iPhone X Charging Speeds Compared: The Fastest and Easiest Ways to Charge Your iPhone

[seatton]

I am not buying any wireless charging items yet (though we have a wireless charging system in our Prius). I am waiting for AirPower because I want my Series 3 to be charged at the same time when I charge my phone

 

[6803390]

Think about the money buddy (it's always about the money)... and then chime in when we post stuff like "...but who makes the most profitable _______" in countless threads. One way to become "the first trillion dollar company" is to increase average revenue per customer. Apple has learned that there is great profit in accessories and proprietary (port) licensing deals.

While some of us will grumble about stuff like this... maybe even feel aggravated enough to write such a grumble down in an online forum- does it make us actually take a meaningful action that presses Apple to change this kind of decision-making? No. We buy anyway. Apple dropped a very useful and thoroughly ubiquitous headphone jack and we griped and wrote our gripes down, etc. But when it came time to speak loudly (with our wallets), we bought anyway. Apple was rewarded for the decision, "we" gushed about the overall greatness of that iPhone, etc. Then, we lined up to compete to pay up for Apple's bluetooth buds, further rewarding Apple for that decision. And "we" gushed about the overall greatness of the buds.

Apple is able to gamble a little goodwill away in these kinds of decisions because "we" will buy anyway. They are rewarded in "record revenues & profits." "We" just accept such decisions and throw the money at them. This week there was Mac mini thread that showed a picture of the back of a Mini and all its ports. Someone posted almost incredulously "look at all those ports." Yes everyone, we used to be able to buy Apple stuff that had useful ports now available in accessory dongles (sold separately) baked right into the product itself. BUT, like the headphone jack, innovation by subtraction of consumer utility "baked in" WORKS for Apple now. "We" may grumble. "We" may write down some of those grumbles. But then we pay up anyway. Apple is rewarded by our acceptance- reluctant or not.

So why not put in an inferior charger? "We'll" wake up at 3AM to try to buy as soon as we possibly can, pumping up demand well beyond supply, then grumble (but wait) the 3, then 4, then 5 weeks for the product to come. Then, we'll accessorize it with additional items that are generally very profitable. Between a proprietary port (licensing) and a line of supporting accessories (sold separately), Apple can make a nice amount of extra profit on many iPhones sold.

At some point, a decision will be the straw and the base will rebel (with their wallets)... but while Apple can get away with it, they'll keep doing it. Shareholders are happy with maximum profits. Management is happy with more bonus money. Customers "buy them as fast as we can make them" in spite of such decisions, so they appear to be happy too. Some of those customers will hang in forums and shout down others who dare to speak negatively about such decisions... even if such opinions don't affect them at all. Given all of this: if you are Apple, don't you opt to put in the less-than-your-best charger too?

Very rare to come across a good post on this forum - it’s refreshing

 

[69Mustang]

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....

I don't get why people keep putting this idea forth as a reason for the 5W charger. If Apple did the calculations and concluded the consequences outweighed the benefits... wouldn't it make the most sense to not have fast charging at all? Then to introduce 7.5W faster wireless charging... how does that jibe with the aforementioned consequences?

Apple could do customers a helluva favor by coming out and being definitive about charging, both wired and wireless. Because right now we are all primarily speculating. Ambiguity benefits no one.

 

[Marx55]

Get the facts. We are destroying planet Earth and nobody seems to care. Wireless charging is a waste of energy. Wired whatever is much better than wireless whenever possible for anything, including also keyboards and mice. Batteries are obnoxious to the environment, besides much less convenient and a pain to recharge routinely.

 

[newellj]

I realize I'm presenting the data here a little unconventionally, but I liked that I was able to show exact percentages while also giving an overall picture of the difference in charging speed. For anyone who wants to take my data and whip up other charts, I'm more than happy to provide it. Just let me know!

It's great and useful data, period. 'nuf said! And thanks again!

 

[Tork]

Fantastic article indeed. Thanks! Solidified my choice of 12w “iPad” charger + standard lightning cable rather than buying a new usb-c charger and cable. Pretty nice to get a 40% charge in 30 minutes using stuff I and many others already own.

 

[jamojamo]

Excellent article, thank you for doing the comparison and writing this up.

 

[scotty588]

Really interested to know if this Samsung wireless fast charger actually supports fast charging in the X.

 

[ryanmcv]

Good information, terrible chart design.

Fixed.

 

[anson42]

The last sentence of this piece.

"...but it's convenient to be able to set your iPhone right next to you on a wireless charger and pick it up when necessary without the need to hassle with a cord."

Hassle? Really? Come on, now.

Yes, really, have you tried one? I was skeptical of the utility and convenience until I bought the Choetech last month to give it a shot, and guess what? The next to the bed use case is awesome for a slow charger like this one! In my drowsiness I have been guilty of dropping my phone forgetting that a cable is connected to it. I connected the charger to an existing 10W Apple charger that I was using previously. Works like a charm next to the bed. Now, the desk use case I have a charge cradle that I like to use for both charging and syncing. On the road, I'm going wired, not going to bring a wireless charger with me unless it is built in to the car. And that's another use case I wouldn't mind... a built-in wireless charger in the car so I don't have to deal with a cable at all.

It's all about convenience and it is very much a first world problem. I bet if you put one of these babies on your night stand you wouldn't go back either.

 

[JPack]

I don't get why people keep putting this idea forth as a reason for the 5W charger. If Apple did the calculations and concluded the consequences outweighed the benefits... wouldn't it make the most sense to not have fast charging at all? Then to introduce 7.5W faster wireless charging... how does that jibe with the aforementioned consequences?

Apple could do customers a helluva favor by coming out and being definitive about charging, both wired and wireless. Because right now we are all primarily speculating. Ambiguity benefits no one.

