Some USB-C Power Banks Fail to Work With iPhone 15

Apple added a USB-C port to the iPhone 15 lineup this year, allowing it to work with USB-C cables, USB-C power banks, and more. It turns out that some USB-C battery packs are not working properly with Apple's ‌iPhone 15‌, resulting in charging issues.

iPhone 15 USB C Port Keynote
As highlighted on Reddit and the MacRumors forums, not all existing USB-C power banks can be used with the ‌iPhone 15‌ models, perhaps due to the iPhone's reverse charging feature. In some cases, the ‌iPhone 15‌ will fail to charge, or the ‌iPhone 15‌ will charge the power bank.

A range of different power banks are affected, and because of the wide number of them on the market, it is impossible to list the models that are non-functional. One version that fails to work is the Anker PowerCore Slim 10K PD, and a customer who contacted Anker was told that the only way to get the power bank to charge the ‌iPhone‌ is to use the USB-A port.

It seems that due to the iPhone 15 series' reverse charging function, the USB C's port charging of Anker PowerCore Slim 10k PD will be influenced, which does not have a solution currently. The only way to get your iPhone charged is to use the USB A port.

Anker will do more tests on all of our power banks to see whether this is the issue with certain power banks and try to get a solution.

The ‌iPhone 15‌ models are able to charge an Apple Watch, AirPods, or another ‌iPhone‌ through the USB-C port, and there is a possibility that this functionality is what's impacting some power banks. Most USB-C power banks with Power Delivery seem to be working as intended, including a number of models tested by MacRumors, but ‌iPhone 15‌ owners should be aware that some could be incompatible.

Related Roundup: iPhone 15
Related Forum: iPhone

Popular Stories

iPhone 17 Pro Blue Feature Tighter Crop

iPhone 17 Pro Launching in Three Months With These 12 New Features

Saturday June 14, 2025 5:45 pm PDT by
The iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are three months away, and there are plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of June 2025:Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone X through iPhone 14 Pro have a...
iPadOS 26 App Windowing

Apple Explains Why iPads Don't Just Run macOS

Friday June 13, 2025 7:46 am PDT by
iPadOS 26 allows iPads to function much more like Macs, with a new app windowing system, a swipe-down menu bar at the top of the screen, and more. However, Apple has stopped short of allowing iPads to run macOS, and it has now explained why. In an interview this week with Swiss tech journalist Rafael Zeier, Apple's software engineering chief Craig Federighi said that iPadOS 26's new Mac-like ...
Logitech Logo Feature

Logitech Announces Two New Accessories for WWDC

Friday June 13, 2025 7:22 am PDT by
Alongside WWDC this week, Logitech announced notable new accessories for the iPad and Apple Vision Pro. The Logitech Muse is a spatially-tracked stylus developed for use with the Apple Vision Pro. Introduced during the WWDC 2025 keynote address, Muse is intended to support the next generation of spatial computing workflows enabled by visionOS 26. The device incorporates six degrees of...
iphone 16 pro models 1

17 Reasons to Wait for the iPhone 17

Thursday June 12, 2025 8:58 am PDT by
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models simultaneously, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 17 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect from Apple's 2025 smartphone lineup. If you skipped the iPhone...
iOS 26 Feature

Apple Seeds Revised iOS 26 Developer Beta to Fix Battery Issue

Friday June 13, 2025 10:15 am PDT by
Apple today provided developers with a revised version of the first iOS 26 beta for testing purposes. The update is only available for the iPhone 15 and iPhone 16 models, so if you're running iOS 26 on an iPhone 14 or earlier, you won't see the revised beta. Registered developers can download the new beta software through the Settings app on each device. The revised beta addresses an...
Mac Studio Feature

Apple Begins Selling Refurbished Mac Studio With M4 Max and M3 Ultra Chips at a Discount

Thursday June 12, 2025 10:14 am PDT by
Apple today added Mac Studio models with M4 Max and M3 Ultra chips to its online certified refurbished store in the United States, Canada, Japan, Singapore, and many European countries, for the first time since they were released in March. As usual for refurbished Macs, prices are discounted by approximately 15% compared to the equivalent new models on Apple's online store. Note that Apple's ...
m4 macbook air pink

Apple Now Selling Refurbished M4 MacBook Air Models

Friday June 13, 2025 3:34 pm PDT by
Apple today added M4 MacBook Air models to its refurbished store in the United States, making the latest MacBook Air devices available at a discounted price for the first time since they launched earlier this year. Both 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Air models are available, with Apple offering multiple capacities and configurations. The refurbished devices are discounted by approximately 15...

Top Rated Comments

KevinMHC Avatar
22 months ago
It literally says INPUT on the UBC C port... WTF were you expecting?



Attachment Image
Score: 59 Votes (Like | Disagree)
hardwickj Avatar
22 months ago

This is just one of the reasons I no longer buy a iPhone on launch day. I wait and see what issues come up. Sad to hear this but hope it gets a fix.
This has little to do with the iPhone and everything to do with awful PD implementations on many of these power banks. I've experienced the same issue on different devices with several packs. Occasionally unplugging/replugging a few times will get them to negotiate correctly.

While it's been speculated that Anker's quality has been on the decline, it's telling to see them in the same bin as the knock-off brands in this regard.
Score: 37 Votes (Like | Disagree)
thegerman Avatar
22 months ago
,,You're charging it wrong"
Score: 30 Votes (Like | Disagree)
sw1tcher Avatar
22 months ago
In some cases, the iPhone 15 will fail to charge, or the iPhone 15 will charge the power bank.
Maybe there needs to be a toggle under battery settings that tells the iPhone to either accept a charge or to reverse charge? ?‍♂️
Score: 23 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Amazing Iceman Avatar
22 months ago
USB-C Ports on PowerBanks can be input or output.
Apple may need to add a Setting to have this feature be either: Auto, Change (get charged by another device) or Charger (charge other devices).
Score: 22 Votes (Like | Disagree)
DotCom2 Avatar
22 months ago
This is just one of the reasons I no longer buy a iPhone on launch day. I wait and see what issues come up. Sad to hear this but hope it gets a fix.
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)