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Do I have to use the 5W power adapter?

Super Spartan

Super Spartan

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Mar 10, 2018
631
272
Dubai
I am planning to order an Apple Watch Series 5 from the USA because the ones sold in Dubai don't have the ECG feature (it's disabled from Apple). My concern is, the US version will come with a US adapter and we use UK adapters here in Dubai (as in the plug).

With that said, can I use the same 30W adapter I am using to charge my iPhone and just connect it to the charging pod or would that cause any damage since it has way more wattage?
 
Super Spartan said:
I am planning to order an Apple Watch Series 5 from the USA because the ones sold in Dubai don't have the ECG feature (it's disabled from Apple). My concern is, the US version will come with a US adapter and we use UK adapters here in Dubai (as in the plug).

With that said, can I use the same 30W adapter I am using to charge my iPhone and just connect it to the charging pod or would that cause any damage since it has way more wattage?
Click to expand...
The watch will not come with a USB-C cable, so you’ll need to either buy the USB-C charge cable for the watch or use some other USB charger. You do not need to use the Apple 5W charger.
 
chrfr said:
The watch will not come with a USB-C cable, so you’ll need to either buy the USB-C charge cable for the watch or use some other USB charger. You do not need to use the Apple 5W charger.
Click to expand...
Oh I have a few USB-C cables as I have an iPhone 11 Pro and a 30W Adapter so I guess I'm good.
 
All Apple power adapters will work internationally given the right plug, and plug adapters to convert the US pins to UK pins are easy to find. But if you have any standard USB power adapter, you can plug the Apple Watch charging puck into it (old-style USB A) and it'll be fine.
 
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The adaptor wattage describes what can be pulled out of it by a hungry device. That number isn't what will be pulled out of it by a less hungry device. So it's perfectly safe to charge your Watch off of that adaptor... or off of any USB or USB-C outlet or charger. The Watch doesn't pull much current.

The converse is not true: connecting your Mac to a tiny adaptor meant for a phone or tablet won't work well and might not be safe.

I travel a lot and have a bunch of small items that need charging daily (Watch, iPhone, sometimes iPad, hearing instruments, Bluetooth adapter, travel power pack, Kindle...) so rather than cart around a suitcase full of adaptors I got a 10-port Anker power port (https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00YRYS4T4) and some short Lightning and micro-USB cables. It works anywhere in the world (with a suitable plug adaptor, which are plentiful), consumes a single AC socket (hotel rooms never have enough), and lets me charge everything at once. My wife, with fewer gadgets, has a smaller/cheaper 4-port unit that is similar. Now, something like this won't have the juice necessary to charge a running MacBook Pro, but everything else you carry will be happy.
 
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By the way if you buy an Apple Watch from USA, the ECG still won't work in your country. I bought mine in USA as I travel there at least once or twice a month for work, but when try to activate ECG, I get the is not supported message.
 
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I think is linked to the iPhone’s SIM Card or GPS location. iPhone 11 Pro Max and Apple Watch Series 5 were both bought on the US, but I can’t use ECG
 
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