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iPad mini Won't charge via USB A

W

woolypants

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Just got a new iPad mini and am finding it won't charge via USB A to USB C leads. It charges for maybe a minute then says "Not charging" next to the battery icon. (No, I haven't got it set to 80% charging.)

I tried two different USB A power bricks that are known good.

However, it does seem to be charging OK using the USB C power brick and cable that came with my iPad Air M1 (5th gen/2022).

The weird thing is, the iPad Air is happy to charge using the above config of USB A to USB C.

What's your experience?

I asked ChatGPT and it said that older iPad Airs are probably OK with USB A charging but iPad minis are fussier. This sounds reasonable but I just wanted to check in case of a fault.
 
The newer iPads generally require more wattage than USB-A bricks are capable of providing. It isn't necessarily the cable that's the problem, but it may be difficult (if not impossible) to find a USB-A brick that can output the wattage needed.

USB-C also supports Power Delivery, where devices negotiate power specs to enable faster charging. USB-A cannot do that.
 
If iPad says "Not Charging" on screen, it could be either it decides not to charge (like battery is too cold or warm, or charing limit), or the power adapter cannot deliver sufficient wattage for iPad to charge the battery.
 
I ran into the same thing with my M4 13” Pro. I have a number of USB A to C cables. With my metered Anker Chargers they don’t do the job. I have also noted my older, couple of years old, USB-C cables are not working very well. I have replaced everything with USB-4 cables. This cable can support 100 Watt charging. Of course the device requlates it own charging rate but the USB-4 cable makes sure it gets all of the power it needs. I have a few Thunderbolt 5 cables they can supply 240 Watts. The M4 pro max’s at 40 watts.
 
Last edited:
All iPad pros (A12X, M1, M2 and M4) charge using USB A at any wattage, tested with power meter, I don't have the new mini
 
Digitalguy said:
All iPad pros (A12X, M1, M2 and M4) charge using USB A at any wattage, tested with power meter, I don't have the new mini
Click to expand...
Depends on the load at the time… if you’re fully utilising it on a game like Minecraft, online and/or using it in a really hot environment in a case with not much cooling, charging may go on hold, or actually decrease with a power brick that’s too low powered. Whereas if it’s sitting idle, it might trickle up to full charge eventually.
 
My mini 6 takes charge from a USB-A to USB-C cable. It is plugged into to the USB port on a Masterplug wall adapter, due to lack of sockets.
 
It should not be a problem in theory. Have you tried other cables? Are you using the ipad while charging? How many watts does the charger deliver? (If it only reads Voltage and Amperes, P=U*I, e.g. 5V*2A=10 Watts).

Could be a weak charger in combination with cheap cables. Afaik, sometimes ipads prefer Apple cables (and chargers?) containing the MFI-chip to get all the power a charger can deliver)
 
Digitalguy said:
All iPad pros (A12X, M1, M2 and M4) charge using USB A at any wattage, tested with power meter, I don't have the new mini
Click to expand...

Not at any wattage. Some USB ports only provide 5V/0.5A so only 2.5W. Learned the hard way on a plane. The built-in USB ports charged my iPhone (barely) but the mini 6 perpetually showed Not Charging.

Thankfully, our seat had a semi-working outlet so I was able to plug in a 12W brick.
 
When iPads adopted Type-C ports, starting with the Pro, they dropped support for the legacy Apple 2.4 (12W) protocol supported by old Type-A sources.

However, they do support USB BC charging, which is 7.5W.

So they will still charge with a lower power port, it will just require more time and patience.

I've charged my 2020 Pro via a connection to a powered USB hub from the very start. As a house cat, it can leisurely afford to sit and wait all afternoon, or overnight to fully charge.

The "Not Charging" indicator just means that the input power doesn't match Apple's level for a normal charge, but that doesn't mean that it's not drawing any power at all.
 
TheIntruder said:
When iPads adopted Type-C ports, starting with the Pro, they dropped support for the legacy Apple 2.4 (12W) protocol supported by old Type-A sources.

However, they do support USB BC charging, which is 7.5W.

So they will still charge with a lower power port, it will just require more time and patience.

I've charged my 2020 Pro via a connection to a powered USB hub from the very start. As a house cat, it can leisurely afford to sit and wait all afternoon, or overnight to fully charge.

