iPhone 8 and iPhone X Will Support Fast Charging, But Only If You Buy a New USB-C Charger (9to5mac.com)

One little detail Apple didn't mention at its event in Cupertino, California yesterday was the fact that the new iPhones will support fast charging. According to the official tech specs page, the new iPhones can recharge up to 50 percent of their battery life in a 30-minute charge. The catch? You have to use a USB-C charger and Lightning cable (sold separately). 9to5Mac reports: iPhone 8 battery life is roughly equivalent to the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus. On a full charge, expect up to 12 hours of internet usage on iPhone 8 and iPhone X, with up to 13 hours on iPhone 8 Plus. With a 50% quick charge in 30 minutes, you are effectively gaining hours of additional battery life during the day, even if you only plug in for a short period. However, to take advantage of fast-charging, you cannot use the Lightning to USB-A cable that is bundled in the box. Fast charging requires a USB-C to Lightning cable and the USB-C wall charger. More specifically, one of three USB-C wall chargers. Apple sells 29W, 61W and 87W variants of its USB-C power adapters. Prices range from $49 to $79. Apple doesn't break out specific numbers on how each model affects charging times, it's not clear if the cheapest 29W model can achieve the advertised 50% recharge in 30 minutes.

Comments

Re: Super fast charging?

[Anonymous Coward]

annoyed that they didn't put a USB-C connector ON THE DAMN PHONE

the right thing to do?

[intrico]

Of course, the right thing for Apple to do would have been to completely replace the proprietary lightning connectors with the standard USB-C connectors on all of their new device models going forward, but alas, shareholders gotta eat.

Re:the right thing to do?

[msauve]

They don't have that much courage.

Re:the right thing to do?

[blindseer]

They've changed the iPhone connection port once in the entire history of the product and loads of morons still bitch about Apple unnecessarily changing ports and how they only do it to make money on cables.

If you include the entire line of "iDevices" and go all the way back to the original iPod the ports changed twice, from FireWire to 30-pin, and then 30-pin to Lightning. That's over 15+ years. Changing the charger port on such devices every 5 or 10 years doesn't seem excessive to me, especially when the capabilities of the devices have changed considerably in that time and inexpensive adapters are available (for some definition of "inexpensive").

If they changed away from Lightning now, they'd get it all over again. They are damned if they do and damned if they don't.

No doubt. The Lightning connector predates the USB-C connector, and the USB-C port isn't really catching on outside of smart phones. As evidence I give the many posts here on Slashdot on Apple putting USB-C ports on their laptops. Which is it? Is USB-C good or is it bad?

I'd prefer that Apple included a USB-C cable and charger with their iDevices, it would do away with this odd situation of having their laptops charge from USB-C out of the box and their pocket sized devices charge from USB-A out of the box.

A similar debate came up with Apple before about including a keyboard and mouse with their computers. It used to be that all of their computers came with a new keyboard and mouse, and ones that weren't all that bad either. I liked them anyway. People complained about having to buy a new keyboard and mouse every time they upgraded their desktop. So, in their lower cost lines, they stopped including a keyboard and mouse. Then people complained about not getting a keyboard and mouse with the computer. Comparisons to buying a car without tires came up.

Would people prefer Apple didn't include a charger and cable with their iPhones? That way people aren't buying a charger they may not need, especially if they are upgrading from a previous iPhone or already own an iPad. There's an idea, don't put a charger in the box. But then these are $500+ phones and the charger and cable cost $40 retail, it costs Apple less than that to make them of course. By not including the "inferior" charger it'd save what? $10 maybe on the final retail price.

Shut up about the charger already. Buy the overpriced phone. Then buy the charger you want. When you open the boxes and unpack everything then toss the "inferior" charger in a drawer and forget about it until you lose or break your preferred charger.

Re: the right thing to do?

[Jesus H Rolle]

When USB was released motherboards still had Parallel and Serial ports for a while, when HDMI was released VGA didn't die instantly on Laptops.

Q: Conjunction junction, what's your function? A: Connecting nouns and verbs and phrases.

Re:the right thing to do?

[blindseer]

If they'd released a USB-C iPhone 7 and then the USB-C MacBook Pro there would have been far fewer complaints.

I doubt it. Perhaps what you say is true but I have my doubts. First is the order of events. An iPhone with USB-C charging and no laptop with USB-C ports creates near certainty of complaints since people will have to buy a new cable for wired connection to their laptop. There are ways to connect wirelessly but that's not as simple, fast, or reliable.

Getting the laptop with USB-C first means being able to use a USB-C to A adapter, which many would get anyway for other devices, to connect the iPhone. Alternatively a USB-C to Lightning cable for connecting to the laptop for data and charging, and being able to use the laptop charger to quick charge the phone.

Apple hasn't jumped in with USB-C with both feet yet and I don't just mean their iDevices. They are still selling a line of laptops with USB-A, MagSafe, and ThunderBolt2. I don't recall their desktop lines, If they have USB-C then they also have some "legacy" ports too.

