iPad Pro New IPP (10.5 and 12.9 inch) USB C fast charging test results, including 3rd party adapter

[BrettDS]

Right now I have a 10.5 and 2nd gen 12.9 inch IPP’s (I’m trying to decide which one to keep). I also have a genuine apple USB C to lightning cable, a genuine apple 29W USB C adapter and an Anker 27W USB C adapter.

I grabbed my kill a watt power meter and took some measurements. Both Pads were at about 30% during the tests. I also used a genuine apple 12W USB adapter with a genuine apple USB to lightning cable as a baseline.

Keep in mind that there is some power lost to heat during the AC to DC conversion, so the kill a watt will read a bit higher than what is actually being used by the iPad

In any case, here are my results:

2nd Gen 12.9” IPP:
12W Apple Adapter: 13W, .2A
29W Apple Adapter: 31W, .49A
27W Anker Adapter: 33W, .5A

10.5” IPP:
12W Apple Adapter: 13W, .2A
29W Apple Adapter: 31W, .49A
27W Anker Adapter: 31W, .49A

So it looks like both the 10.5 and 2nd gen 12.9” IPP’s are both capable of charging at 29W from both the apple and third party adapters. I don’t have a 3rd party USB C to lightning cable, so I wasn’t able to test with anything but the real apple cable.

Originally I thought that the fact that the Anker adapter was drawing 33W and the apple adapter was only drawing 31W on the 12.9” IPP indicated that the Anker adapter may be less efficient than the apple one. However on the 10.5” IPP both adapters drew 31W, so it may be that the 12.9” IPP is capable of drawing even more power than 29W. I don’t have any more powerful chargers, but it would be interesting to see the results with a bigger charger and the 12.9” IPP.

It’s also worth noting that I have the Anker Powercore+ 26800 PD battery, which has a USB C port capable of delivering up to 30W. I have no way of measuring the power output of that battery when it’s connected to my iPads, since the kill a watt plugs into the wall. However I can say that based on charge times when the ipads are connected to the battery, which are very similar to the charge times on the 29W AC adapters, I believe that the battery is delivering a full 29W to both the 10.5” and the 2nd gen 12.9” IPP’s (Again, using the genuine apple USB C to lightning cable here)

 

[dav1dd]

I clicked through, hoping for times. Just saying

 

[Analog Kid]

Right now I have a 10.5 and 2nd gen 12.9 inch IPP’s (I’m trying to decide which one to keep). I also have a genuine apple USB C to lightning cable, a genuine apple 29W USB C adapter and an Anker 27W USB C adapter.

I grabbed my kill a watt power meter and took some measurements. Both Pads were at about 30% during the tests. I also used a genuine apple 12W USB adapter with a genuine apple USB to lightning cable as a baseline.

Keep in mind that there is some power lost to heat during the AC to DC conversion, so the kill a watt will read a bit higher than what is actually being used by the iPad

In any case, here are my results:

2nd Gen 12.9” IPP:
12W Apple Adapter: 13W, .2A
29W Apple Adapter: 31W, .49A
27W Anker Adapter: 33W, .5A

10.5” IPP:
12W Apple Adapter: 13W, .2A
29W Apple Adapter: 31W, .49A
27W Anker Adapter: 31W, .49A

So it looks like both the 10.5 and 2nd gen 12.9” IPP’s are both capable of charging at 29W from both the apple and third party adapters. I don’t have a 3rd party USB C to lightning cable, so I wasn’t able to test with anything but the real apple cable.

Originally I thought that the fact that the Anker adapter was drawing 33W and the apple adapter was only drawing 31W on the 12.9” IPP indicated that the Anker adapter may be less efficient than the apple one. However on the 10.5” IPP both adapters drew 31W, so it may be that the 12.9” IPP is capable of drawing even more power than 29W. I don’t have any more powerful chargers, but it would be interesting to see the results with a bigger charger and the 12.9” IPP.

