Updated July 16 with more information on charging speeds and how each iPhone is affected, especially when compared to Android’s fastest options.
Apple iPhone 15 Pro: Can the iPhone 16 Pro charge faster?
When Apple releases the iPhone 16 this fall, there will be a lot of changes. And now it looks like one of the great malaises of the 21st century, battery anxiety, will be partially alleviated with the introduction of significantly faster charging.
The new speeds will be faster than any iPhone before them, and by quite a bit. It’s worth noting that some Android phone users will scoff at the upgrade, with phones like the OnePlus 12, for example, supporting much higher speeds.
Other Android users will also be laughing at this development when they compare what their phones can do. Faster than the aforementioned OnePlus 12 are the Oppo Reno 12 Pro and Xiaomi 14 Pro which both offer 120W wired fast charging options – three times what Apple will potentially supply – and Motorola goes even further.
The Edge 40 Pro hits 125W. Apple won’t even be as fast as Samsung, whose Galaxy S24 series charges at up to 45W, but the gap is at least smaller there.
Also keep in mind that some Android phone manufacturers include a fast-charging plug in the box, but as you know, Apple hasn’t included a charging plug in the box in years. So even if you want the new, faster 40W charging, you’ll need to buy a new plug to take full advantage of it. There are several Mac laptop chargers that can provide more than enough charge, so if you have one, that’s an option.
Apple will at least be happy to surpass the charging speeds of the Google Pixel 8 series, which match Apple’s max of 27W. But who knows what Google will reveal when the Pixel 9 phones launch in August, a month ahead of Apple’s next devices.
The battery sizes of the new phones play a role in their charging capabilities, which has an interesting domino effect on the iPhone 16 Plus.
That’s because there have already been reports of larger batteries for the iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Pro, and iPhone 16 Pro Max, but the iPhone 16 Plus is thought to have a smaller battery than the iPhone 15 Plus.
There’s a predicted 8.6% decrease in battery size, as noted by Britta O’Boyle at T3. Combine that with support for faster charging, and it seems possible the iPhone 16 Plus could charge faster than the rest of the lineup.
The other iPhone 16 models with their larger batteries still offer faster charging, both wired and wireless.
There have already been reports of new updates coming to the iPhone 16 lineup. These include different displays on some models, wider implementation of the exceptional tetraprism camera, a new strategy for its next-generation processors, more advanced camera lenses, noticeably more efficient OLED displays, a new thermal design to prevent overheating, and an improved main camera sensor.
But this new report focuses on battery life, the most important metric for all of us. It’s not just that the battery will be different, although a recent report said that, but that when it does run out, it will recharge much faster.
That’s because the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max will support 40W wired charging speeds, according to a report from IT Home and spotted by MacRumors. And it could apply to the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus, too.
Right now, all of the phones in the iPhone 15 lineup support wired charging speeds of up to 27 watts, assuming you have a powerful enough charging plug. That means you can charge your iPhone 15 from empty to 50% in about 30 minutes. That’s not bad, but faster would be better.
Support for wired charging at up to 40W would really speed up that charge time, assuming you have a powerful enough charging plug. Theoretically, it could mean you could charge the iPhone 16 from nothing to 50% in just over 15 minutes.
In reality, it will likely take longer, if the rumor is true that most iPhone 16 series will have larger batteries, allowing it to last a bit longer. Still, reaching 50% charge in about 20 minutes should be possible.
How about wireless charging, that super convenient but slower way to drain your battery? Currently that’s maxed out at 15W, but the report also predicts support for 20W wireless charging.
Expect more reveals before the iPhone 16 series launches, likely in mid-September.