When the original iPhone was launched in 2007, the charging speed was 5W. The speed was fine according to the standards at that time. However, this speed was the same for a decade, and started falling behind the competition.
So, starting with the iPhone 8, Apple added the support for 18W fast wired charging, which charged your device 50% in 30 minutes. However, Apple still bundled a 5W charger in the box, but you could use a 30W MacBook adaptor to achieve the 18W speeds.
Then, in 2020, Apple released a 20W iPhone charger alongside the iPhone 12, signaling a minor improvement. Finally, with the iPhone 13 Pro Max, you could use a 30W charger for even faster speeds. Although the iPhone 13 mini, 13, and 13 Pro still charge at 20W. This is why Apple still marketed the 20W charger as the iPhone fast charger.
2024 is the 3rd year since the last charging speed upgrade in iPhones. However, Apple decided to give an increase to charging speeds this year.
According to a report from ITHome, the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max are said to support 40W of wired charging and 20W of wireless.
If this is true, then the charging speed is a noteworthy upgrade from the iPhone 15 series.
Apple’s charging speeds are typically fairly well-optimized. Despite charging at just 27W peak for the iPhone 15 Pro Max, it still manages to reach 50% in under 30 minutes. Like all the 6.1″ iPhones, iPhones with smaller batteries achieve this even faster.
As per leaks, the new iPhone 16 models will ship with a new cooling chamber. They might use graphene layers for batteries, and a graphene cooling chamber will direct heat away from the chip and spread it evenly. This keeps the chip running fast since it prevents thermal throttling.
Apple will mostly add a cooling system if the leak about faster charging speeds is true. Currently, iPhones randomly stop charging, and they display a message that asks you to cool your phone down. If iPhones get that hot even with 20W, it won’t work that well for 40W charging.
The maximum charging speed via MagSafe is just 15W at the moment. However, the 16 lineup might get the Qi 2 standard. The newer standard enables faster charging speed, and we might get 20W next year as a result.
The leaks say Apple is upgrading the battery capacity, density, and charging speeds. This would mean a great year for batteries on iPhones.
Current leaks say the 16 Pro Max will get a 4,676mAh battery, which is about 250mAh more than the 15 Pro Max.
- iPhone 16 Pro Max: 4,676mAh (iPhone 15 Pro Max: 4,422mAh)
- iPhone 16 Pro: 3,355mAh (iPhone 15 Pro: 3,290mAh)
- iPhone 16 Plus: 4,006mAh (iPhone 15 Plus: 4,383mAh)
- iPhone 16: 3,561mAh (iPhone 15: 3,367mAh)
Apart from the increases in capacity, there’s also an improvement in energy density. Stainless steel cases for the new batteries will adhere to EU regulations. It also helps in increasing the physical capacity of the batteries.