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iOS 26 Adds 25W Qi2 Wireless Charging Support to iPhone 16 Models

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While it has yet to be officially announced by Apple, the upcoming iOS 26 update adds Qi 2.2 support to all iPhone 16 models, except for the iPhone 16e.

Belkin-25W-Charging-Stand-1.jpg

iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, and iPhone 16 Pro Max models running iOS 26 can be wirelessly charged with any Qi 2.2 charger at up to 25W speeds. Previously, those devices could only achieve 25W wireless charging speeds with the latest version of Apple's MagSafe Charger, while third-party Qi options were limited to up to 15W.

Qi 2.2 is officially branded as "Qi2 25W."

Belkin this week released three new Qi2 25W charging stands, including a 2-in-1 iPhone/AirPods option for $59.99, a 3-in-1 iPhone/AirPods/Apple Watch option for $99.99, and another 3-in-1 option for $129.99. All prices are in U.S. dollars.

Belkin says all three of the new chargers can charge iPhone 16 models running iOS 26 from 0% to 50% in around 30 minutes, which is the same charging time that Apple advertises for its own 25W MagSafe Charger when used with iPhone 16 models. Accordingly, this effectively confirms that iOS 26 adds Qi 2.2 support to the iPhone 16 series.

Qi 2.2 support was added to iPhone 16 models in a recent iOS 26 beta version, so it can already be tested right now. iOS 26 will likely be released in September.

It is unclear if iPhone 16 models have formally received Qi 2.2 certification yet, but that should happen by time iOS 26 is released, if it has not already.

P.S. This essentially confirms that the iPhone 17 series will support Qi 2.2 too, as expected.

Article Link: iOS 26 Adds 25W Qi2 Wireless Charging Support to iPhone 16 Models
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2025/08/23/ios-26-adds-qi2-25w-support-to-iphone-16-series/
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Reactions: star-affinity
Honestly, not that fussed about getting more charging power from the Qi2 chargers, find it fast enough as it is now and battery life is good enough.

The Apple Watch though, I want faster charging on it. It is nice to have it while sleeping, as the alarm won't wake anyone but me and so on, but the slow charging makes it a bit of a project to manage battery levels throughout the day and night.
 
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Jeaz said:
Honestly, not that fussed about getting more charging power from the Qi2 chargers, find it fast enough as it is now and battery life is good enough.

The Apple Watch though, I want faster charging on it. It is nice to have it while sleeping, as the alarm won't wake anyone but me and so on, but the slow charging makes it a bit of a project to manage battery levels throughout the day and night.
Click to expand...
Faster charing is nice but, it will also degrade the battery faster.
 
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Reactions: _Mitchan1999
Qi2 accessory makers barely keeps up and the standar keeps changing. Just a year ago it was Qi 2.0 which capped at 15w of charging, and barely a handful of dock came up with it. Now it's Qi 2.2 and improved at 25w, and while it's a good thing but I couldn't afford to keep buying new charging dock to follow with new standard that changes rapidly.

Next year it would be Qi 2.5 with 30-40watts of wireless charging.
 
How many iPhone users use wireless charging?

Faster no doubt will increase usage. We never use wireless and just wondering how wide spread it's use is. I recognize that our usage isn't typical.

Our 2022 Prius is happier with hard wired for CarPlay with two different users. Battery packs for when needed. Wires OK with those. But I charge in my office, my bedroom, car, kitchen, battery pack, and from MBP at times. I'm keeping my iPhone 13 Pro going for another month or so on a dying battery, so 16 Pro upgrade will lessen the need, but I am off the grid for weeks at a time every year or so.
 
Jeaz said:
Honestly, not that fussed about getting more charging power from the Qi2 chargers, find it fast enough as it is now and battery life is good enough.

The Apple Watch though, I want faster charging on it. It is nice to have it while sleeping, as the alarm won't wake anyone but me and so on, but the slow charging makes it a bit of a project to manage battery levels throughout the day and night.
Click to expand...
Which Apple Watch do you have? I have the Series 10, which has blazing fast charging, you just need to use the USB-C Apple Watch charger. It's much faster than the Series 7/8/9 which had the first gen fast charging.
 
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Remember when Apple announced that their power mat thing would be Qi-based and that the Apple Watch would charge on this Qi-based power mat? I remember.

We really need Qi-based Apple Watch charging. It’s 2025. Of course I prefer the smaller one, but in a pinch it would be nice to have the option.

We especially need reverse Qi charging on the iPhone. Since the iPhone isn’t rumored to be getting much this year, I wonder if they’ll add that?
 
