iPad iPad Pro M4 Charging Speeds

[Z6128]

Has anyone seen or tested the maximum watt charging speed for the usb-c port on the iPad and the new Magic Keyboard?

I feel like I heard some early hands on videos mention the new Magic Keyboard was capable of 60w or something, but I haven’t seen anything in the new reviews mentioning it.

 

[DaniTheFox]

Has anyone seen or tested the maximum watt charging speed for the usb-c port on the iPad and the new Magic Keyboard?

I feel like I heard some early hands on videos mention the new Magic Keyboard was capable of 60w or something, but I haven’t seen anything in the new reviews mentioning it.

Yes. The TB port is 15V at 2.5A. This is 37.5 W. As before, it had not changed.
Now the the Magic Keyboard is also 15V but at 2A. That is 30W. Before it was only 9V.
I’m not sure in what condition you get this 2.5 A. But 2.4 A is common. Let me say: The 35 W dual USB-C adapter is a good option.
I could be wrong. 60W would probably be 2.5 A by 24 V. But the 24/36/48 V adapter are not quit common. Then 60 W is quite a stretch for such a small device and that litte battery. And don’t ask me why it is not 3 A for iPads and iPhones. Probably safety margin.

 

[EugW]

I can't find anything reference to this 60 W. And if 60 W, would it be 20 V x 3 A?

The other thing I would wonder about is how much charge the iPad could take through the Magic Keyboard while passing through power through the TB port on the side to power other peripherals like USB-C SSDs.

 

[EugW]

https://www.reddit.com/r/ipad/comments/1ctgsdg

"I have a large battery bank with a display that shows the current wattage going out of the device, the USB-C port maxes out at 100W. Through both the iPad’s actual USB-C port and the Magic Keyboard passthrough, it’s in the 35-39 watts range, though it is actually different, the iPad consistently gets around 36.5 to 37 watts, the keyboard averages 38 to 39.5, I’ve seen very occasional blips at 39.8 to 40 watts but those are uncommon."

Not sure if this would be 20 volts 2 amps or 15 volts 2.67 amps.

Also, I wonder if it would go up if you attach a bus-powered drive to the iPad Pro's Thunderbolt port.

 

[DaniTheFox]

https://www.reddit.com/r/ipad/comments/1ctgsdg

"I have a large battery bank with a display that shows the current wattage going out of the device, the USB-C port maxes out at 100W. Through both the iPad’s actual USB-C port and the Magic Keyboard passthrough, it’s in the 35-39 watts range, though it is actually different, the iPad consistently gets around 36.5 to 37 watts, the keyboard averages 38 to 39.5, I’ve seen very occasional blips at 39.8 to 40 watts but those are uncommon."

Not sure if this would be 20 volts 2 amps or 15 volts 2.67 amps.

Also, I wonder if it would go up if you attach a bus-powered drive to the iPad Pro's Thunderbolt port.

I have a meter that measures voltage and current separately. It is 15 V and 2.5 A.

 

[EugW]

I still can't find any reference to 60 W.

This YouTuber says 40 W, like @DaniTheFox has measured.

 

[Moto760]

I can't find anything reference to this 60 W. And if 60 W, would it be 20 V x 3 A?

The other thing I would wonder about is how much charge the iPad could take through the Magic Keyboard while passing through power through the TB port on the side to power other peripherals like USB-C SSDs.

I have used a 140w Apple power brick and the 240w USB-C Apple Cable. This is the best I can get using the pass through charging port in the Magic Keyboard case and the same speed connected directly into the M4 iPad Pro.

 

[DaniTheFox]

I have used a 140w Apple power brick and the 240w USB-C Apple Cable. This is the best I can get using the pass through charging port in the Magic Keyboard case and the same speed connected directly into the M4 iPad Pro.

As I don’t have in the moment a M4 handy, I measured quickly with the 12.9“ M1.
The output from the TB port to an other device is only 7.5 W (5 V by 1.5 A). That is in the spec from USB-C so defined as minimum.
And it doesn’t matter if the iPad Pro is also charged via Magic Keyboard or not. I assume this is the same with the M4. You may test this as well.
I have sometimes a audio interface (Apogee Duet 3) connected which is fine. I don’t know why I haven’t measured that.

 

[Jackbequickly]

Returning my keyboard. It is really nice but I will not use it.

 

[Devyn89]

Anyone know the maximum speed the iPad will charge other devices? I’m charging my watch through the thunderbolt port and noticed it seems decently fast (certainly much faster than an iPhone) but wanted to know what the actual charge rate is.

 

[DaniTheFox]

You may have noticed my post #8. I measured the power output to be 7.5W. Watches and AirPods charge at approximately 1W each, so this should be sufficient.

However, I made an error in one area. The specifications for USB-C only demand 900mA at 5V. USB-PD (Power Delivery) mandates a minimum of 7.5W. Therefore, the iPad supports PD, and the cable for PD requires a wire more, typically called CCS, to negotiate the maximum power at every time.

Additionally, I have learned that this type of cable does not require the additional two wires for USB 2.0. Consequently, Apple cables are quite good. For USB 3 and Thunderbolt, 2 or 4 more wires are required, and the cables are becoming increasingly thick.

I think, the setup of the cable to your Apple Watch is quite straightforward, but sufficient. I’m not sure which iPhone you have, but from my memory, my iPhone 15 Pro also has a 7.5W charging port.

 

[jdiamond]

FWIW, I have an M2 iPad Pro. When trying to charge it with a 100 watt USB-C port, I measure it peaking around 33 watts, but mostly it's charging around 28 watts. That would indicate that regardless of the source, my iPad Pro is probably designed to accept 30 watts, just like the Apple wall charger it comes with, which might be 12 volts/2.5 AMPs. It's plausible that a newer M4 iPad Pro might hit closer to 40 watts. The main point is your more powerful charger will be wasted, because you can't exceed the voltage and current accepted by the device.

 

[muzzy996]

True, a singular high wattage USB-C charger would end up only providing an amount of power that the iPad negotiates with the charger so there would likely be untapped overhead. Personally I like carrying a single multi-port high wattage GaN charger when I travel so that I only need to worry about one power plug at wherever I set up (hotel or otherwise). Multi-port high wattage chargers from the likes of Ugreen, Anker, Belkin etc. will all negotiate with devices plugged into them to provide the power needed to charge safely.

 

[rui no onna]

Personally I like carrying a single multi-port high wattage GaN charger when I travel so that I only need to worry about one power plug at wherever I set up (hotel or otherwise). Multi-port high wattage chargers from the likes of Ugreen, Anker, Belkin etc. will all negotiate with devices plugged into them to provide the power needed to charge safely.

+1. Well, we carry 3 when traveling with the family (2 bedrooms + living room).

It's so convenient now that even my laptop charges via USB-C. The only thing that requires its own (heavy) power brick is my brother's gaming laptop, albeit my brother's thinking of ditching that in favor of the Steam Deck.