I was looking at a laptop I considered buying. It was a Lenovo, as I recall, and it could charge from USB-C or their standard coaxial charger plug. That's an interesting combination, and something I would have liked on the Apple's offering, as in keep the Magsafe for old chargers but also allow charging with USB-C. I'm sure that there are a lot of technical and marketing reasons they didn't do that. I've seen MagSafe-like charging cables for USB-C that break away in the middle if tugged but they offer no data transfer, not even USB 2 speeds like the Apple "charging cable". The "charging cable" will still move USB 2.0 data back and forth but it's really just a cheaper alternative to the more expensive Thunderbolt3/USB3 cable.

If you think Apple is going to put USB-C on the phone itself, to replace the Lightning port, then I believe you are going to be disappointed for a while. The closest we'll get any time soon is the USB-C adapters.

Re:the right thing to do?

[Mordaximus]

Of course, the right thing for Apple to do would have been to completely replace the proprietary lightning connectors with the standard USB-C connectors on all of their new device models going forward, but alas, shareholders gotta eat.

Queen tried to warn them ages ago. "Thunderbolt and lightning, very, very fright'ning..."

Nothing new

[Ichijo]

My Nexus 6P also can only fast charge on a USB-C charger.

The real news is that the iPhones don't include the cable and fast charger in the box.

Re:Nothing new

[thegarbz]

The real news is that the iPhones don't include the cable and fast charger in the box.

This is the main complaint. Most phones fast charge only under specific scenarios. But Apple has historically been known for the "it just works" and "everything is compatible with everything else" approach.

Not only does the iPhone not come with the ability to fast charge with the items in its box, it also doesn't come with the ability to plug it in to the Macbook. Despite Apple insisting that USB-C is here now and backwards compatibility is not needed it somehow ranks as an optional extra on their most popular product.

Compared to Samsung's proprietary fast charging (probably just Qualcomm's), at least you get the phone + fast charger + compatible cable all in one box.

Re:Nothing new

[ProzacPatient]

I have a Galaxy Note 4 and my phone goes from 0% to 100% in about 15 seconds when I go to swap the battery out with a spare one.

7+ Already supports Fast Charging

[glennrrr]

I have a 29W power supply that charges my wife's 7+ noticeably quicker. Same power supply also fast charges the new iPad Pro 12.9.

OMGWTFBBQ!?!?!

[JBMcB]

Holy cow, I'm glad this information is front page news. This is groundbreaking journalism. No clickbait tagline here, no siree. All that's missing is the analysis on how devastating this information will be to the new iPhone's sales.

This should be part of a new series. What cables will next-gen devices come with? Do HP desktops come with regular round power cables, or those weird, flat, 3-wire jobs? And, most importantly, HOW LONG WILL THEY BE? If they include a 3-foot but I need a 4-foot I'll have to go out and buy one!

Seriously, is nothing else going on in tech right now?

Re:OMGWTFBBQ!?!?!

[thegarbz]

Seriously, is nothing else going on in tech right now?

You think that the company well known for compatibility and "it just works" product lines, releasing a product where one of the advertised features doesn't work, is not compatible with their other products, and unlike every other phone manufacturer doesn't include a fast charger in the box isn't worthy of news?

Heck this is a two-for-one. I'm quite impressed that with the latest and greatest model they are STILL not automatically bundling it with USB-C despite Apple's insistence that USB-A is dead when it released another product recently.

USB PD 2.0

[garote]

Any charging brick that supports the USB PD 2.0 usb power delivery standard will charge a MacBook, new MacBook Pro, or iPhone 8. You don't need to buy a brick from Apple for this.

The only detail to consider is the maximum wattage the brick can put out. That's why Apple sells a larger brick for the MacBook Pro.

Any brick - from any vendor - that can fast-charge a MacBook will fast-charge the iPhone 8 as well. The one I use is the Anker PowerPort+, but there are a number of others.

Re:USB PD 2.0

[garote]

All previous iPhones have been able to pull ~10 watts out of a USB port by looking for a proprietary signal from Apple-brand chargers. (A "voltage cascade" on pins 2 and 3, a.k.a the USB data pins.)

With that signal, the iPhone draws 2 amps (at 5v) out of the connected USB port. Without that signal, the iPhone assumes it's a USB port from some other vendor, and uses the standard USB power negotiation signals to ask for the maximum power available from the port (usually 1 amp).

This "voltage cascade" signal is trivial to recreate in any USB wiring setup by adding two resistors. Put those in, and you signal to any Apple device that your port can supply 2 amps without problems. Many, many manufacturers have sold USB devices with "fast charging" ports containing these resistors over the last ~10 years, from USB hubs to USB ports on laptops to USB chargers that go in cars to USB charging stations at airports, et cetera. They've become so common that there's now confusion over exactly who came up with the voltage cascade signal idea.

