I was told by an Apple representative that the down side of fast charging an iPhone (8 or X) is that this significantly reduces the battery life, and is worth avoiding if that is a consideration. Can you provide any data on the extent to which fast charging damages the battery life. I gather that using one of the higher wattage adaptors can have the same effect, even on ordinary iPhones.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
iPhone X Charging Speeds Compared: The Fastest and Easiest Ways to Charge Your iPhone
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Simplicity is not worrying that a charging method will work.
I suppose. I’ve never done anything but charge over night. I suspect most customers do the same and in this scenario a fast charger isn’t really necessary.
Pretty interesting marketing there isn’t it? I don’t see the point of the pads to be honest. You can’t really use the phone when it’s chargin in this method. And since a cable plugs into the pad anyway, you’re tethered the same as a cable plugged into the phone. Maybe to use the lightning port for headphones while charging? But again it seems like a rare scenario. I’d rather spend the money on a fast charger than a pad. Makes more sense to me.
With how easy it will be now to get your battery replaced I don’t think this matters much
I think this will only decrease battery life if you keep your device longer than 3 years or more.
It might seem like USB-C PD / Fast Charging is indeed putting some additional strain on the battery. I didn't have Battery Health reporting in iOS when using my iPhone 7 Plus, 6S Plus and 6 Plus but I used app "Battery Life" and it seems to be reporting pretty much the same as the built-in Battery Health tool in iOS.
I've had my iPhone X for about 6 moths now. And according to Battery Life and Battery Health in iOS I'm already down to 96%. Compared to my iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 6S Plus and iPhone 7 Plus they did not drop below 100% and I switch phone's every year, or actually the iPhone 7 Plus got a few additional months of use due to iPhone X releasing later in the year.
The only real difference in my charging and usage habits is that I use Apple's USB-C 29W charger 99% of the time, as compared to before when I almost always used the Apple 12W charger. It's the same with my wife's phone, she have moved from iPhone 6 to iPhone 6S to iPhone 7 and is now using the iPhone X and her phone's never dropped below 99% and her iPhone X, also about 6 months old is already down to 94% and again the only main difference is us having Apple USB-C 29W chargers through-out our apartment instead of Apple's 12W chargers as we had before.
We also notice that the battery/phone gets much warmer when using the Apple USB-C chargers compared to the Apple 12W charger. And a few times charging just bugged out at around 50% with the phone becoming really warm but without the battery percent getting any higher for like 30 minutes+ until we decided to disconnect the phone, reboot it and plug it back in.
We are eagerly awaiting Apple's AirPower wireless charger. It will charge much slower, but we love the idea of having a single charger that can charge our iPhone, Apple Watch and AirPods all at the same time. But I doubt wireless charging will put less strain on the battery as my experience with wireless charging on Android phone's is that the phone's get even warmer compared to fast-charging. Take the Galaxy S8 for instance, its get rather warm when using fast-charging, but it gets even warmer when using Samsung's wireless charger.
I've had my iPhone X for about 6 moths now. And according to Battery Life and Battery Health in iOS I'm already down to 96%. Compared to my iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 6S Plus and iPhone 7 Plus they did not drop below 100% and I switch phone's every year, or actually the iPhone 7 Plus got a few additional months of use due to iPhone X releasing later in the year.
The only real difference in my charging and usage habits is that I use Apple's USB-C 29W charger 99% of the time, as compared to before when I almost always used the Apple 12W charger. It's the same with my wife's phone, she have moved from iPhone 6 to iPhone 6S to iPhone 7 and is now using the iPhone X and her phone's never dropped below 99% and her iPhone X, also about 6 months old is already down to 94% and again the only main difference is us having Apple USB-C 29W chargers through-out our apartment instead of Apple's 12W chargers as we had before.
We also notice that the battery/phone gets much warmer when using the Apple USB-C chargers compared to the Apple 12W charger. And a few times charging just bugged out at around 50% with the phone becoming really warm but without the battery percent getting any higher for like 30 minutes+ until we decided to disconnect the phone, reboot it and plug it back in.
We are eagerly awaiting Apple's AirPower wireless charger. It will charge much slower, but we love the idea of having a single charger that can charge our iPhone, Apple Watch and AirPods all at the same time. But I doubt wireless charging will put less strain on the battery as my experience with wireless charging on Android phone's is that the phone's get even warmer compared to fast-charging. Take the Galaxy S8 for instance, its get rather warm when using fast-charging, but it gets even warmer when using Samsung's wireless charger.
[doublepost=1526116582][/doublepost]My understanding (from discussion with Apple) is that the thing that shortens the battery life is the use of devices that deliver fast charging, which means that wireless charging system that do not deliver much power should be safe (though slow). The reluctance of Apple to publish data on the adverse effects of fast charging is concerning and suggests this is a potential problem, though if fast charging is a real priority then the need for that may take precedence on the desire for long battery life. I do not know of any evidence that heat or the temperature of the device can be used as a proxy to estimate the speed of charging.
