Using a 30 WATTS Charger with the iPad Pro ?

[augustya]

What do you guys think about this ? There are some Over Enthusiast YouTubers who slam Apple for giving a ever slow Charger of 18 Watts with the iPad Pro. Some are suggesting the Anker 30 Watts Charger for Fast Charging. is this safe for the batter of the iPad ? is this recommended to use a third party fast charger which is other than Apple Provides with its device ? is this not hazardous to your device ?

 

[Newtons Apple]

The iPad will regulate the amount of charging. The 30 watt charger should be just fine.

 

[YourArsenal87]

It works fine and I do believe it charges sligthtly faster than the included 18 watt. Mind you, fast charging any battery will reduce capacity quicker, same deal with an iPhone or whatever. So if you really want to maximize battery life, just use the included charger. Not sure how big the difference is though, probably pretty small and I wouldn’t worry about it either way.

Youtuber’s got to have something to complain about I suppose ‍♂️

 

[zhenya]

Will have no impact on overall battery life. Even fast charging here is incredibly slow compared to what the same battery technology handles in other applications.

 

[augustya]

Will have no impact on overall battery life. Even fast charging here is incredibly slow compared to what the same battery technology handles in other applications.

lol ! So then why take the risk !!

 

[zhenya]

lol ! So then why take the risk !!

I think maybe I wasn’t clear.

Fast charging with 30 or 36W on the iPad is MUCH faster than using the 18W included charger, but compared to what this battery tech is exposed to in other applications, even 36W is no big deal - the batteries are designed to handle that and even much more. So there is no point in not fast-charging if you have the option. There is no additional risk to your device.

 

[d5aqoëp]

It works fine and I do believe it charges sligthtly faster than the included 18 watt. Mind you, fast charging any battery will reduce capacity quicker, same deal with an iPhone or whatever.

From my experience of using 3 iPhone X in our house with 3 Apple's 29W USB-C chargers up till July 2019 and 3 Apple's new 30W USB-C chargers till today exclusively, our phone's battery lives as per the battery setting are 99%, 99% and 97% respectively. In the whole year, we may have charged our phones using regular 5W charger just once or twice.

The newer battery tech coupled with software optimizations in iOS 11/12 make no big deal out of Fast Charging.

We charge our phones at 11pm and remove them from charger at 7am. Our phones are always between 30-40% at night.

I charge my 10.5" Pro with Fast Charger all the time. In fact, we don't have regular chargers in our house any more. I have recently found this 30W fast charger from UGreen on aliexpress app. It was barely $12 on 11.11 sale. It also charges our X from 0-100% in exactly 2 hrs.

 

[BoneHead001]

Good to know – thanks!

 

[ericwn]

From my experience of using 3 iPhone X in our house with 3 Apple's 29W USB-C chargers up till July 2019 and 3 Apple's new 30W USB-C chargers till today exclusively, our phone's battery lives as per the battery setting are 99%, 99% and 97% respectively. In the whole year, we may have charged our phones using regular 5W charger just once or twice.

The newer battery tech coupled with software optimizations in iOS 11/12 make no big deal out of Fast Charging.

We charge our phones at 11pm and remove them from charger at 7am. Our phones are always between 30-40% at night.

I charge my 10.5" Pro with Fast Charger all the time. In fact, we don't have regular chargers in our house any more. I have recently found this 30W fast charger from UGreen on aliexpress app. It was barely $12 on 11.11 sale. It also charges our X from 0-100% in exactly 2 hrs.

I think fast charging worked already nicely 3 years ago with the first Pro and it has not stopped since then.

Could you elaborate more on these software optimization you suspect to be in iOS 11/12 with respect to charging? I was under the impression that the charging is largely handled by the device firmware and don’t see anything in iOS that would improve fast charging.

 

[gsmornot]

From my experience of using 3 iPhone X in our house with 3 Apple's 29W USB-C chargers up till July 2019 and 3 Apple's new 30W USB-C chargers till today exclusively, our phone's battery lives as per the battery setting are 99%, 99% and 97% respectively. In the whole year, we may have charged our phones using regular 5W charger just once or twice.

The newer battery tech coupled with software optimizations in iOS 11/12 make no big deal out of Fast Charging.

We charge our phones at 11pm and remove them from charger at 7am. Our phones are always between 30-40% at night.

I charge my 10.5" Pro with Fast Charger all the time. In fact, we don't have regular chargers in our house any more. I have recently found this 30W fast charger from UGreen on aliexpress app. It was barely $12 on 11.11 sale. It also charges our X from 0-100% in exactly 2 hrs.

If your phone is on the charger 8 hours a night you don’t need a fast charger. The included 5w would work fine for your needs. Having the fast charger is just fine but the point is a fast charge because you’re short on time.