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macduke said:
Remember when Apple announced that their power mat thing would be Qi-based and that the Apple Watch would charge on this Qi-based power mat? I remember.

We really need Qi-based Apple Watch charging. It’s 2025. Of course I prefer the smaller one, but in a pinch it would be nice to have the option.

We especially need reverse Qi charging on the iPhone. Since the iPhone isn’t rumored to be getting much this year, I wonder if they’ll add that?
Click to expand...
and so you do know that the AW puck is dented so to speak as the AW back is not flat. IF you were to put that rounded surface on a flat (Qi) charger - it would get very hot and rather low charging speed ...
 
Jeaz said:
Honestly, not that fussed about getting more charging power from the Qi2 chargers, find it fast enough as it is now and battery life is good enough.

The Apple Watch though, I want faster charging on it. It is nice to have it while sleeping, as the alarm won't wake anyone but me and so on, but the slow charging makes it a bit of a project to manage battery levels throughout the day and night.
Click to expand...
I don't even use the fast charger for my watch. I still use the 2 m cable that came with the original Apple Watch as my overnight charger and am still surprised how quickly that charges. I never charge from 0, though. It's usually at 20-30% when it goes on the charger.
macduke said:
Remember when Apple announced that their power mat thing would be Qi-based and that the Apple Watch would charge on this Qi-based power mat? I remember.

We really need Qi-based Apple Watch charging. It’s 2025. Of course I prefer the smaller one, but in a pinch it would be nice to have the option.

We especially need reverse Qi charging on the iPhone. Since the iPhone isn’t rumored to be getting much this year, I wonder if they’ll add that?
Click to expand...
Pepperidge Farm remembers.
 
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Qi's minimum size spec is much larger than any smartwatch, round or square. It seems unlikely that Qi will change to something smaller to accommodate watches. It took years for Qi to fold in MagSafe. Smartwatch manufacturers use their own proprietary charging solution whether it's a magnetic puck like Apple or Google's new cradle which uses magnetic pogo pins.
 
  • Sad
Reactions: _Mitchan1999
MacRumorUser78 said:
How many iPhone users use wireless charging?

Faster no doubt will increase usage. We never use wireless and just wondering how wide spread it's use is. I recognize that our usage isn't typical.

Our 2022 Prius is happier with hard wired for CarPlay with two different users. Battery packs for when needed. Wires OK with those. But I charge in my office, my bedroom, car, kitchen, battery pack, and from MBP at times. I'm keeping my iPhone 13 Pro going for another month or so on a dying battery, so 16 Pro upgrade will lessen the need, but I am off the grid for weeks at a time every year or so.
Click to expand...
I do as do pretty much everyone I know. Just set your phone on the stand for the night and it charges. I have a iPhone XS Max so pretty old. One of the reasons I really like it is that the XS Max has the old Apple connector and I had to clean out the lint with a toothpick to get it working on several occasions. Now it is never plugged in.
 
klasma said:
Various statistics suggest that around 40% of smartphone users use wireless charging.
Click to expand...
You mean pre-Qi2 wireless and other proprietary wireless. But that’s definitely wrong. There’s simply no way it’s almost half of the smartphone users in the world use wireless charging.
 
iSayuSay said:
Qi2 accessory makers barely keeps up and the standar keeps changing. Just a year ago it was Qi 2.0 which capped at 15w of charging, and barely a handful of dock came up with it. Now it's Qi 2.2 and improved at 25w, and while it's a good thing but I couldn't afford to keep buying new charging dock to follow with new standard that changes rapidly.

Next year it would be Qi 2.5 with 30-40watts of wireless charging.
Click to expand...
Which wireless charger of yours has stopped working since the new iPhone 16 software update? You don’t need to buy a new wireless changer, your ones will continue working fine.

And for those who do buy a Qi2 25W charger when they start appearing on the market, they are backward compatible with prior releases, meaning, all phones are supported whether they support Qi v1.2, v2 or v2.2.1. Improving the standard is perfectly acceptable and welcome and fine. It won’t effect you.

The biggest issue with Qi2 from my POV, if I’m being fickle, is the lack of magnetic support for small devices that are physically smaller than its magnetic ring. I.e devices like Apple Watch.

The north star for magnetic charging should be one puck design to rule them all, for smartphones and everything smaller. For this some kind of additional smaller magnetic ring/disc and copper coil setup is needed inside the larger ones, to attach magnetically and charge smaller devices, and phones alike.

This way, those new generation of chargers can appear in the physical world in public spaces, hotels, public transport, dashboards on new cars and the backs of seats in Ubers and residential vehicles, and so so forth, and whatever device is in your hand, you can just stick it on to a satisfying magnetic snap, and away you go.
 
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