Apple's 20W charger, smaller 'iPhone 12' batteries found in filings

Apple's 20-Watt charger has surfaced in new regulatory filings, even though no charger may be included with the "iPhone 12,", while the battery capacities of the 2020 iPhones may trend smaller than those of 2019.

Apple has been rumored to be working on a 20W USB-C charger that would be a major upgrade from the standard 5W version included with the iPhone 11 and earlier models. While there is some debate over whether or not Apple will be including a charger at all with its updated iPhone lineup, the existence of the 20W charger itself is slowly being proved by regulatory filings from Denmark, South Korea, and China.

Filings discovered by MySmartPrice reference a new charger produced by Flextronics Power described as a "USB-C Power Adapter," and with the model number A2244. This model number is different to the A2305 and A2247 models that were discovered in late June via regulators in Norway and Australia, though it is unclear what may be different, aside from the prongs needed to connect to a power outlet.

A leaked image of the supposed 20W charger (via @Mr-white/Twitter)

The charger's exclusion from the "iPhone 12" box may be performed by Apple for a few reasons, including reducing the overall cost of the package, reducing the amount of packaging required for iPhone sales, and the fact that many customers will already have a large number of USB chargers or charging points within their home.

Speculation has also pointed to the leaving out of earbuds as well, with leakers and analyst Ming-Chi Kuo both proposing the loss of the personal audio accessories, which may help promote more sales of its AirPods and AirPods Pro.

As part of the same report, the battery capacities of the "iPhone 12" generation may be reduced from what was observed in the iPhone 11 range, at least for a few models. Based on data from the regulatory filings, the batteries used in the 2020 range could have capacities of 2,227mAh, 2,775mAh, and 3,687mAh, depending on the size.

In theory, this is largely a reduction in capacity from the 2019 versions, with the iPhone 11 having a 3,110mAh unit and the iPhone 11 Pro using a 3,190mAh version. There is one upgrade though, as the 3,687mAh component is higher in capacity than the 3,500mAh version used in the iPhone 11 Pro Max.

Though smaller, it is still plausible the "iPhone 12" models will have a battery life comparable to the iPhone 11 range. Apple does typically introduce various power-saving measures as part of its annual refresh, which help prolong the battery life further into the day.

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14 Comments

guhasd 1 comment · 4 Years

About 4 years ago

iPhone 11 Pro Max has a capcity of 3969mAh, so its quite a decrease

MustSeeUHDTV 308 comments · 7 Years

Even though people have a lot of chargers and probably a lot of lightning cables, most will not have USB-C charger if Apple provides a USB-C to Lightning cable. They would either have to buy one or use a computer (if they have a new enough one to have USB-C) if they never had an iPhone before. I hope they include the USB-C charger.

MplsP 4020 comments · 8 Years

does anyone else find the ‘reduced packaging cost’ excuse for eliminating the charger bordering on ridiculous? Not only is the cost of a little extra cardboard trivial, there would be other ways to reduce the total packaging and include the charger.

Metriacanthosaurus 880 comments · 8 Years

MplsP said:

does anyone else find the ‘reduced packaging cost’ excuse for eliminating the charger bordering on ridiculous? Not only is the cost of a little extra cardboard trivial, there would be other ways to reduce the total packaging and include the charger.

Yes, its ridiculous.

But just to consider all possibilities. It may be that the small 5W charger is just not going to cut it for iPhone 12, which meant Apple had to consider making the packaging larger to accommodate the much larger 20W charger. That made them take stock of the entire charger and packaging situation. They then started running some hypotheticals on what the iPhone packaging could be like if it had NO charger or headphones in the box, and what the cost savings would be. They added up to be more than they expected.

I'm holding out for the possibility that Apple will still include the charger for free...it will just be packaged separately, and by request only. Meaning if an online user adds one to their cart at the time of purchase, they get it for free. If not, they don't. This will reduce the number given away, saving even more money.

But far more likely is that this won't be the case. Since the expertise of the guy running the company is limited to supply chain management and political pandering, he of course jumps at the chance to save a couple dollars on distribution costs while ripping off every single customer of their most important product.

And none of this is about so-called "e-waste" at all, no matter how many times the shills scream shrilly about it, while simultaneously not providing a single factual basis.

Xed 2874 comments · 4 Years

MplsP said:

does anyone else find the ‘reduced packaging cost’ excuse for eliminating the charger bordering on ridiculous? Not only is the cost of a little extra cardboard trivial, there would be other ways to reduce the total packaging and include the charger.

Nope. Not ridiculous. They could make the packaging take up half the volume. This would mean that more units can be stored at every first and third-party retailer, as well warehouse and cargo shipments (assuming the weight isn't too high).

Then you have the total cost savings of all aspects allowing Apple to put that savings into other areas of the iPhone—ya know, the actual device that gets YoY updates—whilst still maintaining their profit margin, as well as helping the environment by not including a PSU with every… single… iPhone that has mostly just stayed in the box or in a drawer somewhere for many users.

I don't miss the days when Apple included every possible adapter in the box. If you want a specific one then buy it. For example, I'd like to have a tiny, portable GaN PSU that allows for multiple devices to charge at once but it would be selfish for me to say that because I want a specific thing that Apple should include it with every iPhone purchase.