iPhone 16 Pro Max Charging Speed Test Proves 45W Rumor Was Wrong

[MrRom92]

Something that seems to be getting lost in all of this talk is that, even if 45W is disabled in software, that does not mean the phone doesn't have the hardware to support it.
also, phones only usually charge at their highest rated number when they are:
1: below 20%
2: are in a very cold environment or are cold due to not being used.

the second you start heating the phone up, either by continuing to charge it or begining to use it while it charges, the wattage goes down fast.

Chris Niccolls of PetaPixel is the only one that seems to have gotten this right. In his review, he said that max charging rate is about 30W but the phone can exceed this number if more power is required for other concurrent uses.

on one hand you have people that say the charging can’t be at its fastest speeds when the phone is in use or heating up, and then in the same thread you have other people saying that the fastest charging only kicks in specifically when the phone IS doing other demanding things

Nobody can get their story straight on this and part of the blame lies with Apple who is never transparent about how these things actually work.

 

[Kurtz van Nosferatu]

The higher the W, the worse for the battery (life). I rather charge on slower speed than higher. Even if was 15-20W and not 30W I'd be fine.

This is not true. Tesla conducted long-term tests of lithium ion batteries, charging through Superchargers at 250 kWh over 1000 cycles and it showed no added battery degradation compared to slow charging.
The key is never to stay charged at 100%. That’s why Tesla introduced optional 80% and other limits, a feature that Apple has recently copied.

 

[cocky jeremy]

Never charge your phone overnight.

That's the only time I charge mine. The new 16 Pro Max keeps me above 50% from 6 AM until 10 PM with regular usage.

 

[BorisDG]

This is not true. Tesla conducted long-term tests of lithium ion batteries, charging through Superchargers at 250 kWh over 1000 cycles and it showed no added battery degradation compared to slow charging.
The key is never to stay charged at 100%. That’s why Tesla introduced optional 80% and other limits, a feature that Apple has recently copied.

Heat is big issue for the battery. When you charge it faster, the more it gets warmer. Also don't compare car vs smartphone.

 

[raythompsontn]

but it is clear that iPhone 16 models are not actually reaching the theoretical 45W ceiling that was rumored

Rumors shouldn't be believed. That is not a failing of the phone.

 

[neuropsychguy]

Wasn’t it first a rumor and then supposedly later “confirmed” and “official” or whatever? So why are we back to calling it a rumor and not just false advertising?

Can you link to an Apple page or statement by an Apple representative who said it can charge at 45W?

 

[Hkfan45]

I see zero reason to upgrade to the 16. Here’s to hoping the 17 is a real update. 12+GB ram, truly fast charging 50W+, far better battery life, 120hz screens on all devices.

 

[raythompsontn]

Never charge your phone overnight.

That is how I almost always charge my phone. Seems to work just fine. The battery has outlived the time I have owned the phone. I suspect that almost everyone here gets a new phone before the battery is even close to needing replacement. Find something more important to salivate over rather than battery charging. Use the device and move on.

 

[neuropsychguy]

Right, but as someone who keeps up with the blogs and rumormill and such, just like the site we’re on, I pretty clearly recall 1. The announcement of this rumor, and 2. Multiple subsequent proclamations that it was actually a new feature of the pro models, so calling it a rumor again is a really strange way of backpedaling. Really, let’s just call it gaslighting.

Was that Apple advertising, or was it rumor sites or random people stating things without confirmation?

 

[raythompsontn]

12+GB ram, truly fast charging 50W+

Has memory really been a problem? Ever need to charge the phone in 15 minutes? For most the answer is no.

 

[DTphonehome]

That 5W charger sure is putting in the work! Giving 110%!

 

[daleski75]

That 5W charger sure is putting in the work! Giving 110%!

I think I have a few of them still laying about at home.

 

[SactoGuy18]

I think I have a few of them still laying about at home.

The five watt chargers are actually still very useful for slower, overnight charging of every iPhone with the Lightning port. I'd recommend at least the equivalent of the 12 W iPad charger (12 watts/2.4 amperes) for the iPhone 15 and 16 models with the Type C connector.

 

[MrRom92]

Was that Apple advertising, or was it rumor sites or random people stating things without confirmation?

It was sites like this specifically claiming it as a feature that Apple didn’t advertise. The blame is on those who just make things up for clicks, macrumors should be a shamed

 

[brownj218]

Increasing charging by 3W is such an Apple thing to do lol.... This company and its trickle incremental updates I sware 🤣🤣

2-3W more is still a 7-10% bump over the old phone. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I agree it’s incremental, but I’ll take it

 

[ArchEtech]

Interesting dichotomy of people worrying so much about battery life as to not use the max capacity of their battery for the entire life of the phone, to those people wanting to charge and fast as possible........

 

[Phillyfinest89]

you can't call "false advertising" on something that wasn't and still isn't advertised at all.

