What's best for the battery USB or wall socket charge?

You should never charge via USB unless there's no other way to charge your phone.

MassiveAttack said:

You should never charge via USB unless there's no other way to charge your phone.

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Can you explain why?

An Apple PC with USB 3.0 ports or any 2.1 amp charger like an iPad charger will give you a faster recharge rate but theoretically would reduce the battery life. (but it would be so minimal that it's not really worth stressing about)

ToroidalZeus said:

An Apple PC with USB 3.0 ports or any 2.1 amp charger like an iPad charger will give you a faster recharge rate but theoretically would reduce the battery life. (but it would be so minimal that it's not really worth stressing about)

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Sorry, but this is 100% wrong. AC chargers don't "push" electricity. The device being charged draws it. So if the power source can supply a higher current, they will recharge faster. That's why recharging via the tiny 5W charger takes longer than the 12W iPad charger. The 12W can supply more current.

This has no effect on the health of your battery.

supersalo said:

Sorry, but this is 100% wrong. AC chargers don't "push" electricity. The device being charged draws it. So if the power source can supply a higher current, they will recharge faster. That's why recharging via the tiny 5W charger takes longer than the 12W iPad charger. The 12W can supply more current.

This has no effect on the health of your battery.

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ya it does, slower recharge prolongs the battery life over the years.

I'd suggest to use the wall socket because you are going to let the Apple charger do the job, and it's a quite high quality component. But if you need to charge via usb from time to time, it's absolutely fine and it won't influence the battery life.

Is this a trick question? They are both USB. What is meant by "USB" when not speaking of the wall charger?

ToroidalZeus said:

ya it does, slower recharge prolongs the battery life over the years.

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I'm not going to get into a forum pissing match over this, but that is completely inaccurate.

Look at Apple's battery page:

"Your Apple lithium-ion battery uses fast charging to quickly reach 80% of its capacity, then switches to slower trickle charging. The amount of time it takes to reach that first 80% will vary depending on your settings and which device you’re charging. This combined process not only lets you get out and about sooner, it also extends the lifespan of your battery."

Using a 12 watt charger or a 5 watt charger makes NO difference. The battery will charge as fast as it can depending on how much current is being supplied to it.

I've always used my Uspeed 7-port USB 3.0 HUB (which is connected to the iMac) and the USB 2.0 on a pc at work to charge my iPhone 5 and it still works perfectly fine ... I must have lost the wall socket, I don't even know where is it anymore ...

Batteries in general, it's better to use a lower amperage whenever possible. This reduces heat produced. But the difference in overheating from 0.5, to 1 or 2A isn't going to affect the iPhone battery enough over its lifetime. Just use which ever is more convenient.