnon has other thoughts. The wallet, he says, attaches perfectly fine and can't be shaken off when it's attached properly. Going further, he showed what happened when he put his iPhone – 12 Pro Max, a gargantuan slab of glass – and wallet into the pocket of his skinny jeans. Spoiler: it was fine.

But how can that be? We've seen YouTube videos, Instagram posts, and Twitter comments waxing poetic about just how woeful the leather wallet is. So what gives. Does McKinnon have a special wallet? Special magnetic jeans?

No. He just puts the thing into his pocket like someone who isn't trying to make the wallet fall off every time.

Everyone else? Perhaps not so much.

I've put "perhaps" in italics because I think someone, somewhere, probably had their wallet fall off when they tested it. It probably does it a lot for some people. There are always edge cases and people who have problems with things, whatever they might be.

But then everyone piled on. They saw the views grow, the links come in. The result? Everyone putting their phone and attached wallet into their pockets just so. Holding the phone, not the wallet. Making sure it catches on their pocket on the way in. Just so.

Then the social media furor did what furors do. And everyone else did the same videos and posts because the FUD – fear, uncertainty, and doubt – was working for others.

A week later, and people are calling the wallet trash. A waste of time. An accessory without a role to play in the lives of anyone. McKinnon would argue otherwise and did so for almost nine minutes. And you know what, he has a point.

• No, the wallet doesn't fall off every time you look at it funny – I've heard this from other people, not just in this video. Again, I'm not saying nobody has this problem, but it's a bit premature to write this thing off. More importantly, writing it off because it's good for views is worse.
• Yes, having space for just a couple of cards is fine for some people. It isn't fine for you? Cool. Get something else.

Wrapping up, I think it's important to remember that sometimes, just sometimes, mountains are made out of molehills in the name of views and clicks. And on the subject of the wallet falling off your iPhone when you put into a pocket, I'll defer to McKinnon here – "practice!"