 

[TheRealAlex]

Normally charging the iPad Pro via the 18 Watt included Charger will provide its longest and healthiest charge.
Less heat in, lower amps are better for overall longevity.

I can’t see a use case scenario that requires me to need a quick charger for my iPad Pro. A cellphone yes.

As a side note, I connected my 11” iPad Pro to my PC via USB 3.1 A port to USB-C it must have taken all night for a 5Watt charge to trickle charge it all night. But it managed and ended up deliverying over 12 Hours battery life.

I’d trickle charge it every night if possible.

 

[zhenya]

Normally charging the iPad Pro via the 18 Watt included Charger will provide its longest and healthiest charge.
Less heat in, lower amps are better for overall longevity.

I can’t see a use case scenario that requires me to need a quick charger for my iPad Pro. A cellphone yes.

As a side note, I connected my 11” iPad Pro to my PC via USB 3.1 A port to USB-C it must have taken all night for a 5Watt charge to trickle charge it all night. But it managed and ended up deliverying over 12 Hours battery life.

I’d trickle charge it every night if possible.

No real world evidence of this. Even at 30W the charge rate is far below what this battery tech sees in other applications. The iPad has essentially a laptop sized battery, and few laptops charge at under 45W. FWIW I have primarily trickle charged my 12” MacBook for over 3 years and it has by far the worst battery degradation of any electronic device I’ve ever owned.

 

[d5aqoëp]

If your phone is on the charger 8 hours a night you don’t need a fast charger. The included 5w would work fine for your needs. Having the fast charger is just fine but the point is a fast charge because you’re short on time.

Still I need fast charger. I also need it for all my trips.

Could you elaborate more on these software optimization you suspect to be in iOS 11/12 with respect to charging? I was under the impression that the charging is largely handled by the device firmware and don’t see anything in iOS that would improve fast charging.

The charging values are hardcoded into iOS. It charges slower and slower as battery charge nears 100%. This helps to protect battery’s life and to reduce heat.

On iPhone X, the following USB PD profiles are used:
0%-50% charges at 10v x 1.5A = 14W to 15W (usually takes about 30 minutes)
51%-90% charges at 5v x 1A = 4.5W to 5W (usually takes about 60 minutes)
90%-100% charges at 5v x 0.5A = 2.5W (Takes 30 - 45 minutes depending on your battery’s health)

Even if you get 10v x 1.5A = 15W (Volt x Ampere = Power), Power will always be lower than 15W because some of the energy is lost as heat. (Phone heating up slightly, etc, etc)

All iPad Pros (Except 9.7” Pro) use 15v x 2A = 30W USB PD profile for initial 0%-50% fast charging.
This is as detailed as you can get.

 

[ericwn]

Still I need fast charger. I also need it for all my trips.



The charging values are hardcoded into iOS. It charges slower and slower as battery charge nears 100%. This helps to protect battery’s life and to reduce heat.

On iPhone X, the following USB PD profiles are used:
0%-50% charges at 10v x 1.5A = 14W to 15W (usually takes about 30 minutes)
51%-90% charges at 5v x 1A = 4.5W to 5W (usually takes about 60 minutes)
90%-100% charges at 5v x 0.5A = 2.5W (Takes 30 - 45 minutes depending on your battery’s health)

Even if you get 10v x 1.5A = 15W (Volt x Ampere = Power), Power will always be lower than 15W because some of the energy is lost as heat. (Phone heating up slightly, etc, etc)

All iPad Pros (Except 9.7” Pro) use 15v x 2A = 30W USB PD profile for initial 0%-50% fast charging.
This is as detailed as you can get.

And if I charge my device when off there is no iOS running. I can have zero data on the device and it charges still. Hence my point that charging is taken care of by the firmware, not the OS.

 

[DoubleFlyaway]

What do you guys think about this ? There are some Over Enthusiast YouTubers who slam Apple for giving a ever slow Charger of 18 Watts with the iPad Pro. Some are suggesting the Anker 30 Watts Charger for Fast Charging. is this safe for the batter of the iPad ? is this recommended to use a third party fast charger which is other than Apple Provides with its device ? is this not hazardous to your device ?

I almost always use that charger. I got it for my 2017 12.9 and my iphone 8 plus last year. There was no reason not to use it for the 11 inch when i got it.

 

[charlituna]

The iPad will regulate the amount of charging. The 30 watt charger should be just fine.

If you are using an Apple charger. or a certified MFi charger. If you are using any old cheap ass charger who knows. So it’s a good idea to keep an eye on it the first couple of times to make sure nothing goes south

 

[augustya]

I almost always use that charger. I got it for my 2017 12.9 and my iphone 8 plus last year. There was no reason not to use it for the 11 inch when i got it.

For a 1K USD item I will be very careful with taking an adventurous step.

