While the patent does not specifically mention MagSafe, the title seems to give that away. It is titled “Magnetic surface contacts” which suggests that Apple could indeed be developing something similar for the iPhone. Recently, there have been rumors suggesting that Apple could be looking to develop a completely portless iPhone and that the company might skip USB-C in favor of going portless.
This means that utilizing a charging system like the original MagSafe connector for the iPhone does make some sense. Either that or Apple could be planning something similar to the Smart Connector used in the iPad Pro for connecting accessories. It would be nice to see a feature like the original MagSafe makes its way to the iPhone, although given that this is a patent, it’s hard to say if Apple will make it a reality. Either way, don’t get your hopes up just yet but we’ll keep our eyes peeled.