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Apple Watch magnetic charging dock with USB-C cable?
- Thread starter Vyse2020
- Start date
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I am not sure I would take a chance on just changing the external cable as you don't know if that dock is rated for higher wattage, even though it is made for 5w use. You could potentially cause a fire if something goes awry.
I thought Apple first party products had built in protection to prevent fires and what not?
I think that fast charging and the ability to take advantage of the higher wattage adaptors is primarily a function of the watch model (as well as wattage of the adaptor or power source being used, of course). However the Apple website only mentions using the fast charger cable in order to get the fast charging for Watch 7, and the charging dock does not mention fast charging at all (even though you could use the charging dock with a 20W USB-C power adaptor and the proper cord).
The 'standard' watch charger is now available with a USB-C cable and this is what Apple refers to on the product page for Watch 7 when it discusses fast charging:
Added: the above charger with USB-C cable can be plugged into any adaptor, even the Apple 61W MacBook adaptor, and it will properly charge the Watch 7, with fast charging being enabled.
For example see:
discussions.apple.com
Further edit:
The 1m Magnetic Fast Charger to USB‑C Cable I mention above is packaged with the Watch 7 already (OP surely knows this). All that is needed for fast charging is to use the watch and included puck and cable with a 20W or greater USB-C power adaptor.
The 'standard' watch charger is now available with a USB-C cable and this is what Apple refers to on the product page for Watch 7 when it discusses fast charging:
Apple Watch Magnetic Fast Charger to USB C Cable 1 m - Apple
Apple Store Search Results
www.apple.com
Added: the above charger with USB-C cable can be plugged into any adaptor, even the Apple 61W MacBook adaptor, and it will properly charge the Watch 7, with fast charging being enabled.
For example see:
Apple watch charging adapter - Apple Community
Further edit:
The 1m Magnetic Fast Charger to USB‑C Cable I mention above is packaged with the Watch 7 already (OP surely knows this). All that is needed for fast charging is to use the watch and included puck and cable with a 20W or greater USB-C power adaptor.
Last edited:
I’m aware but as far as I understand I can’t replace the charger in Apple’s magnetic dock with the new one which is why I was curious to see if there would be any point/benefit to using a lightning to USB-C cable with the dock instead of the provided lightning to USB-A cable
The dock (as currently available) is not going to give you fast charging regardless of the cable used or wattage of the power adaptor.
Apple brought out a new fast charger w/cable for the Watch 7 - if you look on the Apple website you'll see that there are two different chargers offered. Only the one with the USB-C cable provides fast charging and according to the discussion on the Apple Community forum, the charger puck is different on that model in order to support fast charging.
I'd expect Apple to be introducing a dock with fast charging (and probably USB-C connection) at some point, but for now the dock is not going to accomplish what you are looking for.
To further explain, here is the 'original' charging cable that has been provided for all of the Apple Watch models through S6:
Beginning with S7, fast charging is supported, and this new charging cable is now included with the S7 watch:
They look practically the same, aside from the USB-C plug vs older USB-A style, but the puck itself is apparently also different.
Since the dock is unchanged and does not mention fast charging, I think it is safe to conclude as I did above.
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www.apple.com
Beginning with S7, fast charging is supported, and this new charging cable is now included with the S7 watch:
Apple Watch Magnetic Fast Charger to USB C Cable 1 m - Apple
Apple Store Search Results
www.apple.com
They look practically the same, aside from the USB-C plug vs older USB-A style, but the puck itself is apparently also different.
Since the dock is unchanged and does not mention fast charging, I think it is safe to conclude as I did above.
That’s fine honestly lack of fast charging isn’t a deal breaker for me I was more curious if it would be worth buying a 20w Apple USB-C adapter but if there is no benefit I’ll just stick with the cable it comes with and an old Apple 5W power adapter I have.
Perhaps lost in the earlier explanations was this final point - if you use your 5W adaptor you won't get the fast charging. If you get the 20W adaptor then you will get fast charging. You have everything else needed already.
Added: there is a benefit to getting the new 20W adaptor in that it will be more suitable for other Apple products, iPad and iPhone, which do support fast charging. I'm now using the 20W adaptor that I received with a new iPad Pro, to charge my 2 year old iPhone Xs Max.
aye I do indeed have a few of the 20W chargers one for MagSafe, one for my iPad and one for lightning accessories, I had considered buying another for Apple’s Apple Watch Magnetic Dock so I wouldn’t have to mess with with unplugging the watch dock every time I needed to charge something else and what not but as the poster said above it might pose a fire hazard if I use the 20w USBC adapter with the dock anyways =(
I doubt it would present a fire hazard (as you also mentioned earlier) but it would not give you the fast charging benefit. It wouldn't be any different from plugging the previous watch charging cable into a higher capacity adaptor (more than 5W) - it simply wouldn't make any difference in how quickly the charging would take because it wouldn't have the ability to take advantage of the higher wattage capability of the > 5W adaptor.