 

[DoubleFlyaway]

For a 1K USD item I will be very careful with taking an adventurous step.

It’s fine. People have been using this charger on iPad pros for a long time now.

 

[ericwn]

For a 1K USD item I will be very careful with taking an adventurous step.

People used the 12” MacBook’s charger on iPads since 2015. I don’t remember any forum members with a broken battery from that usage.

 

[jmass777]

So the Forum answer for the iPad Pro 2018 is: Yes, there’s no problem with the Anker 30 W, and no, don’t use a 30 W charger.

I just spoke to Apple Tech support, who said to only use the Apple charger. They’ve got to be kidding! They’re pushing everything to USB C, but they want us to carry around 3 different chargers??? (iPhone, iPad, Macbook)

An Apple Store employee told me a low wattage charger would damage the battery. So much for ever attaching your iPad to your MacBook for syncing.

Most importantly, I did not see anything in the small amount of barely legible info that came with the iPad.

So what should one do?

 

[muzzy996]

So the Forum answer for the iPad Pro 2018 is: Yes, there’s no problem with the Anker 30 W, and no, don’t use a 30 W charger.

I just spoke to Apple Tech support, who said to only use the Apple charger. They’ve got to be kidding! They’re pushing everything to USB C, but they want us to carry around 3 different chargers??? (iPhone, iPad, Macbook)

An Apple Store employee told me a low wattage charger would damage the battery. So much for ever attaching your iPad to your MacBook for syncing.

Most importantly, I did not see anything in the small amount of barely legible info that came with the iPad.

So what should one do?

Wouldn’t expect anything less from an Apple rep in terms of a response to an inquiry about what products to use to charge an Apple device. There are certainly POS brands out there that can do damage quickly to devices, I personally don’t consider Anker one of them, on the contrary. I use Anker and RAVPower products and give zero $#%ks about incremental impacts to the battery on my devices. My usage matters more to me than long term impacts to my devices, I’ll deal with those issues when they come; life’s too darned short for me to be gimping my lifestyle worrying about what-if’s. That’s just me though, you’re all free to do you.

 

[A.R.E.A.M.]

@muzzy996 spot on mate! Same reaction as you..i drive these things to the upper limits since I want to take advantage of the power. I use the ipad with a Ethernet connection daily and that drinks a lot of battery so it use an Anker 60W
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07BQJWDRM/ref=oh_aui_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

With this SS cable:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01MZGZUYL/ref=oh_aui_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1


I can definitely tell a faster recharge time with this and am very happy. Have had this setup since December and no issue.


I expect apple to only sell/recommend apple products , so no big surprise the rep stated that.

 

[Kio_Milenium]

Still I need fast charger. I also need it for all my trips.



The charging values are hardcoded into iOS. It charges slower and slower as battery charge nears 100%. This helps to protect battery’s life and to reduce heat.

On iPhone X, the following USB PD profiles are used:
0%-50% charges at 10v x 1.5A = 14W to 15W (usually takes about 30 minutes)
51%-90% charges at 5v x 1A = 4.5W to 5W (usually takes about 60 minutes)
90%-100% charges at 5v x 0.5A = 2.5W (Takes 30 - 45 minutes depending on your battery’s health)

Even if you get 10v x 1.5A = 15W (Volt x Ampere = Power), Power will always be lower than 15W because some of the energy is lost as heat. (Phone heating up slightly, etc, etc)

All iPad Pros (Except 9.7” Pro) use 15v x 2A = 30W USB PD profile for initial 0%-50% fast charging.
This is as detailed as you can get.

So, I want to charge my iPhone Xr and my 2018 iPad pro 12.9" at the same time using a single charger, one with 2 USB-C PD ports at 30W each would be the way to go? There is No point on having more than 30W available for the iPad, right? I want to make the right purchase
Thank you for your kind response.

 

[BigMcGuire]

I don't think so. Using my MBP's 65W? USB C charger seems to have no difference compared to my 30W Anker USB C PD charger.

But I usually slow charge with a 12W charger on my desk and keep the USB C chargers for my MBP.

 

[InnovativeDoc]

I actually used two different third party chargers from reliable manufacturer having power delivery output: one was 35W and the other 61 Watts capable of delivering 5,9, 12, 15 or 20 volts as per need. I also used a non Apple USB C cable of a high quality. The iPad pro 12.9 4th generation took between 14.4 and 15 volts with a total power peaking at 34.8 watts. So indeed the iPad Pro can take a higher voltage and can work with several chargers. iPad did not recognize Quick Chargers and drew 5V at just around 1A (5 Watt). Conversely, the Apple provided charger could work with my Note 10 Plus at fast charging (5 volt only, not 9 volt, but at a higher current) so that the overall power delivered to cellphone was over 10 watts. I did not test the iPad pro with the Apple 30W charger but am sure it will charge the device fast!