Anker Bumps Its Tiny Anker Nano USB-C Power Adapter Up to 20W [Updated]

[BigMcGuire]

I dont trust these chargers. Im always afraid they'll spontaneously combust or fry my battery.

I have the 18w PD one - picked it up at BestBuy. The Amazon one is IQ3. Yeah, it gets hot. I tested it on my MBP for a few days and ... although it gets really hot, I didn't smell any burning. It seems to dissipate heat pretty well but it does get warm. I think that's to be expected with the size.

I liked the 18w so much I picked up the 30w one - keeps my 2017 MBP 13' charged up and it's only a little bit bigger than the 18w.

These chargers are great - the space they take is amazing.

Also note - your iPhone will only ask for as much power as it needs. You could plug in a 900 watt charger to your phone and your phone would only draw what it needs to charge itself.

Great chargers.

 

[Daniel L]

It's good that accessory makers coming up with the fast chargers. But, what is the toll its gonna take on the longevity of the batteries on the phones?

Everything is a compromise. But if you are as obsessive as I am, you can opt to use the slowest possible charger to charge your phone overnight and use the fast chargers only if you need a quick top-up during the day if, eg, you need to rush out of the house again.

My almost 3 year old launch iPhone X has been exclusively fast charged from the beginning from my iPad charger and occasionally my 87w and 96w Macbook Pro charger. Still at 91% capacity.

I used to be obsessive about maintaining the batteries in my devices until I realized I change them out often enough to where it really doesn't matter much in the long run. This includes my laptops where before I would try to not charge over 80%, leave them sitting at 40% when going on vacation, etc. Now, I just use them on battery until they need to be charged. Already have 205 cycles on my Macbook Pro 16".

 

[BigMcGuire]

And boom it's out of stock. lol.

 

[John Connor]

This 'block' shape plug doesn't seem to be the standard shape. Some versions look like a regular plug, just a little deeper.

 

[RevTEG]

While I like Anker products and small charging bricks, these two prong chargers just do not stay plugged in well for me. I much prefer three prong. I even add Apples extension to all their two prong bricks...

 

[manu chao]

My almost 3 year old launch iPhone X has been exclusively fast charged from the beginning from my iPad charger and occasionally my 87w and 96w Macbook Pro charger. Still at 91% capacity.

I used to be obsessive about maintaining the batteries in my devices until I realized I change them out often enough to where it really doesn't matter much in the long run. This includes my laptops where before I would try to not charge over 80%, leave them sitting at 40% when going on vacation, etc. Now, I just use them on battery until they need to be charged. Already have 205 cycles on my Macbook Pro 16".

Using the 5-W charger next to my bed is largely about the 18-W charger (that came with my iPhone 11 Pro) simply bringing no benefit there (even during a very short night it manages to fully charge my phone), but the latter being more useful in my living room. The potential small benefit to battery longevity is essentially a feel-good-about-it free benefit.

 

[robotica]

I really like the apple ones, especially for the UK with their super handy foldable plugs.

 

[bodonnell202]

Same here. Are Anker chargers UL listed?

Yes, they are.

Edit: or at least some of them are. Not sure if they all are or not.

 

[CarlJ]

Same here. Are Anker chargers UL listed?

I know at least some of them are. I don’t know if all of them are. I have a pile of Anker AC adapters (chargers), external batteries, and cables, and all of them have been uniformly great - they’re pretty much the only brand I’ll trust for this stuff other than Apple itself.

 

[ikramerica]

Quick Googling brought up these results:

• iPhone 7/8: 12 W
• iPhone X: 18 W
• iPhone 11: 22 W (but only for a relatively small portion of the charging process)

• iPhone 7/8/SE2: 12W
• iPhone X/7+/8+: 18W

At least that's what I read recently when I checked. My new iPad 8th came with the 18W USB charger so I wanted to know if my 8+ used 18W and it does. Not 100% sure on the 7+. Rumored SE2+ would also be 18W.

 

[manu chao]

• iPhone 7/8/SE2: 12W
• iPhone X/7+/8+: 18W

At least that's what I read recently when I checked. My new iPad 8th came with the 18W USB charger so I wanted to know if my 8+ used 18W and it does. Not 100% sure on the 7+. Rumored SE2+ would also be 18W.

