Tesla does say "do not put anything other than phones on the charging pad", but does anyone know (of course Tesla would say don't do this), if there's a material or anything that could be placed on the charging pad to boost the charge into the phone? I think the problem is the giant camera on the iPhone 14 Pro Max sticks out and keeps the phone from making a flat surface contact.
Alright, I get what you are trying to do, the short answer is no. You cannot “enhance” a wireless charger performance by adding another interface in between, adding more “obstacles” and not fixing the alignment issue anyway.
I’d encourage everyone to look at
this teardown of the charging pad. It really puts the “best practices” in action, including a dual coil (increasing contact area), though it is in the lower half of the pad. This is why alignment IS the most likely culprit, worsened by the distance from the camera.
In the case of the 14 Pro Max, and likely all the Magsafe iPhone Pro Max (12 and up), coil alignment IS the issue. If it was the distance, we’d have more reports of 14 Pro, 13 Pro and 12 Pro having the issue. The gap definitely doesn’t help but alignment is even more important. You’d have to either be able to move the coil itself (you can’t), or find a way to bring the coil closer (which would likely mean either making a hole in the Alcantara to “drop” the camera bump in height).
If someone was REALLY motivated, I guess they could try moving the coil further up in the unit, moving them manually, but you risk as much to have a broken coil than be successful. I guess it would bring up the question of how much a spare charger assembly would cost from Tesla.
EDIT: In regards to those saying that cases with magsafe help, the only reason it might is if they have thinner material within the wireless charging area. They do not induce better conductivity or anything of the sort, at least not in a mesurable way. Magsafe’s sole purpose to align properly allowing for the “optimal” placement / performance with Magsafe accessories, a non-magsafe coil setup would not have any measurable benefit.