iPad Pro 12.9" Fast Charge?

[masotime]

I thought I'd chime in with my findings before going to bed.

I got my USB-C to Lightning cable delivered to me today, and I spent some time draining my iPad Pro battery with multiple runs of GFX Bench Metal's battery test. I drained it down to 10% then started to get it charging. Here's a screenshot with @echo1877's excellent app (sadly no longer on the App Store):

As you can see it indicates 2A / 29W charging (I guess the app needs to update the "max Power" for the iPad Pro)

I turned the screen off and left it charging while I went to do some stuff. I came back about 2.5 hours later and it's fully charged:

I'm personally very impressed by the charging speed. I've ordered a second 29W power brick just for this - decided to save a little and get a used one from Amazon for about $30.

 

[echo1877]

I thought I'd chime in with my findings before going to bed.

I got my USB-C to Lightning cable delivered to me today, and I spent some time draining my iPad Pro battery with multiple runs of GFX Bench Metal's battery test. I drained it down to 10% then started to get it charging. Here's a screenshot with @echo1877's excellent app (sadly no longer on the App Store):

View attachment 622993

As you can see it indicates 2A / 29W charging (I guess the app needs to update the "max Power" for the iPad Pro)

I turned the screen off and left it charging while I went to do some stuff. I came back about 2.5 hours later and it's fully charged:

View attachment 622994

I'm personally very impressed by the charging speed. I've ordered a second 29W power brick just for this - decided to save a little and get a used one from Amazon for about $30.

Thank you for this @masotime, you beat me to it! Clearly the app is correctly detecting the 29W brick, but of course the 83% figure is incorrect (it's comparing against 2400mA which is incorrect).

The actual charging power sounds spot on. Do you happen to recall the screen brightness setting when you took that screenshot at 10%?

 

[masotime]

The actual charging power sounds spot on. Do you happen to recall the screen brightness setting when you took that screenshot at 10%?

Ah... Unfortunately I didn't capture this information, although it might have been 30%. I turned off the screen after taking the screenshot though, so I'm not sure if the brightness has an effect in my experiment.

 

[Brookzy]

Awesome stuff!

First person who gets a cable and has the 12" MacBook (or appropriate adapter for another Mac), can you check if it syncs at USB 3 speeds with the cable?

 

[echo1877]

Awesome stuff!

First person who gets a cable and has the 12" MacBook (or appropriate adapter for another Mac), can you check if it syncs at USB 3 speeds with the cable?

I don't have mine yet but no doubt it does.
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Ah... Unfortunately I didn't capture this information, although it might have been 30%. I turned off the screen after taking the screenshot though, so I'm not sure if the brightness has an effect in my experiment.

No worries. I ask because the 4724mA in that particular screenshot is lower than I expected for a near-empty battery, which would make sense if the Pro was at or near full brightness.

 

[furbzv1]

this is great! might have to pick up the brick and the cable- that way i don't have to carry a charger for the IPP and one for my phone!

 

[Brookzy]

I don't have mine yet but no doubt it does.
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The reason I thought it might not is that if it did I would expect apple to release USB 3 standard Lightning cables too.

 

[echo1877]

Good point. Is it possible they have quietly refreshed the regular USB type A to Lightning cables also?

 

[Brookzy]

Good point. Is it possible they have quietly refreshed the regular USB type A to Lightning cables also?

Certainly possible but I would say unlikely. Last year when the Lightning SD card adapter was updated to USB 3, it was marketed as such. Same with the Lightning to USB 3 'camera' cable announced on Monday. You'd have thought they'd market the standard cables as such too, if they were updated.

I recall rumblings last year that the Lightning cable that was included with the iPad Pro in the box was USB 3 but I don't think that turned out to be true.

 

[macduke]

9to5Mac just did a test with this: http://9to5mac.com/2016/03/25/review-usb-c-to-lightning-cable-must-have-accessory-12-9-ipad-pro/

Results:

• iPad Pro using 29W adapter: 14% in 20 minutes
• iPad Pro using 12W adapter: 5% in 20 minutes

Sucks that it's so expensive and doesn't come with it, though.

 

[DTphonehome]

9to5Mac just did a test with this: http://9to5mac.com/2016/03/25/review-usb-c-to-lightning-cable-must-have-accessory-12-9-ipad-pro/

Results:



Sucks that it's so expensive and doesn't come with it, though.

More useful metric would be time to full charge from empty. But it's obvious that would be much improved as well.

 

[macduke]

More useful metric would be time to full charge from empty. But it's obvious that would be much improved as well.

Yeah they probably didn't have time to test both as the story is starting to break that it's a big improvement. I'm sure someone like Anandtech will do a really thorough test.

 

[GrindedDown]

More useful metric would be time to full charge from empty. But it's obvious that would be much improved as well.

I agree. The test was probably done immediately after getting the unit so they could post the content asap. Article aside. knowing that 80 to 100 is a slower process, i would actually be interested in seeing 0 to 80% tests. The big benefit of a charger like this to me would be mid-day charging while i have 30mins to an hour before i am off and running again.