My guess would be that 18 W debuted in 2017 together on the iPhone X and the 8+. And the first Google result actually agrees.

 

[Neepman]

New... Improved... Kill your Battery even Faster!

 

[Abombito]

It's good that accessory makers coming up with the fast chargers. But, what is the toll its gonna take on the longevity of the batteries on the phones?

I had heard this could happen but never really looked into it. But according to this article, there shouldn't be much, if any, long term damage by using fast chargers.

Does fast charging affect battery life? 6 phone battery questions, answered

The main takeaway from the article is:

Unless there's some technical flaw with your battery or charger electronics, however, using a fast charger won't do your phone's battery any long-term damage.

Here's why. Fast-charging batteries work in two phases. The first phase applies a blast of voltage to the empty or nearly empty battery. This gives you that blazing charge of from 50% to 70% in the first 10, 15 or 30 minutes. That's because during the first phase of charging, batteries can absorb a charge quickly without major negative effects on their long-term health.

 

[MacBH928]

Does any one feel safe using 3rd party chargers with their iOS devices? I always felt it might not work well. I care too much about my non-replaceable batteries.

 

[CarlJ]

Does any one feel safe using 3rd party chargers with their iOS devices? I always felt it might not work well. I care too much about my non-replaceable batteries.

Absolutely. I've been using all Anker chargers for years, with no discernible problems. I wouldn't pick random no-name chargers off Amazon, but there are a handful of reputable names. I stick to Apple or Anker.

 

[Abazigal]

Does any one feel safe using 3rd party chargers with their iOS devices? I always felt it might not work well. I care too much about my non-replaceable batteries.

Here’s my home charging setup.

I largely buy only from reputable brands and it’s been working fine for me so far.

 

[PeLaNo]

of course this happened right after i got my 18w yesterday

It’s not gonna have much different in terms of charging speed tbh.

 

[PeLaNo]

Does any one feel safe using 3rd party chargers with their iOS devices? I always felt it might not work well. I care too much about my non-replaceable batteries.

I always use MFi certified cable and charger. It’s pretty much the same with Apple‘s charger but cheaper.

 

[MacBH928]

Absolutely. I've been using all Anker chargers for years, with no discernible problems. I wouldn't pick random no-name chargers off Amazon, but there are a handful of reputable names. I stick to Apple or Anker.

Here’s my home charging setup.

I largely buy only from reputable brands and it’s been working fine for me so far.

MFi

May I ask why you buy a 3rd party charger and not the Apple ones? I am guessing you lost the original or need more? Just wondering if there is an advantage.

 

[PeLaNo]

May I ask why you buy a 3rd party charger and not the Apple ones? I am guessing you lost the original or need more? Just wondering if there is an advantage.

Apple’s cable just happened so frail so easily. So I need to buy new one and third party with MFi is cheaper so I chose them.

 

[Abazigal]

May I ask why you buy a 3rd party charger and not the Apple ones? I am guessing you lost the original or need more? Just wondering if there is an advantage.

The 5w charger that came with my 8+ is still sitting untouched in the original packaging. The 18w charger you see came with my iPad Pro. The charger on the side is a 27w charger that has both a USB-C and USB-A port.

I guess for me, I was bitten by an urge to optimise my charging setup to minimise the use of cables / chargers and keep it neat and tidy on my desk. Initially, this meant using a USB-charging hub (I have one of those by Anker with a USB-C port and 4 USB-A ports), with cables for my iPad, iPhone, AirPods, Apple Watch and power bank, tucked inside a cable management box.

I then started looking for an apple watch charging stand after I bought a sport loop for my watch, because this meant that it was no longer feasible to place the watch flat on the table, and I just couldn't justify paying the premium for the apple charging dock (the one that looks like a cushion). The stand you see is supposed to be able to charge the watch plus 2 devices wirelessly, but shortly after I got it, the charging area on the right stopped working. I can still use it to charge my watch and iPhone, it's a very solid piece of hardware and well, my earlier efforts at returning it were unsuccessful.

I realise that as I type this, I have come full circle, but I guess the overarching point is that just about every charging option I have at home and at my workplace right now is way superior to the default chargers that Apple ships. Which is why in another thread, I have expressed that I am indifferent to Apple not including any chargers with their iPhones or apple watches, because chances are - I am not going to touch them either way.