The "Not Charging" indicator just means that the input power doesn't match Apple's level for a normal charge, but that doesn't mean that it's not drawing any power at all.
Click to expand...
Interesting, that's also why I now use a power bank with built-in power meter when I travel and as many as 4 power meter chargers (with 4 ports each) at home, to know exactly what's going on
 
TheIntruder said:
When iPads adopted Type-C ports, starting with the Pro, they dropped support for the legacy Apple 2.4 (12W) protocol supported by old Type-A sources.

However, they do support USB BC charging, which is 7.5W.

So they will still charge with a lower power port, it will just require more time and patience.

I've charged my 2020 Pro via a connection to a powered USB hub from the very start. As a house cat, it can leisurely afford to sit and wait all afternoon, or overnight to fully charge.

The "Not Charging" indicator just means that the input power doesn't match Apple's level for a normal charge, but that doesn't mean that it's not drawing any power at all.
Click to expand...
So that means that it will charge with a USB-C to USB-A Cable and a 10/12w older Power Adapter, just very, very slowly?
 
FeliApple said:
So that means that it will charge with a USB-C to USB-A Cable and a 10/12w older Power Adapter, just very, very slowly?
Click to expand...
Probably it will.

I've long-since switched over to just USB-C chargers; they seem a lot more adaptable than USB-A. I even have some USB-C to micro USB cables and one USB-C to mini USB, for a particularly old device.

The only issue I've run into, is there are a few devices (typically not from any brand name you'll have ever heard of) that have a USB-C charge port, and include a USB-A to USB-C cable. And they REFUSE to charge from a USB-C to USB-C cable!

I've seen it a few times but the one that comes to mind is a no-name USB rechargeable flashlight. Rather irritating.
 
Digitalguy said:
Interesting, that's also why I now use a power bank with built-in power meter when I travel and as many as 4 power meter chargers (with 4 ports each) at home, to know exactly what's going on
Click to expand...

I don't recall the exact figure, but when I put a meter onto the Pro with a Type-A source to determine what was occurring, it was <10W.

FeliApple said:
So that means that it will charge with a USB-C to USB-A Cable and a 10/12w older Power Adapter, just very, very slowly?
Click to expand...

Correct. Slower than with a higher power PD source, but not that slow.

Recall that until the Pro, iPads shipped with either 10W or 12W adapters, with batteries with similar capacities.

Qualcomm's QuickCharge protocols supported the highest rates among the non-spec protocols over Type-A (disregarding whatever propritary schemes the Chinese brands had), but of course Apple wasn't going to adopt it, since it was tied to QC's chips, as well as not fitting in with Apple's more conservative approach to charging speeds.

In practice, I can connect my Pro to my powered hub in the morning, allow it to sit all day when I'm away, and it will be mostly charged by the time I return.

I don't know it's mandated by the spec to have PD devices support BC charging as a fallback, but imagine not having a PD charger on hand, and finding that a dead device cannot be charged, even with a Type-A source available. It may not be fast or modern, but at least it will still retain the ability to recharge, albeit more slowly, with the older spec.

FreakinEurekan said:
The only issue I've run into, is there are a few devices (typically not from any brand name you'll have ever heard of) that have a USB-C charge port, and include a USB-A to USB-C cable. And they REFUSE to charge from a USB-C to USB-C cable!

I've seen it a few times but the one that comes to mind is a no-name USB rechargeable flashlight. Rather irritating.
Click to expand...

Such devices lack the resistors in their connectors to passively signal to a PD source that something is connected, and to supply power. Cheap and lazy, when their cost is negligible.

But there is a fix for that.
 
In my experiance most trouble with chargins comes from the cable or adapters (usba to usbc).
Never ask chatgtp. About half of the answers are just wrong.
 
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That’s a common quirk with the new iPad mini! The newer models are way pickier about power input than older iPads. Most USB-A ports can’t deliver enough consistent wattage, so even if the cable works for your Air, the mini will drop out and show “Not charging” after a minute. I ran into the same thing with mine, and switching to a good USB-C PD charger fixed it. If you need to charge on the go, a reliable portable charger with steady PD output works great too, just skip the old USB-A setups.
 
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