You had a late night. You remember plugging your phone into the charger when you got home, but you don’t. Your iPhone battery is barely holding on to 1%, and you have less than 30 minutes to go to work. What do you do?
It’s time to give your iPhone a quick charge. After all, you don’t want to leave the house without your phone. You can bring a portable power bank, but it’s always better to go out with a full battery.
This story is part of: 12 Days of TipsWe help you make the most of your technology, home, and health this holiday season.
Charging efficiency is not just about: method When charging your phone, either wired or wirelessly, it’s a good idea to look at several things that can affect how quickly or slowly your iPhone charges.
The guide below will show you what to do and what not to do when charging your iPhone, so you can get the most power and charge it the fastest. Want more charging power? Check out the best power banks for iPhone in 2024. If you still have an iPhone with a Lightning port, here are some of the cheapest fast chargers you can find.
1. Upgrade your old charger
The fastest way to charge your iPhone is with a fast charger. 20 watt power adapter with USB-C to Lightning Or a USB-C to USB-C cable for iPhone 15 models. If you own an iPhone 8 or later, you can fast charge your phone from empty to up to 50% battery in about 30 minutes. If you have an hour or so to spare, you can get a full charge. Just 10 minutes of fast charging can give you double-digit battery boosts, so always choose the fast charger option if you’re pressed for time.
Apple no longer ships with a cable and not a power adapter when you buy a new phone, but you can still buy Apple’s 20-watt power adapter from: apologize and Amazon. According to Apple, you can too Use another compatible fast charging power brickHowever, to fast charge an iPhone 12 or later, you’ll need at least a 20-watt charger.
Mkeke makes a 20 watt charger
2. Get the fastest wireless charging with this
Here’s the second fastest way to charge your iPhone: Apple’s MagSafe Charger And while you’ll need a 20-watt power adapter, you’ll need to own an iPhone 12 or later to use the feature, which also allows for faster 15-watt wireless charging. If your iPhone is drained, about 30 minutes of wireless charging will recharge the battery by about 30 percent.
This doesn’t mean you can use a Qi wireless charger (the industry standard) for fast charging. MagSafe chargers support 15 watts, while Qi chargers only provide up to 7.5 watts, which is much slower than MagSafe and only slightly faster than traditional chargers. 5 watt wall chargerPlease note that non-MagSafe certified magnetic wireless chargers charge at a slower 7.5 watt rate.
MagSafe chargers can be fast, but only in certain situations.
3. Stop using your computer to charge your iPhone.
A laptop may seem like a convenient way to charge your iPhone, especially if you spend most of your day in front of a computer and want to keep an eye on incoming text messages and notifications. Unfortunately, computers always charge phones more slowly than wall chargers or wireless chargers.
Your computer’s USB port, whether it’s the big, old USB-A or the new, tiny USB-C, can’t provide as much power as a wall outlet, even with a 5-watt power adapter. This is especially true if you have an older computer with a defective USB port or an incompatible charging cable. Both can slow down the charging process even further.
Using your MacBook may seem like an easy way to charge your iPhone, but it’s slower than a wall charger.
4. Also, keep your hands off your iPhone while it is charging.
To charge your iPhone as quickly as possible, keep it as far away from other devices as possible. If you are streaming video or playing mobile games while charging your iPhone, try not to touch it as much as possible, as this will slow down the battery charging process.
5. Simple ways to increase battery charging speed
Even when the screen is in sleep mode, your phone continues to work in the background. The best way to charge your iPhone quickly is to turn it off.
Plugging in a turned-off iPhone may sometimes turn it back on, so try plugging it in or placing it on a wireless charger first. Then Turn off the power.
6. If you don’t want to turn off your iPhone, switch it to airplane mode.
If you don’t want to turn off your iPhone but want to charge it faster, turning on Airplane Mode disables all wireless transmissions like Cellular, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth, which consume power. When turned off, your iPhone can charge faster. This also lets you quickly turn off Airplane Mode to quickly check any text messages or phone calls you’re waiting for.
Enabling airplane mode will prevent you from receiving notifications, but it will conserve battery while charging your iPhone.
7. Adjust your iPhone settings to charge your battery faster
Do you know all the tips to help preserve your battery? If you don’t mind turning it off, you can use the same features and settings to charge your iPhone faster.
- Low power mode: Turn this feature on to reduce or impact battery-intensive features like 5G, display brightness, auto-lock, background app refresh, and automatic downloads.
- Dark Mode: The jury is out yet. We’re not sure how much Dark Mode actually saves battery life, but it can’t hurt to have it on while your iPhone is charging, especially when every percent counts.
- Lower your screen brightness: The most power-hungry part of any gadget is the display. The brighter the screen, the faster the battery drains, so turn it all the way down while charging.
Apple’s Low Power Mode helps preserve your iPhone’s battery life.
8. Charging speed may be slower due to optimized battery charging.
Apple has a built-in tool to prevent your iPhone battery from deteriorating quickly, but this same feature also slows down your device’s charging. This feature generally only slows down your iPhone when charging for long periods of time, usually overnight, but it’s still a good idea to disable it when charging your phone. setting > battery > Battery status And turn off the toggle Optimized battery charging Disable this feature.
9. Your iPhone may need a new battery.
You can also check your battery health on the same settings page where you can disable Optimized Battery Charging. If you see a message like “Battery health is critically degraded,” we recommend contacting Apple to replace your battery. Degraded batteries don’t hold a charge as well and will drain faster. A new battery will improve your battery’s overall lifespan.
You can check the approximate cost to replace the battery. Apple’s iPhone Battery Service WebsitePricing varies by service range, manufacturer, and model. For the iPhone 15 series, the expected price is $99.
Go to Settings > Battery and check your battery status.
For more tips, check out How to Free Up Space When Your iPhone is Running Low on Storage, 23+ iPhone Tips and Tricks You Need to Know.
