MagSafe Charger Only Charges at Full 15W Speeds With Apple’s 20W Power Adapter

Juli Clover, writing for MacRumors:

YouTuber Aaron Zollo of Zollotech tested several first and third-party power adapter options with the iPhone 12 Pro and a MagSafe charger using a meter to measure actual power output. Paired with the 20W power adapter that Apple offers, the MagSafe Charger successfully hit 15W, but no other chargers that he tested provided the same speeds.

The older 18W power adapter from Apple that was replaced by the 20W version was able to charge the iPhone 12 Pro using the MagSafe Charger at up to 13W, but the 96W Power Adapter and third-party power adapters that provide more than 20W were not able to exceed 10W when used with the MagSafe Charger.

So the good news is that if you use Apple’s 18W adapter (which Apple provided with iPhones 11 Pro and iPads Pro, including the iPad Pro updates from March of this year) instead of their new 20W adapter (which Apple includes with the new iPad Air and sells for $19), MagSafe will still draw 13W, which is close to the maximum draw of 15W. But it’s kind of nutty that the MagSafe charger will seemingly draw 15W from one and only one adapter, Apple’s own 20W one.

Apple’s new 20W adapter is labeled “20W” at least — their 18W adapter is the exact same size and shape but the only way to see that it’s the 18W adapter is to read the tiny incredibly low-contrast small print to see that its max draw is 9V × 2A, and even then you have to know enough about electricity to multiply voltage by amps to get 18 watts. It does not say “18W” anywhere on the adapter.

Not confusing at all.

★ Tuesday, 27 October 2020