My 2021 has wireless charging. When I put my iPhone 15 plus in the cubby I get a message saying Wireless charging has started. But a minute or two later, I get the same message again. It keeps cycling that and there’s no indication that it’s actually charging.
I rarely need to charge the phone in the car. I don’t drive much and most of my trips are short. However, the phone cubby is the handiest place to keep the phone. I’m worried about the constant cycling and am concerned that the phone or the car could be damaged somehow.
What do you think?

 

Yeah, the wireless charger doesn't really work with newer MagSafe phones and protruding camera lenses that cause an air gap. The same generation charger in my C63 worked fine with my iPhone XS, albeit it's very slow, but it doesn't work at all with my current iPhone 16 Pro. I know there's a firmware upgrade for the wireless charger to support newer phones, but not sure if it applies to the one from our generation. I've been meaning to look into it, but as you, I never really need to charge the phone while in the car, unless I'm using CarPlay and then it charges through the USB connection.

I don't use my cup holders most of the time, so I remove the insert and then I have a nice compartment for the phone w/o needing to place it on the charger. I place smaller items like my Ridge wallet on the charger instead. It's kind of a fiddle to get the phone on the charger anyway, so this works much better and it's still next to the USB port for when I use CarPlay. Leaving it on the charger may be detrimental to your phone's battery as it heats up due to the compatibility issues.

 

Good advice, I took the cupholder out and it's a good fit for the phone. Cupholder doesn't hold much anyway.
As an FYI, I had a 2025 GLC loaner and the wireless charger worked as expected.

 

Yes I had an EQE loaner earlier this year after getting the iPhone 16 last fall and the wireless charger was working there, too. I use CarPlay when I drive a loaner or rental, and wireless charging makes a lot more sense in conjunction with wireless CarPlay.. With wired CarPlay the phone is plugged in anyway and charging via USB. In the past I didn't really like using CarPlay too much as it kept the phone's battery pegged at 100% charge, but now I have my charge limit set to 80% which is sufficient for a typical day and I can leave it connected to a charger w/o keeping the battery at 100% forever, and I can just temporarily set it to 100% if I have a travel or long day ahead and I might use more battery.