Now that the USB spec has given us a good standard for supplying lots of power at lots of voltages, the earlier fast-charging signal can (very slowly) be phased out.

HTC, really?

[gillbates]

I've got an HTC one that's several years old, and I can get a 50% charge in 30 minutes with a regular USB cable. I try to keep quiet around iPhone users, though, lest I disturb their superior ego. Now that will really make a mess.

29W should do it

[Dan East]

The iPhone 8 battery is rumored to perhaps be a s big as 2,700 mAh. Thus assuming no loss in charging, a 2.7 amp 5 volt power supply could charge it in one hour (that is the same amount of power the battery produces in an hour). The 29W power supply produces 5.8 amps at 5 volt (29 / 5 = 5.8). So not counting any loss, the 29W power supply produces enough power to charge the battery to 100% capacity in 28 minutes. So if we assume up to 50% inefficiency during charging, a 29W power supply could still charge the phone to 50% capacity in 30 minutes. If the battery was much larger (like in the plus models), or the charging is less efficient than 50%, a bigger power supply would be needed to charge to 50% in 30 minutes.

Re:29W should do it

[blindseer]

Will it charge even faster if I hook it up to my arc welder?

Of course. You'll just need the $39 arc welder to Lighting adapter cable. Good luck finding one in stock though, I hear they are selling fast.

Re:Innovation

[blindseer]

Ah, you seem to forget that the cell phone makers had to be dragged, kicking and screaming, into using a standard charging port. If China and the EU had not made the cell phone makers get in a room and come up with a standard battery charging port then you'd be complaining (still) about how every phone maker has a different charger.

Apple uses a USB port to charge like every other cell phone. Sure, you have to buy a cable to plug it in, also like any other cell phone. You don't have to buy cables from Apple either, I found "Apple certified" cables for $8 on Amazon. I'm sure you can find them cheaper too, just like you can get a cheap USB-C cable and take your chances on it not working or breaking your phone. Before the USB port was mandated as a standard a lot of 5 billion dollar construction projects were funded from selling vendor specific chargers.

The transition to USB-C hasn't exactly been smooth either. Lots of cell phone makers couldn't be bothered with complying with the standard. The phone might have a port that *LOOKS* like a USB-C port but plugging in a charger other than what came with it could damage the phone, or limit it to slow charging rates as it reverted to voltage and current that complies with USB 2.0. I seem to recall an article on this website called Slashdot, perhaps you've heard of it, where there was a discussion on Google "suggesting" that Android phone makers comply with the USB standard or lose the Google endorsement.

Re: Super fast charging?

[scdeimos]

I routinely burn through the battery on my phone

Oh, a Samsung hey?

WATTS

[DrYak]

There is another reason why Apple isn't including a charger with the iPhone 8 and X : Watts. And number of different parts.

Usually, the charging limits of a lithium battery are 1C :
e.g.: you can charge a 3'000 mAh battery (like that in iPhone 7 plus) at 3A max.
(that's why usually you can at most charge 50% of capacity in 30min)

Standard tablet charger only go up to 2A, and I think apples "thin as an euro-plug" phone charger are 1A only.
(One of the limiting factor is the way too thin copper wires in the USB cable. Too much resistance for such moderately high current.)
(reminder: thermal loss is only proportional to square of current. It doesn't give a shit about voltage. Standard home appliances cables are usually rated at 10A max).

Various QuickCharge standards (including USB's Official Power Delivery) work by giving the possibility to the device to ask for a higher voltage (9V or 12V or even higher - thus lower current for a given wattage)
That means that the only way to achieve quick charging with iPhone 8 and X is a newer different USB charger that does support USB-PD's higher voltage and wattage.

And now you see where the thing is going :
- that in theory would require Apple to introduce yet another specific "iphone quick-charger", in addition to the 29W to 87W ones (e.g.: something still in the same "europlug" form factor, but with 15W).
- that's yet another different part to take care of (Apple is a company that tries to keep the number of parts low)
- that's openning problem of clueless users who try to charge their high-range USB-C equipped Apple laptop, "because the iPhone charger is USB-C too !" and not understanding why a meagre 15W micro wall-wart can't charge a >85W consuming laptop
- (or worse, the 15W wall wart blows under the load due to sub-optimal protection circuitry)
- alternatively they need to pack at least the 29W variant together with the phone. But!
- ...but such giant chargers aren't popular with smartphone anymore. (it's not first gen iPod and iPhone era anymore).
- ...but the fact that it is bundled "free" with an iPhone suddenly decrease the perceived "premium" value of the device that enabled Apple for over-charge at >30$

In short, it's a nightmare.
And not that many user need to push 1500mAh worth of battery within first 30 minutes anyway.
So...

Let's just neglect to mention the thing altogether.
Continue to pack the phone with a wall wart that is useful for most consumer.
Let power the users (who are in the know) to play with their USB-PD chargers on their own if they want to.

(Best part: now if some iPhone battery blows up, Apple can blame the user of playing with charger which weren't the official packaged-in)