PSA: iPhone 8 Fast Charging Works With Third-Party USB-C Power Adapters That Support Power Delivery

Monday September 25, 2017 1:05 PM PDT by Joe Rossignol
A recent support document on Apple's website confirms that you don't need one of Apple's USB-C power adapters to fast charge the latest iPhones.


Apple says the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus, and presumably the iPhone X, can be fast charged with any comparable third-party USB-C power adapter that supports the USB Power Delivery specification.

An official Lightning to USB-C cable is still needed, and it's not included with any iPhone. Apple charges $25 for a one meter cable, and $35 for a two meter cable, in the United States. There aren't any MFi-certified alternatives yet.

Apple's own USB-C power adapters that support USB-C Power Delivery include:
Aukey has a few cheaper third-party options available on Amazon:
Fast charging enables the iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, and iPhone X to charge to 50 percent battery life in just 30 minutes.

Disclaimer: This article is not affiliated with Aukey, but MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Amazon and may get paid if you click one of the above links and make a purchase.

Related Roundup: iPhone 8
Tags: USB-C, fast charging
23 comments

Top Rated Comments

(View all)
Avatar
Berzerker7
32 months ago
This doesn't explain a question a lot of people have though: Will the 61 or 87W charge *faster* than the 29W? Is the highest power output the iPhone support 14.5V@2A or 9V@3A? The 29W Charger is the only one that has the specific 29W profile.
Rating: 3 Votes
Avatar
Mr_Brightside_@
32 months ago

I was definitely confusing Aukey and Anker.

Also, I live in Canada, and was redirected to Amazon.ca, which didn't mention the Lightning incompatibility.

I've updated the article to address all of these issues.

Thanks!

I didn't know an editor lived here, cool!
Rating: 2 Votes
Avatar
JRobinsonJr
32 months ago
This is indeed great news. HOWEVER, Anker specifically states that USB-C to Lightening cables are NOT supported. I confirmed that with Anker last week via email.
Rating: 2 Votes
Avatar
gpat
32 months ago
Why didn't they adopt USB-C in the first place?
Rating: 1 Votes
Avatar
masotime
32 months ago
There's a much more in-depth discussion at https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/29w-fast-charging-tests-and-3rd-party-adapters.2052414/ - the iPad forum has known for some time that 3rd party USB-C PD chargers work instead of Apple's own.
[doublepost=1506366807][/doublepost]

This doesn't explain a question a lot of people have though: Will the 61 or 87W charge *faster* than the 29W? Is the highest power output the iPhone support 14.5V@2A or 9V@3A? The 29W Charger is the only one that has the specific 29W profile.


Refer to https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/fast-charging.2066638/page-2#post-25097840 - most likely it is 9V@2A i.e. 18W "fast charge".

Incidentally, both the 61W and 87W chargers charge the iPad Pros at 18W, not 29W like the 29W charger does.
Rating: 1 Votes
Avatar
Rigby
32 months ago
That's nice. I'm still not paying $25-$35 for the stupid cable.
Rating: 1 Votes
Avatar
masotime
32 months ago

Nobody has done tests yet with all the chargers? I don’t know if I want to take The iPad forums word on it without any iPhone testing.
I have a few 87w adapters sitting around


Personally based on my limited testing which shows that the iPhone 8+ charges at 9V at 70% charge level, I think it's just going to charge at 18W maximum. It's unlikely to charge faster than an iPad Pro (29W) and given the small size of the battery, 18W or 9V/2A sounds more reasonable.
Rating: 1 Votes
Avatar
Berzerker7
32 months ago

There's a much more in-depth discussion at https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/29w-fast-charging-tests-and-3rd-party-adapters.2052414/ - the iPad forum has known for some time that 3rd party USB-C PD chargers work instead of Apple's own.
[doublepost=1506366807][/doublepost]

Refer to https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/fast-charging.2066638/page-2#post-25097840 - most likely it is 9V@2A i.e. 18W "fast charge".

Incidentally, both the 61W and 87W chargers charge the iPad Pros at 18W, not 29W like the 29W charger does.

USB-PD uses a voltage regulator, though. So, your amperage should be consistently at 2-2.1A with a varying degree of voltage from 5 to 14.5 volts.

I'm assuming that the 61 and 87W chargers max out at 18W because they don't have the 14.5V@2A profile like the 29W charger has.
Rating: 1 Votes
Avatar
sixthdimension
32 months ago

Can anyone explain why it must be a USB C cable to Lightning and not the regular USB A? There are plenty of USB A Power Adapters that can draw 29W or more.


Fast charge capable iOS devices are able to do so via USB-PD. Only USB-C output supports USB-PD, hence the required Apple USB-C to Lightning cable.
Rating: 1 Votes
[ Read All Comments ]