 

[echo1877]

I agree. The test was probably done immediately after getting the unit so they could post the content asap. Article aside. knowing that 80 to 100 is a slower process, i would actually be interested in seeing 0 to 80% tests. The big benefit of a charger like this to me would be mid-day charging while i have 30mins to an hour before i am off and running again.

That's very true. I have not run my tests yet but I'm betting that the 29W brick makes no difference once you're at around 60-70%.

 

[Zimmy68]

Picked up this combo today and I couldn't be happier.
I don't know about numbers but it chargers how you would expect it should.

Picked up the cable from Apple Store. It's high quality and very thick.
They only had the 1m in stock.

Here's a tip, check your Best Buy. They had 2-3 open boxed 29w chargers.

$36 is an easier pill to swallow then $50 and mine was basically brand new, even had the tape covering it.

 

[bruinsrme]

Picked up this combo today and I couldn't be happier.
I don't know about numbers but it chargers how you would expect it should.

Picked up the cable from Apple Store. It's high quality and very thick.
They only had the 1m in stock.

Here's a tip, check your Best Buy. They had 2-3 open boxed 29w chargers.

$36 is an easier pill to swallow then $50 and mine was basically brand new, even had the tape covering it.

Thank you.
Order 2 from separate stores.
I saw the Belkin USB-C to lighting cable for $8.99 on Amazon

 

[Lobwedgephil]

The 2m are shipping, so should be in stores soon. Mine is arriving Monday.

 

[GrindedDown]

Thank you.
Order 2 from separate stores.
I saw the Belkin USB-C to lighting cable for $8.99 on Amazon

Fair warning, but it looks as though it is the cable itself and more specifically the chipset in the Lightning side of the connector that enables faster charging and NOT just the charging brick. Meaning, 3rd party cables probably won't work for fast charge. I could be wrong tho...

 

[echo1877]

Fair warning, but it looks as though it is the cable itself and more specifically the chipset in the Lightning side of the connector that enables faster charging and NOT just the charging brick. Meaning, 3rd party cables probably won't work for fast charge. I could be wrong tho...

That is my understanding also. I have heard from certain manufacturers who tried to get fast charging going on iPP using the 29W brick and the conclusion was that the currently available Lightning connector (which is only available from Apple) doesn't support it.

I'm guessing none of those existing 3rd party cables support this USB PD mode. Apple might NOW be offering suppliers a new type of Lightning connector, but such cables would not have existed before.

 

[bruinsrme]

Fair warning, but it looks as though it is the cable itself and more specifically the chipset in the Lightning side of the connector that enables faster charging and NOT just the charging brick. Meaning, 3rd party cables probably won't work for fast charge. I could be wrong tho...

Good to know, thank you.
Some point today I will be hitting the Apple Store and I will snag a cable.
The 3rd party cable will be here on Monday.
I will compare the two and share the results.

 

[hugodrax]

I'd be willing or overpay for Apples $25 USBC cable. But it's really tough to justify $50 USBC brick. Using 3rd party should be safe, right?

(Seriously though. If this is the way the Pro should be charged then why not bundle it?)

because no one would buy the 50 dollar charger. The 12v charger is supplied to meet the minimum spec according to the FTC that the product sold can have the label rechargeable. Apple offers the 50 dollar charger + 25 dollar cable as a step up option. The markup on those two things is probably like 1000% since its made in china and the BOM is probably 3 dollars.
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you cats bought an 800-1K+ tablet and you are nickel and diming about a 25 dollar accessory?

They probably hit the credit limit at the ipad pro and now they have no liquidity available to buy a 30 dollar accessory.

 

[Speedy Gonzalez]

It should be absolutely fine for battery life. The iPP's battery was designed for a 5560mA charging rate (at least when charging from 0% to about 50%) -- the 12W brick was barely delivering half of that, and only when the device was not in use.

In other words, you're not going from normal charging to fast charging. You're going from charging at half of the intended amperage to charging at the intended amperage.

I will post the specific figures on the differences between the 12W brick and the 29W brick once I get mine.
[doublepost=1458878401][/doublepost]By the way, I must add that Apple's cheapness sometimes boggles my mind. They couldn't include the 29W brick plus that USB-C cable in the box, on a $1,000 tablet that's meant for businesses? That kind of penny pinching is bad for business IMO.

That's what I kept thinking apple calling it fast charge and is just normal charging they should be ashamed.

 

[Arline]

Apple should build this tech into future iPhones. 29w charging means iPhones get full charge quicker than 30 minutes.

 

[npolly0212]

I went to best buy to get the charging block..believe I got the wrong one :/
it has the lightning port end on it? would that work if i just bought usb-c lightning to lightning?

 

[bruinsrme]

I went to best buy to get the charging block..believe I got the wrong one :/
it has the lightning port end on it? would that work if i just bought usb-c lightning to lightning?

google the part number that is on the charger.
The shape of the USB-C female port on the charger could be mistaken for a lightning connector