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iPhone 14 charging slowly? How to fast charge your iPhone

Is your iPhone 14 or iPhone 14 Pro charging slower than your old phone did? The best way to fast charge is with a Lightning to USB-C cable and a 30 watt charger, either from Apple or a cheaper third-party option like Anker. Here’s everything you need to know about fast charging your new iPhone …

Starting with the iPhone 12, Apple no longer includes a power adapter in the box at all. Earlier iPhone models would ship with a 5-watt charger; this might be what you are using as you kept on to it for years and year.

However, at the same time, the internal battery capacities of the iPhone has risen dramatically over the last five or so years. As such, if you are using an old slower wattage charger, you will find your charging speeds on a new iPhone like the iPhone 14 or iPhone 14 Pro are significantly slower than your old phone.

What is the fastest way to charge iPhone 14?

Apple includes a Lightning to USB-C cable in the box with your iPhone 14. Using this cable — or one like it — with a 30-watt USB-C charger is the fastest way to give your phone some juice.

With a 30-watt charger, you will be able to go from 0% to 50% charge in about half an hour with fast charging. Going from 0% to 100% will take about two hours. This compares to about three hours with a 20-watt charger, or about four hours if using an older Apple USB 5-watt power adapter.

Obviously, if you are charging overnight, this difference in speed may not matter to you. But if you want the fastest charging possible, upgrade your old USB charger to a USB-C charger rated around 30 watts.

Can I use the new Apple dual charger?

Apple’s newest charging option on sale is a 35-watt dual USB-C wall charger. If you use only one of the ports, you will be able to use the full charging speed of 35-watts and charge your iPhone quickly. If you try and charge two iPhones at the same time using both ports, then each phone will get about 17 watts of power and, naturally, take longer to charge.

Third-party makers offer competitive dual charging options with even faster speeds. For instance, this Anker combo USB-C charger provides two USB-C ports and one USB-A port, with maximum charging speeds of 65 watts. Products like these generally represent better value for money than Apple’s first-party dual charger.

Can I use my MacBook charger to charge my iPhone?

If you have a MacBook that uses USB-C charging, you can use the same charging brick with your iPhone. Your MacBook charging brick may be rated at 30 watt, 67 watt, 97 watt or more. However, your iPhone will max out at 30 watt charging speeds, so using a higher-rated charger will not make your phone charge any faster than that.

Can I fast charge with wireless charging?

Wired charging at 30-watts is always faster than wireless charging your iPhone. Using a Qi charging pad or similar accessory, you can charge your iPhone wirelessly at about 7.5 watts.

With an Apple MagSafe charger, you can attach the charging puck to the back of your iPhone securely using a magnetic connection and enable faster wireless charging, up to 15 watts. However, this is still significantly slower than wired charging options.

Can I use my older cables and chargers safely?

Yes. Any legitimate Lightning cable and charger combination is perfectly safe to use with your iPhone. It just means you will have to put up with slower charging speeds.

Power adapters and chargers rated at more than 30 watts are fine to use too, the iPhone will only draw a maximum of about 30 watts though, so you don’t get any advantage of using a higher-rated charger.

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Avatar for Benjamin Mayo Benjamin Mayo

Benjamin develops iOS apps professionally and covers Apple news and rumors for 9to5Mac. Listen to Benjamin, every week, on the Happy Hour podcast. Check out his personal blog. Message Benjamin over email or Twitter.


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