It’s also worth noting that I have the Anker Powercore+ 26800 PD battery, which has a USB C port capable of delivering up to 30W. I have no way of measuring the power output of that battery when it’s connected to my iPads, since the kill a watt plugs into the wall. However I can say that based on charge times when the ipads are connected to the battery, which are very similar to the charge times on the 29W AC adapters, I believe that the battery is delivering a full 29W to both the 10.5” and the 2nd gen 12.9” IPP’s (Again, using the genuine apple USB C to lightning cable here)

Thanks for the post! Have you happened to check if the Lightning to USB-C cable lets you transfer data at USB 3 speeds?

 

[BrettDS]

I clicked through, hoping for times. Just saying

I suppose I could try to do some time tests, but honestly I don’t think that info is nearly as useful as charge times can vary considerably depending on whether the ipad is off or on and in use, what the screen brightness is, how hard the CPU is being worked, etc. Additionally, I think other people have already done those tests and you can find those results by googling a bit.

What I was trying to show here is that both the 10.5 and 12.9 IPP can draw a full 29W from a USB C adapter and that they can also draw a full 29W from a third party USB C adapter (my understanding is that the first gen 12.9” IPP did not work with third party adapters)

 

[BrettDS]

Thanks for the post! Have you happened to check if the Lightning to USB-C cable lets you transfer data at USB 3 speeds?

I have not and unfortunately this isn’t something that I can test because I don’t have a computer with a USB C port. Actually, come to think of it, it’s been years since I’ve even connected my iPad or iPhone to a computer to transfer data.

 

[Lucifer666]

Thanks for the Anker test, excellent post.

So save a few bucks and get an Anker. I bought a used Apple one for $40. Expensive stuff. At least it works well.

Next stop: third party cables

 

[Eric5273]

That's good news that the Anker power adapter works. I prefer using Anker power adapters for when I travel since they claim to have surge protection built in. I have no idea if the standard Apple adapters do or not, but they have no documentation claiming so.

 

[rasputin1969]

Thanks for sharing. So fast charging should be just over rwice as fast.

 

[darkarn]

Thank goodness I am using an Anker charger and powerbank, time for me to get a USB C to Lightning cable too

 

[BrettDS]

Thanks for sharing. So fast charging should be just over rwice as fast.

Actually, depending on what you’re doing with the iPad while charging, it may be that fast charging would be considerably more than twice as fast.

If the ipad is off and most of the power is going to charging the battery, then yes, it should be about half the time to fast charge. However, if the iPad is on, then you need to consider the fact that not all of the power will be going to charging the battery.

For example, if the ipad is on the screen and processor may be drawing a significant amount of power, even as much as 10 watts. In that case, if you’re charging with the 12 watt adapter then 10 watts is going to running the ipad and only 2 watts are going to charging the battery. If you connect the 29 watt adapter then there will still be 10 watts of overhead, but 19 watts will be going to the battery, so in that case it may be able to charge nearly 10 times as fast.

 

[BrettDS]

Thank goodness I am using an Anker charger and powerbank, time for me to get a USB C to Lightning cable too

Keep in mind that you need to make sure that your Anker charger and power bank support power delivery over USB C. Without that you won’t be able to get fast charging.

 

[darkarn]

Keep in mind that you need to make sure that your Anker charger and power bank support power delivery over USB C. Without that you won’t be able to get fast charging.

Aww shucks you are right, the wall charger I have don't have USB C out (has QC 3.0 and normal 5V 2.4A ports), and the power bank's USB C out is 5V 3A

 

[Lucifer666]

I think the key term (correct me if I'm wrong) is 'Power delivery'

I noticed a cheap USB-C 29W adapter, that will not supply the higher voltage (were 'power delivery' comes in perhaps), but splits up the 29W between multiple outputs.

Note: Still confusing stuff, but we are getting there . thanks to the help of some testers here.....thanks!

 

[BrettDS]

I think the key term (correct me if I'm wrong) is 'Power delivery'

I think you are right about that. I spent some time trying to figure out which USB C adapters could provide 29W of charging to a single port and it seemed like the power delivery ones were the ones that could. Like you said, other adapters promised 29W (or more) but they weren’t able to deliver that to a single port.