Recommendations to fast charge iPhone or iPad often include picking up the 20W power adapter from Apple or similar from a third party. But what about using a higher-powered USB-C charger from your MacBook Pro or MacBook Air? Follow along for which iPhones and iPads you can fast charge with Apple’s MacBook chargers or similar third-party chargers.
Fast charging offers around 50% battery in 30 minutes. But picking up a new USB-C to Lightning cable and 20W charging block from Apple costs $40. Third-party options cost less, but what about using something you already have?
The good news is that modern iPhones and iPads work with all of the MacBook USB-C chargers up to the 96W model (note that Apple doesn’t recommend using its 140W USB-C charger with iPhone and iPad).
While it may sound risky, it’s safe to use Apple’s higher-powered USB-C chargers, as your iPhone or iPad is what determines the power it receives, not the charger. Apple even does its own testing with the whole range of its USB-C power adapters.
Note: depending on the current capacity of your battery, your device will pull different levels of power. For example, a battery at 10% will draw more power than one at 80%.
Fast charge iPhone and iPad with MacBook chargers?
Apple says the following iOS devices are compatible with its 18W, 20W, 29W, 30W, 61W, 87W, and 96W adapters for fast charging:
- iPhone 8/8 Plus and later
- iPad Pro 12.9-inch (1st generation and later)
- iPad Pro 11-inch (1st generation and later)
- iPad Pro 10.5-inch
- iPad Air 3rd generation and later
- iPad mini 5th generation and later
Apple notes you can use its USB-C to Lightning cable or that “a comparable third-party USB-C power adapter that supports USB Power Delivery (USB-PD)” will also work like Anker’s Powerline series.
If you’re looking for a more flexible USB-C charger or want an extra, Anker’s 36W dual-port USB-C charger and Satechi’s 3-port 66W GaN USB-C Charger are great choices to fast charge iPhones and iPads simultaneously.
With the iPhone 13 Pro Max being able to pull up to 27W of power, using 30W+ power adapters will give you the fastest charging times.
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