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Old Nov 26, 2012, 03:47 PM   #1
Jades
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5W vs 10W vs 12W Charger for iPhone

I've seen tons of posts here about what is the difference between the 5-watt, 10-watt, and 12-watt chargers for the iPhone and I've done an experiment myself with two iPhone 5s.

Many claim that the 10 or 12-watt charger gets their phones charged much quicker than the standard 5-watt charger

My conclusion - it's all in your head

Over this weekend, I took two iPhone 5's and and plugged one into a 12W charger and another into a 5W charger. Both were at 60% battery level.

Both iPhones reached 90% at almost exactly the same time!! Oddly, the 5W charger reached 90% about one minute before the 12W charger did.

I performed the experiment one more time using a 5W and a 10W charger. Exact same result.

So, at the end of the day, this idea that the iPad charger will charge your iPhone quicker is all in your head. And if you can prove that the iPad charger will charge your iPhone quicker, I would also want you to make sure that your iPhone charger isn't a fake charger or a charger not made by Apple.

I hope this answers a lot of debates that take place in this forum in regards to charging times.
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Old Nov 26, 2012, 09:51 PM   #2
ChrisMan287
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Now try that test with a pre-iPhone 5
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Old Nov 26, 2012, 09:53 PM   #3
ECUpirate44
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It makes sense. The iPhone dictates the power draw, 5W.
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Old Nov 27, 2012, 08:03 AM   #4
Jades
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ChrisMan287 View Post
Now try that test with a pre-iPhone 5
It might charge faster with both the 5W and the 12W - simply because the battery is 0.1 volts smaller, but I doubt that the 12W will charge faster than the 5W, unless you can prove otherwise.

Quote:
Originally Posted by ECUpirate44 View Post
It makes sense. The iPhone dictates the power draw, 5W.
Exactly. Many people on the forum say that they like the 10/12W because "it charges so much faster". I thought the exact same thing myself. At the end of the day it's all in our heads.
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Old Nov 27, 2012, 08:06 AM   #5
phr0ze
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Try the same test while both phones are running angry birds.
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Old Nov 27, 2012, 12:46 PM   #6
Jades
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Originally Posted by phr0ze View Post
Try the same test while both phones are running angry birds.
This weekend when I am bored I'll give it a shot and post the results
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Old Nov 27, 2012, 01:32 PM   #7
takeshi74
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jades View Post
Oddly, the 5W charger reached 90% about one minute before the 12W charger did.
Nothing odd about it. The phone is the bottleneck.
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Old Nov 27, 2012, 03:05 PM   #8
TCU
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From an electrical standpoint, if the 5W charger is able to provide the max current the Iphone draws (which I assume it does?), then it shouldn't make a difference what size charger you have. Even if you use a 100W charger it shouldn't charge any faster. That is because, unlike voltage, current is drawn by the device. Thus the Iphone only takes what it needs. Regardless weather the charger is able to provide more or not.

Think of yourself at lunch time lets assume you are hungry for two slices of pizza. You will eat that much if you had two slices, or if you had 100. Only as much as you need.... although in my case I probably couldn't resist for more
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Old Nov 27, 2012, 11:43 PM   #9
icemanzzz
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I use my iPad charger to charge my iPhone and it doesn't charge faster than the iPhone charger..
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Old Dec 9, 2012, 01:33 PM   #10
Shadowbech
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You can also refer by watching this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DC4gPxc89Wg

InsanelyGreatMac did a review on the 12 W charger and he tested using the ipad 3, and the iphone 5. It showed that regardless if you use the 10 W or the 12 W to charge your phone, iPhone will only draw 5 W at maximum.
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Old Dec 9, 2012, 01:51 PM   #11
Koebot
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Many people don't know the difference between wattage and amperage.
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