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not sure where you are getting your info.

looking at the chart, there is barely any difference between 5W wired and wireless.

the difference between 7.5W wireless and 5W wired is much bigger.

A 7.5W charger is 50% more powerful than a 5W charger and yet, only provides 21% more power according to the graph. If we use those differences, then a 12W wireless would produce only 76% of a charge in 60 minutes, compared to 72% by a wired charger. As you can see, there's greater loss from wireless and that loss increases as power goes up and heat loss increases.

Additionally, wireless charging creates far more heat than traditional wired charging. Heat is the biggest enemy of battery health and leads to lower overall capacity and faster drain times. So using wireless charging negatively impacts your battery life with time and causes you to need to charge more, which then leads to even less battery life in a cycle until you need to replace the battery.

Wired charging doesn't suffer these same losses wireless does as wattage increases.
 
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It's being attempted, but physics is against us on this one.

I saw a documentary once about Tesla... and that he was able to power devices wirelessly at a far greater distance than anyone can currently... but no one knows how he did it. But I'm skeptical of even documentaries these days...
 
Would have been interesting to see the effect of using a USB C charger with a USB C to USB A adapter, then using a USB A to Lightning cable.

It would result in slower charging. The USB A standard doesn't allow the higher charging power levels. There's a reason you have to use an actual Apple USB C to Lightning cable and not one of the 3rd party cables to fast charge right now.
 
Great article. When I get next years iPhone I'll be sure to get a 29W USB-C charger (already have one for my Macbook).
It's just a shame Apple didn't adopt USB-C, would be amazing to see universal adoption of it - cars, TVs, laptops, desktops etc.
 
does USB C support higher amps, why does it have to usb c to go fast?

Yes, hence the higher power (watt) rating of the USB-C adapters. USB-C supports not only higher amperage over the connector, but also higher voltage. There are various profiles that USB-C can negotiate after first applying 5V and determining what device is connected to it, can receive as for power requirements. Voltage can go up to 20V, with current up to 5A, or a 100W charge capability! I'm sure future revisions will only increase that.

This is a great article talking about USB-C and Power Delivery.
https://www.digikey.com/en/articles...c-and-using-power-delivery-for-rapid-charging
 
I imagine wireless charging must impress those who have only used iPhones. However, the "fast charging" on the iPhone X is a joke compared to the fast charging on flagship Samsung devices. It's not even close.

This mostly has to do with different value-judgements by the two companies. Faster charging inevitably generates more heat, which reduces the battery's useful lifespan. Apple may have preferred to keep battery life complaints (and in-warranty battery replacement) to a minimum - long-term customer satisfaction issue. Samsung may have chosen the fast route in order to garner short-term benefits: Bragging rights for charging speed, short-term customer satisfaction with that higher charging speed.

Similarly, while it's true that a 5-watt charger is cheaper and more compact than the 12-watt, it also means that most users will be charging their batteries in a less-destructive manner. Again, that speaks to longer battery life/greater customer satisfaction.
 
Yes, hence the higher power (watt) rating of the USB-C adapters. USB-C supports not only higher amperage over the connector, but also higher voltage. There are various profiles that USB-C can negotiate after first applying 5V and determining what device is connected to it, can receive as for power requirements. Voltage can go up to 20V, with current up to 5A, or a 100W charge capability! I'm sure future revisions will only increase that.

This is a great article talking about USB-C and Power Delivery.
https://www.digikey.com/en/articles...c-and-using-power-delivery-for-rapid-charging

Thank you, that's some really helpful information. Time to go xmas shopping
 
I saw a documentary once about Tesla... and that he was able to power devices wirelessly at a far greater distance than anyone can currently... but no one knows how he did it. But I'm skeptical of even documentaries these days...

A lot of the legends around Tesla are completely made up. We're really to believe that he created a way to make free and abundant power that could be sent remotely anywhere around the world, but the government took those plans and hid them away? That would give the government the power to be completely energy independent, which would make them an unrivaled superpower but we're to believe they have that information and haven't bothered to do a thing with it for nearly 75 years? Come on. It's like claiming my grandpa invented world peace but buried the secret with him.
 
Great article! But I was hoping for a section on how each level effects the life/health of the battery. I seem to recall that on older phones it wasn’t recommended to use an iPad charger? Has that changed with the X and the 8 line?

It's the Phone which will ask the Maximum current it needs, not the charger, so even when you connect it to a 1000 Watt 5 Volt charger it won't damage the iPhone since it will ask for the same maximum current as on lets say a 50 Watt charger.
The iPhone will charge longer if the current falls below what the charger can deliver.
 
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There are tons of people who prefer the 5W one because it‘s much smaller, e.g, for travel.

I suppose, but most of the higher powered chargers aren't that much larger. My 30W is about the size of a pack of cigarettes. Sure it's larger than the small Apple 5W adaptor but only a bit over 2x the size. Even for those packing really lightly, it's not that much of a difference to impact all but a very very small number.
 
If they shipped the X with the best charger, there would be no market for third party chargers as they would be slower...
unless third party manufacturers made faster, better chargers! ...but that would then make the ‘best’ charger shipped with the X, the worst again...and thus, the circle is complete!

I wouldn't be so quick to say that faster is better. I am no means very knowledgeable on the subject, but have heard many times over the years that faster charging has drawbacks (more stress on the battery from more heat, faster dissipation, etc). So while many love to not miss an opportunity to rip Apple... perhaps it's possible that they calculated that the consequences outweighed the benefits....
 
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Just want to add my praise for this article, really good helpful stuff.
 
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I use the lightning cable to USB A - comes with phone and plug into my 2012 MBP and it seems very fast - much faster than plugging into wall with cube. Also plugging into USB port on car (along with Car Play) seems very fast. Great article but wish they had included those method also
 
This mostly has to do with different value-judgements by the two companies. Faster charging inevitably generates more heat, which reduces the battery's useful lifespan. Apple may have preferred to keep battery life complaints (and in-warranty battery replacement) to a minimum - long-term customer satisfaction issue. Samsung may have chosen the fast route in order to garner short-term benefits: Bragging rights for charging speed, short-term customer satisfaction with that higher charging speed.

Similarly, while it's true that a 5-watt charger is cheaper and more compact than the 12-watt, it also means that most users will be charging their batteries in a less-destructive manner. Again, that speaks to longer battery life/greater customer satisfaction.
Not true, you've got outdated views about fast charging. Modern technologies, like OnePlus Dash Charge, works by delivering a higher amperage which doesn't create heat.
 
I would be interested in data regarding the temperature of the iPhone while charing with those different types of charging devices. I can imagine that e.g the 18W charger will heat up the phone - respectively the battery - more compared with the 5W charger. This will ultimately result in a shortening of the battery life. Am I correct?
 
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I wouldn't be so quick to say that faster is better. I am no means very knowledgeable on the subject, but have heard many times over the years that faster charging has drawbacks (more stress on the battery from more heat, faster dissipation, etc). So while many love to not miss an opportunity to rip Apple... perhaps it's possible that they calculated that the consequences outweighed the benefits....

It would mean shipping a USB C cable with every iPhone. But since most don't have a USB C port on their computer, now they all need new cables if they want to connect it to their computer.

In the end, it'd likely lead to a lot more garbage going into landfills. Many have asked why not include both cables. Not only would that impact the price of the iPhone (a couple cents a cable times tens or hundreds of millions of phones adds up) but most don't have a use for the 2nd cable and into the trash it would go.
 
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