Anything that increases current density, especially near 20% and 100% and heat will damage the battery.
So, in doing fast charging, you ARE exchanging convenience for battery longevity.
That's the case no matter who does it, Apple, Samsung, etc.
Thank you for this analysis. I have a 7 year old iPhone 4S which has always been charged at the lowest rate and still gets 70% of the original capacity. My just retired iPhone 5 had two swollen batteries; Each lasted a little over 2 years and were at 65-70% capacity, after charging at 2.1A (10W).
I recently read that Apple expects the iPhone X battery to have 80% capacity at 2 years using the provided low rate charger. Hopefully the 10-12W rate will not change this forecast considerably.
My other concern is minimizing the "exploding battery" risk. It is uncertain if trends for higher capacities and higher charge rates will not also increase this risk.
I've spoken to several Apple employees about this, and they DO believe using the 12W charger for your iPhone adversely affects the overall lifespan of the battery. That's the reason why it's not the one included when you buy a new iPhone.
It's funny reading remarks from ill informed people. Apple choose to drastically prolong battery charge cycles and lifetime by providing a 5W charger. It has nothing to do with greed just more about battery longevity and greater customer satisfaction with reduced warranty claims.. Theres 100's studies published on how reducing the C charge rate on Li-ion batteries dramatically increases the total charge cycles before failure. If you charge a li-ion battery at a very fast 1 C Rate you might only get 150-200 charges before failure. Charging at .2 C might allow 500-1000 recharge cycles. Do yourself a favor and ONLY use the slower 5W charger unless you have strict time limitations. You might double your battery lifetime and you'll get more runtime per charge down the road as your battery will have higher capacity due to slower aging over time.
Last edited:
Garbage post. Apple only uses higher current for the first 50%. I've never charged my iPhone X with the 5w adapter, using only the 12w iPad and 60w USB-C charger and it's still at 100% capacity today. Perfect condition after 192 cycles.
I wouldn't call it garbage, but I too have noticed that using 4.8a 24w+ chargers seems to make no difference on the battery of my cellphones, even after 250 cycles. I keep weekly records of my battery's capacity and health via coconutBattery and have since my 6+.
That said, batteryuniversity seems to be really adamant about how rapid charging is a detriment to batteries. I don't see this much more today, even on laptops. I think batteries are getting better and manufacturers have found a way to rapid charge that doesn't have a significant effect on battery longevity (Tesla included).
I think more than anything, rapid charging will affect a battery past 500-1000 cycles, or 5+ years of usage. Most of us will be getting rid of our phones by then.
There's also the factor of keeping a phone at 100% which is said to be detrimental to the longevity of a battery. But I've been doing this with my iPhones since 6+ (6s+, 8+, Xs Max) and have seen no degradation after 2 years.
So that's two things that used to have a huge effect on battery longevity that don't seem to affect (at least iPhones) anymore. Rapid charging and keeping batteries at or near 100%.
@Daniel L Scary, my 512 GB Xs Max is at 66.6 GB too. lol.
That said, batteryuniversity seems to be really adamant about how rapid charging is a detriment to batteries. I don't see this much more today, even on laptops. I think batteries are getting better and manufacturers have found a way to rapid charge that doesn't have a significant effect on battery longevity (Tesla included).
I think more than anything, rapid charging will affect a battery past 500-1000 cycles, or 5+ years of usage. Most of us will be getting rid of our phones by then.
There's also the factor of keeping a phone at 100% which is said to be detrimental to the longevity of a battery. But I've been doing this with my iPhones since 6+ (6s+, 8+, Xs Max) and have seen no degradation after 2 years.
So that's two things that used to have a huge effect on battery longevity that don't seem to affect (at least iPhones) anymore. Rapid charging and keeping batteries at or near 100%.
@Daniel L Scary, my 512 GB Xs Max is at 66.6 GB too. lol.
How many of those charging solutions have been brought to you by third parties?
Anker is the only other chargers I use besides Apple on my devices.. Their portable power banks are excellent too..
That's all I use. Anker chargers and I've got 4 Anker batteries.
<cough>. I'm not addicted. <rubs nose rapidly while checking Anker Christmas discounts>
Ha ha. Yeah, right. My iPhone degrades just as fast as other, faster charging phones.
Apple is huge on nickel-and-diming customers.
Let's not be blind to the expensive truth.
Since someone has already dug up this old thread, I might as well provide some data. My launch day iPhone X which is coming up on 3yrs now is at 85% battery health. It’s been charged exclusively with a 7.5W wireless charger. Will most likely use it for another year, unless Apple has some tricks up its sleeve on Tuesday that I can’t resist.
What was said about 5w chargers is even more relevant today. Especially because we’ve had the X for years now. And who cares if it’s an old conversation?