 

[farewelwilliams]

It’s not gonna have much different in terms of charging speed tbh.

generally true but if you have the iPad Air on all day, 18W won't keep the iPad Air charged and the battery will eventually go to 0%.

 

[CarlJ]

May I ask why you buy a 3rd party charger and not the Apple ones? I am guessing you lost the original or need more? Just wondering if there is an advantage.

I’ve got an Anker 10 port USB ”charger” (they’re all really AC-5VDC adapters, they just commonly get used for charging) on a shelf under the table in my living room. It’s connected to:

• an Anker Qi stand charger I normally use for my iPhone,
• an Apple Watch charging puck
• two 6ft Anker power cables, one for my iPad and one for my iPhone if I need to use it when it’s very low on battery (which is rare) (both cables are long enough to use while sitting on the couch - not true with Apple’s 3ft cables). One of these will also get used to charge the remote for the Apple TV, and, again, it’s useful to have them long enough so that I can use it while it’s charging, if needed.
• a spare iPhone charging stand that now mostly charges my AirPods.
• a 3ft MicroUSB cable for various non-Apple things that occasionally need charging
• a small USB-powered speaker connected to one of my Raspberry Pi’s
• a few other accessories I‘m forgetting, and at least one empty socket in case some random thing needs to be plugged in.

A huge advantage here is I don’t need to reconfigure anything to plug in arbitrary devices - just pick up the end of the right cable and plug it in (oh, and they’re purposefully all in different colors, so it’s quite easy to grab the right one).

By my desk, there’s a second Anker 5-port USB AC adapter that connects to more cables for my Apple Watch, iPad, iPhone, and whatever else happens by. This one also has a USB-C port capable of quick charging, and there’s a Lightning cable connected to that, in case I need to charge my phone in a hurry (a fairly rare occurrence).

I haven’t lost any of the Apple AC adapters, most of them are in their original boxes in a drawer. I’m using a total of 2 AC outlets rather that, what, 15? I wouldn’t want to have a whole army of individual adapters plugged in. This way is much more efficient.

 

[SuperCachetes]

New... Improved... Kill your Battery even Faster!

What are you talking about? Regardless of the wattage capacity of the charger, the charging rate and duration are all controlled by the phone itself, and it is very unlikely that it is programmed to self-destruct.

Does any one feel safe using 3rd party chargers with their iOS devices?

Yes. From experience.

 

[MacBH928]

I’ve got an Anker 10 port USB ”charger” (they’re all really AC-5VDC adapters, they just commonly get used for charging) on a shelf under the table in my living room. It’s connected to:

• an Anker Qi stand charger I normally use for my iPhone,
• an Apple Watch charging puck
• two 6ft Anker power cables, one for my iPad and one for my iPhone if I need to use it when it’s very low on battery (which is rare) (both cables are long enough to use while sitting on the couch - not true with Apple’s 3ft cables). One of these will also get used to charge the remote for the Apple TV, and, again, it’s useful to have them long enough so that I can use it while it’s charging, if needed.
• a spare iPhone charging stand that now mostly charges my AirPods.
• a 3ft MicroUSB cable for various non-Apple things that occasionally need charging
• a small USB-powered speaker connected to one of my Raspberry Pi’s
• a few other accessories I‘m forgetting, and at least one empty socket in case some random thing needs to be plugged in.

A huge advantage here is I don’t need to reconfigure anything to plug in arbitrary devices - just pick up the end of the right cable and plug it in (oh, and they’re purposefully all in different colors, so it’s quite easy to grab the right one).

By my desk, there’s a second Anker 5-port USB AC adapter that connects to more cables for my Apple Watch, iPad, iPhone, and whatever else happens by. This one also has a USB-C port capable of quick charging, and there’s a Lightning cable connected to that, in case I need to charge my phone in a hurry (a fairly rare occurrence).

I haven’t lost any of the Apple AC adapters, most of them are in their original boxes in a drawer. I’m using a total of 2 AC outlets rather that, what, 15? I wouldn’t want to have a whole army of individual adapters plugged in. This way is much more efficient.

I really like your setup, I don't need 10 USB ports but a smaller 3 port hub will do. Color coding cables is a nice idea, I just believed too much in Apple cables to abandon them.