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MagSafe Charger Only Charges at Full 15W Speeds With Apple's 20W Power Adapter [Updated]
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The guy in the video said it’s because the 20 watt has the Fast Charge "Profile".
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seems like a matter of PD 4.0 vs PD 3.0 chargers, if Apple hasn’t already announced a new version of PD. This will come to light at the latest when they allow manufacturers to certify for the new PD version.
Ultimately, it’s a standard that is more advanced than even what Qi chargers are capable of, so I don’t think it’s a matter of Apple hindering other chargers. The other chargers just can’t do what’s necessary to safely charge that way. Qi 1.2 can theoretically do 15 watts, but in reality even 1.2 Qi chargers only hit around 10 watts at best ... they just aren’t capable. It’s not about what adapters can do in general. It’s about “can that adapter communicate with the device to negotiate a safe charging rate?” A 100 watt power brick is moot if it overcharges, making the phone explode.
Maybe Qi 1.3 will catch up to this PD 4.0 (or maybe more like PD 3.1) that remains to be seen. But i’m sure people will still complain and think they should be getting 15 watt speeds out of their old-school Apple 5 watt chargers.
Ultimately, it’s a standard that is more advanced than even what Qi chargers are capable of, so I don’t think it’s a matter of Apple hindering other chargers. The other chargers just can’t do what’s necessary to safely charge that way. Qi 1.2 can theoretically do 15 watts, but in reality even 1.2 Qi chargers only hit around 10 watts at best ... they just aren’t capable. It’s not about what adapters can do in general. It’s about “can that adapter communicate with the device to negotiate a safe charging rate?” A 100 watt power brick is moot if it overcharges, making the phone explode.
Maybe Qi 1.3 will catch up to this PD 4.0 (or maybe more like PD 3.1) that remains to be seen. But i’m sure people will still complain and think they should be getting 15 watt speeds out of their old-school Apple 5 watt chargers.
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I was wondering this too. This is the charging brick I ordered.
Also, what app are people using to test this?
Gee, just use that friggin' Lightning cable to charge your phone! Cheaper, faster, more energy-efficient.
Apple also removed earpods. Wet finger in the air, not shipping 80 million or so chargers and pods will reduce the impact of e-waste, smaller and light boxes reduce shipping costs and carbon footprint. So the claim by Apple is good claim.
Apple also did not raise the price of the lineup from lowest to highest.
Apple ensures that your phone is safe when using 15 watt charging.
Apple didn't lie about anything.
SO well said. They should pin this post to the top of the forums.
Clearly you haven’t seen the box. It is way, way, way smaller.
videos and pictures online do not do it justice. The iPhone 12 box is around the same size as an iPhone case package.
you could probably fit 2 1/2 iPhone 12 boxes inside of an iPhone 11 box. I was shocked when I opened it just how tiny it was. And that will save a lot of materials
I don't know. Buy one for $20, a good deal imo, and give it a whirl. If you're not happy, simply return it. Easy.
If this was intentional by Apple, then its a pretty greedy move. I can understand not including chargers or EarPods in the box; they're redundant for a lot of people. But to make the Magsafe charger $39 with no wall charger, and have it only optimized for Apple's charger, is just greedy.
- You don’t know that. The price of the internals have not been spec'd (guessed) yet. I presume unless you get their products at Apples cost you won't be happy; so...whatever.
- Based on the fact that higher rated charges don’t work, and MagSafe is a new device. Add on the way Apple develops tech 'into the future' for systems & devices we have not even thought of yet. I’d suggest this is new technology and not a way to deliberately nobble the opposition. Otherwise older charges would just work.
- Just because you’re not happy with free, doesn’t make Apple a liar. People are such whinges.
Nevermind, I found it.
So it runs 20W at 9V/2.22A. So that's the key thing - if the power adapter doesn't support 9V at that current, it's not going to be able to properly power the Magsafe 15W charger.
So I decided to dig up my 96W charger from Apple... that definitely supports 9V/3A, so it should work since 3A exceeds 2.22A at the same voltage profile.
Decided to look up PD 3.0 v 2.0 - the supposed difference is just that more information is exchanged. I guess it's possible that the MagSafe charger requires communication to regulate heat output before it's willing to charge at 15W?
Yeah, it’s hardly surprising that the $19 power adapter gives the spec’ed 15W charging.
Nice!
I was curious about the output in regards to the 18watt charger from last year and had this nagging thought in the back in my mind that Anker and other third party chargers may not charge at the full 15w output. I hope Apple opens this up to more third party MFI chargers moving forward. I want to say they are being conservative in regards to the overheating potential but this would be a total bummer if only the 20watt adapter from Apple was the way to go.
Is there any details on when the mat which will also charge an Apple Watch will be released? Hoping to be able to order when order the max on the 6th!
interesting so 3.0 was published. I was just guessing. But I imagine that is indeed why @ communication.
Butt hurt much? Don’t use MagSafe if you don’t want to.
Apple isn’t forcing anyone to upgrade from Lightning to Qi or from Qi to MagSafe 🤷♂️
The 18 W charges it at 13 W. I’m gonna say that that’s not that bad. The difference between 13 W wireless charging and 15 W wireless charging can’t be that much. What, my phone gets to 50% a minute and a half later than it would?
From my perspective, it would be a total physical bummer, if you could reach 15W charging capabilities with a 18 W adapter, if you charge inductive.
I am guessing this is using the 5V@3A profile since that is 15W. Apple's 30W USB-C Power Adapter supports 5V at 3A so it should be able to run the MagSafe at 15W.
The charger is communicating with the device and I guess that newer charger just support the new MagSafe. By the way it prolongs the life of the device if temperature is kept down while charging.
The 96W charger supports 9V at upto 3A, but still doesn’t hit the full speed per this article. So seems like there’s something else going on.Nevermind, I found it.
So it runs 20W at 9V/2.22A. So that's the key thing - if the power adapter doesn't support 9V at that current, it's not going to be able to properly power the Magsafe 15W charger.