iPhone 16 fast charging could get a 40W boost

Apple could make the iPhone 16 charge faster than ever, by allowing the fall smartphone releases to take in power at up to 40W.

The fast-charging capabilities of the iPhone and other Apple products means users can get a sizable amount of power to use in a fairly short period of time. For the iPhone 16, this could be made even faster.

According to Li Nan, founder of Weibo's Angry Miao community, Apple will be increasing the charging potential for the iPhone 16. In the post, reported by ITHome, the wattage the iPhone 16 could take is raised up to 40W.

For the iPhone 15 generation, Apple says the fast-charge facility can achieve a charge of up to 50% in approximately 30 minutes. This is based on a direct wired connection, and using a charger rated to 20W or higher.

While you can use chargers with a higher wattage, there's little more improvement over what a 20W adapter can provide to the iPhone 15.

By being able to work with a 40W adapter, the fast-charge capabilities of the iPhone 16 could result in reaching a 50% charge in close to half the time. This would be a little more than 15 minutes, for comparative purposes.

This will help speed up the overall charging time for the iPhone 16, though it will only really be useful when the battery is empty. As with other fast charging-capable devices, the charging of the battery is slowed down as it fills up.

It will also not affect wireless charging, as MagSafe and Qi2 are limited on the iPhone to 15W. Fast charging at high rates will require a direct connection via a USB-C cable.

The rumor is fairly plausible, as Apple could certainly increase the charging capability of its future hardware. However, it also has to balance other concerns.

Charging at higher wattages can make a battery warmer than recharging at a lower rate, which could cause unwanted thermal issues. This includes increasing the wear of the battery, which reduces its usable life.

In its reporting, IT Home tends to handle the supply chain better than features. However, ahead of the release of the iPhone 15, it reported rumors of Apple bringing the iPhone 14 Pro's 48MP camera upgrade to all iPhone 15 models, which did happen.