Facts. Apple never said anything…

 

[DEMinSoCAL]

Interesting dichotomy of people worrying so much about battery life as to not use the max capacity of their batter for the entire life of the phone, to those people wanting to charge and fast as possible........

and while worrying about battery life, they're supercharging their Tesla's in 20 minutes so they can get maximum distance in the shortest time!

 

[DaniTheFox]

To date, my tests conducted with Apple devices (utilizing the provided test equipment i have) have revealed that while the devices can theoretically draw up to 3A according the specification, they consistently operate at a maximum current of 2.4A or 2.5A. Given that the devices are powered by a 15V supply, this current draw of 35W can be readily explained.

 

[uniquestevejobs]

Well „Up to 40W“ doesn‘t mean permanently 40W. So in certain situations it goes up to 40W. We need to find out in which specific scenarios

 

[twintin]

Thanks I was going to trade in my 15P for a 16PM but I’ll wait till 17PM

Which will be pretty similar to 16. 😉😁

 

[Hkfan45]

Has memory really been a problem? Ever need to charge the phone in 15 minutes? For most the answer is no.

Yes and yes. I'd love to be able to truly multitask like I do on my pixel 8 and ipad pro. Not possible with the skimpy RAM apple provides. Constant page reloads are frustrating, especially when RAM is so cheap. And that's not even considering the demands of Apple Intelligence. I also like to keep my phone for at least 4 years which necessitate it being future proof.

 

[brownj218]

Heat is big issue for the battery. When you charge it faster, the more it gets warmer. Also don't compare car vs smartphone.

Why not compare cars vs smartphones? They both use ~3.7V cells with similar chemistry. Some EVs use different LiFePo chemistry, but Tesla’s study quoted above was dealing with NMA batteries.

iPhones use NMC which are more sensitive to heat causing degradation, but the time spent at warmer temperatures while charging is relatively short.

Yes charging faster does create more heat which will accelerate degradation, but smartphones and cars manage this by throttling charging speeds according to measured temperatures. The higher the SoC of the battery, the more heat is generated when pushing that voltage into the cell. This is why you usually see max charging speeds when the battery is below 20%.

So yes although heat does indeed contribute to premature degradation, the amount is negligible compared to the degradation caused by letting the cell sit below 20% or above 80% SoC for extended periods of time.

Say you buy 2 of the same phone.

With phone A you always wait until it dies before plugging it in, and you always charge to 100% using a 5W charger.

With phone B, you always put it on the charger once it hits 20% and it’s only ever charged to a max of 80%. Phone B is always fast charged using a 30W charger.

After some time, phone A will most likely experience average or above-average degradation (>10% capacity loss after ~300 charge cycles), but phone B will experience below average degradation since it was kept in the sweet spot, regardless of heat generated during charging.

Keeping the cells >20% and <80% is the same recommendation made by Tesla and other EV makers to maximize the life of the lithium ion batteries.

 

[Fandroid killer]

While a Chinese regulatory filing showed that all iPhone 16 models are rated for up to 45W charging speeds, tests have since shown that the devices do not actually charge this fast. However, there are still improvements.

ChargerLAB last week tested the iPhone 16 Pro Max with a variety of Apple and third-party chargers, and it found that the device achieved maximum sustained charging speeds of around 30W. In one image, the website showed the iPhone 16 Pro Max reaching a peak charging speed of 37W with Apple's 140W USB-C power adapter, but it is unclear how long the device kept charging at that speed. Overall, this seems to be an improvement over the reported 27W peak charging speed for iPhone 15 Pro models, but it is clear that iPhone 16 models are not actually reaching the theoretical 45W ceiling that was rumored.

PhoneArena saw similar results with the standard iPhone 16. In its review last week, it said the device reached a peak charging speed of 38W only when it was "under extremely heavy loads such as benchmark testing or playing games." The website said the iPhone 16 achieved a sustained charging speed of closer to 20W.

Apple merely says that all iPhone 16 models can achieve up to a 50% charge in around 30 minutes with a 20W or higher USB-C charger, which is exactly the same claim that it advertised for all iPhone 15 models.

All in all, just because all iPhone 16 models safely support the USB-C Power Delivery 3.0 protocol of 15V/3A = 45W, it has been proven that the devices do not actually charge at 45W speeds. The rumor was wrong, or at least misinterpreted. However, modestly faster charging speeds still seem to occur in certain scenarios.

Article Link: iPhone 16 Pro Max Charging Speed Test Proves 45W Rumor Was Wrong

Lol apple is always decades behind

 

[cocky jeremy]

That is how I almost always charge my phone. Seems to work just fine. The battery has outlived the time I have owned the phone. I suspect that almost everyone here gets a new phone before the battery is even close to needing replacement. Find something more important to salivate over rather than battery charging. Use the device and move on.

Yup. I upgrade every year and I'm always at 90-94% capacity still at the end of the year.