Because it's not a binary decision. A portion of the population may want fast charging, but it doesn't mean it's healthy for the battery.

Many cars have launch control, but if you want to use it repeatedly, you better buy an extended warranty for the transmission.

 

[Baymowe335]

Fixed.

So much better.

 

[haruhiko]

Does fast charging degrade your battery faster? I heard on ATP or Upgrade podcast that it does... forget which one. But they mentioned it last week or the week before.

It does if your battery is heated up. If not, not much effect to the battery life.

 

[PickUrPoison]

It blows my mind that Apple produces a $1,200 phone and they give you an incredibly slow charger.

Would it blow your mind to find out the vast majority of users only charge overnight?

If you live on your phone all day, the 12W iPad charger at $19 gives you nearly the fastest charging option available, if you’re one of the relative few who need to charge during the day.

 

[Baymowe335]

What exactly is the gripe?

 

[gavroche]

I don't get why people keep putting this idea forth as a reason for the 5W charger.

Apple could do customers a helluva favor by coming out and being definitive about charging, both wired and wireless. Because right now we are all primarily speculating. Ambiguity benefits no one.

People keep putting it out there for precisely the reason you said... that there is ambiguity. Of supposed battery experts can't seem to agree on a lot of these issues... how are we supposed to know. And how are we supposed to criticize for hypothesizing on am explanation.

What I do know for certainty is that if they did include a bigger charger, and even only charged a mere $1 more for it... you'd still have people complain.

 

[fmalloy]

Get the facts. We are destroying planet Earth and nobody seems to care. Wireless charging is a waste of energy. Wired whatever is much better than wireless whenever possible for anything, including also keyboards and mice. Batteries are obnoxious to the environment, besides much less convenient and a pain to recharge routinely.

Smartphones with big screens use a lot of power. All the lithium mined from the earth damages the environment. The extremely toxic chemicals and very large amounts of water that are required to fabricate silicon wafers is bad for the earth. Smaller flip phones lasted a week; Apple iPhones are lucky to last a day. Buying new phones every two years means lots of waste electronics that only some of which can be recycled. Writing thoughts on pencil and paper is much more eco-friendly.

Do you realize how damaging it is to the environment to build an Apple spaceship complex and all the wasted space instead of building up? Know how many natural resources in Silicon Valley have been lost at the rate it's expanding with all this technology?

Agree with you about too many batteries - it was APPLE who took away the headphone jack and is pushing us to wireless headphones.

All this and it's OUR fault for wanting to use wireless charging? Give me a break.

 

[VictorTango777]

They should just ship 12W iPad adapter with iPhones. It's silly that Apple charges $19 for both a 5W and 12W charger. I guess they want consumers to spend another $19.

Also annoying is Apple shipping their laptops with different wattage power adapters with negligible difference in size or price. It also complicates their inventory management and wastes space on the store shelves. All Mac laptops should include the highest wattage power adapters for a given connector type (Magsafe or USB-C). Do people actually think that using the 85W power adapter means the adapter will draw 85W all the time?

 

[Daniel L]

Is there a USB-C to Lightning adapter that works well so I don't have to buy and swap cables every time I want to fast charge my phone with my laptop adapter?

 

[Marshall73]

Can you do the same tests but this time record the power consumption. Or even record power consumption for each charger type to fully charge the phone. That should have been in the original test as a metric of how economical the charger will be, considering most users charge their phones every day. E.g. fast charger is not much good if it consumes way more power.

 

[thadoggfather]

USB-c 29w official second hand is the way to go

Got mine in the summer from eBay in mint shape, almost unused, for $25

For 12.9 iPad


Pre-X hype

 

[ctyrider]

Don't get the obsession with fast charing. My iPhone charges reliably overnight via "slow" 5W charger. Fast charging only matters in rare (for most people) situations where you need to charge on the go.

Slow charging is better for longevity of Li-Ion batteries, so for majority of people 5W charger is the best choice.

 

[BigMcGuire]

Great article! Thanks for taking the time to write this -- as someone who has a huge interest in batteries, this was awesome!

 

[OldSchoolMacGuy]

now do the same math with the wired connections. you will realize that there are diminishing returns with all of them.
12W should be MORE than double the speed. but it isn't even twice as fast.

I understand that. Wireless sees far higher diminishing returns than wired does. Wired doesn't have the negative impacts on the health of your battery like wireless does. The phone can still be used while wired charging. It doesn't have to be kept in a very specific spot to be charged. And wireless generally wastes a good deal of electricity even when not in use.

Sorry but wireless is the loser in most every case currently. That was my original point and one that was well proven.

 

[69Mustang]

Because it's not a binary decision. A portion of the population may want fast charging, but it doesn't mean it's healthy for the battery.

Many cars have launch control, but if you want to use it repeatedly, you better buy an extended warranty for the transmission.

That is a more than apt analogy. It doesn't answer the ambiguity from Apple but definitely makes sense.

People keep putting it out there for precisely the reason you said... that there is ambiguity. Of supposed battery experts can't seem to agree on a lot of these issues... how are we supposed to know. And how are we supposed to criticize for hypothesizing on am explanation.

Preaching to choir. I can't think of a reason to keep everyone in the dark. I can, but it's all negative business related speculation so I'll just keep it to myself.

What I do know for certainty is that if they did include a bigger charger, and even only charged a mere $1 more for it... you'd still have people complain.

You're right. They would complain. To be honest, I'd be one 'em. The dollar wouldn't be the issue. It would be the optics. It wouldn't be a customer-centric decision that's for sure. When companies that make far less profit margin than Apple can put a fast charger in the box, one would think the worlds most profitable company could at least do the same for their customers.