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iPhone 16 Pro charges faster than ever, here’s how much

Apple’s iPhone 16 line packs a variety of improvements related to batteries and thermals. One change is the greatly improved charging speed both with USB-C wired charging and MagSafe. A new report from ChargerLAB details just how much better the charging speed is.

Max charging speed 20% faster than before

ChargerLAB performed extensive testing of the latest iPhone’s charging capabilities.

Specifically, the tests used an iPhone 16 Pro Max and measured charging power across a massive list of first-party and third-party charging accessories.

The results?

The iPhone 16 Pro Max charged 20% faster or more than last year’s 15 Pro Max.

With the standard 20W charging brick that used to come in the box with new iPhones, there was understandably no difference. Both models charged at about 18W.

But when you have a charging brick capable of higher wattage output, the difference is very clear.

iPhone 16 iPhone 15
Apple 20W brick18.86W18.65W
Apple 35W brick30.55W24.85W
Apple 61W brick30.27W25.03W
Anker 65W brick31.47W25.13W

As you can see, 35W is about the minimum size brick you’ll want to get optimal charging speed. Going higher than that doesn’t produce extra gains—unless you’re using the same brick for charging a Mac or iPad.

The tests also show how third-party charging bricks perform just as well as Apple’s offerings, with the same 20% increase over last year’s models.

If you’re using Apple’s 20W charging brick, you’re only getting about 18W of charging power. But with the right gear, this test shows that you can nearly double that by hitting 30W or more.

Accessories to fast charge your iPhone 16 Pro

If you’re looking to take advantage of your iPhone 16’s faster charging capabilities, here are some recommended accessories.

Anker’s 65W USB-C charging brick will get you peak charging performance at a much lower cost than Apple’s chargers.

However, if you want to use the same brick to fast charge a Mac or iPad, I recommend upgrading to this 100W charging brick instead. It’s nearly the same price, but with greater overhead.

To pair with the fast charging brick, I recommend this 3.3ft Baseus braided USB-C cable, or the even longer 6.6ft version.

Finally, if you’re interested in wireless charging, the new second-generation MagSafe charging puck will get you the best performance for an iPhone 16 model. It’s available both in 1m and 2m cable length.

What has your charging experience been like with the iPhone 16? Let us know in the comments.

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Author

Avatar for Ryan Christoffel Ryan Christoffel

Ryan got his start in journalism as an Editor at MacStories, where he worked for four years covering Apple news, writing app reviews, and more. For two years he co-hosted the Adapt podcast on Relay FM, which focused entirely on the iPad. As a result, it should come as no surprise that his favorite Apple device is the iPad Pro.

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