Other Why fast charging is still promoted as superior?

[shadowboi]

Dear Macrumors readers!

Today in the morning I stumbled across a post on reddit where a person got this:

It is said that this happened during charging while playing some game.

And I though, "Wait, isn't this original Apple 20W charger?".

We sure can speculate that it was fake Aliexpress charger, or that the charger case (lol) overheated the brick and melted everything, but the problem is still here: fast chargers generate more heat. You cannot cancel it, those are laws of physics.

It would be good if Apple started warning users against using their devices while charging since a lot of heat is generated both on the charger and phone.

It is laughable Qualcomm and some Chinese manufacturers even lauched 100W charging and some even brag about 200W to pump into smartphones. I mean, for what? Modern batteries have 3000 mAh+ life. With just enough system optimizations it can run a phone thru whole day and up to three days with light to moderate usage and no social networks.

It is also a fact battery dies faster with fast chargers. I also thought it was a myth and used 20W charger all the time with my phone until I saw that battery health started decreasing way too fast, backed down to 5W charger and it magically slowed down.

There should be some proportion of "acceptable" power to total capacity of the battery. It seems there is absolutely no need to charge at 100W with 5000 mAh batteries.

And imagine someone tries to play PUBG on some new iPhone in future, put it on 100W charger in some poorly ventilated room with a charging case on charger, a thick UAG rubber/kevlar case on the phone and all of that at high brightness. It is basically a homebrewed C4!

What do you think about all this "fast charge pandemic"? Should manufacturers warn users of potential safety hazards? Safe charging or fast charging?

 

[Andeddu]

Always use a high quality charger from a reputable manufacturer, doesn’t matter if it’s 5w, 25w or 100w.

 

[Jackbequickly]

Looks like one of those Temu chargers!

 

[4sallypat]

I always use a genuine Apple charger.

In the past i'd use a 10, 12, 18, or 20W charger for my iPhones, but with this new iPhone 16 able to charge at 40W (more than my 15" M2 MBA); I'd be worried about heat too....

 

[BigBlur]

It does look like it could be the original charger from Apple (UK's version).

But why do they have a case on the charger? I bet it overheated due to not being able to dissipate heat properly.

 

[Andeddu]

It does look like it could be the original charger from Apple (UK's version).

But why do they have a case on the charger? I bet it overheated due to not being able to dissipate heat properly.

Yep. Seems like user error to me. What would possess someone to put a case on a plug?

 

[Givmeabrek]

To hold the heat in?

 

[kitKAC]

Yep. Seems like user error to me. What would possess someone to put a case on a plug?

From the Reddit post.

 

[snipr125]

I always use a genuine Apple charger.

In the past i'd use a 10, 12, 18, or 20W charger for my iPhones, but with this new iPhone 16 able to charge at 40W (more than my 15" M2 MBA); I'd be worried about heat too....

Apple chargers are very good, but they have not fully switched over to GaN yet (only their 140 and 70W chargers). They really need to update their 35w dual usb c charger to GaN as it would suit the majority of people, and then be more compact and produce significantly less heat. For example this 30w GaN charger from VoltMe is tiny, charges insanely fast yet has 2 usbc c ports and produces very little heat.

VOLTME USB C Charger 30W, 2-Port USB C Plug Fast Charge GaN III, Compatible with iPhone 15 Pro Max, Galaxy S21/ S21+, iPad Pro, Pixel, Black

VOLTME USB C Charger 30W, 2-Port USB C Plug Fast Charge GaN III, Compatible with iPhone 15 Pro Max, Galaxy S21/ S21+, iPad Pro, Pixel, Black

amzn.eu

I have many Gan Chargers and they are game changers to be honest, but i still use my 5W and 12W Apple chargers for ‘slow’ overnight charging.

 

[ankitgu]

I agree with this post. I personally think a slow charger is probably better, no different than on a Tesla where too much DC fast charging is a negative for battery longevity and available capacity after 5 years of ownership.

One of the aspects I wonder about more is what happens to battery life due to wireless charging? Does wireless charging create added heat that induces more wear/tear on the battery/device? Maybe a slow 5-10W wired charging is going to be best.

One aspect, just like with cars, is that most probably don't keep their devices long enough. Some cars just have to last through the lease window, then it's someone else's problem unless the used market discounts them very heavily for too much depreciation, but that's much longer term than most people's decision making windows. With phones, it may be the same. I'm one of the few who keeps devices long enough presumably, so I care - I have Apple change out the battery at about the 2.5 year mark so I can get to 5 years of usage. Because I'm using my phone longer than the people around me, I care more about battery longevity and health. (The exception is when Apple offers a really good premium to market price for my trade in towards a new phone - I will then upgrade before the 5 year mark...)

 

[klasma]

Why fast charging is still promoted as superior?

Because faster = better is easy to understand (even when it’s wrong), and because fast chargers, being more expensive, have higher absolute profit margins.

 

[HouseLannister]

MKBHD was talking about some phone that can go from 0% to 100% in 3 and a half minutes. Some people are into this.

That said, if you make the batteries larger, no one will care. If I only need to charge it once a night, it can take 6 hours to charge.

 

[JPack]

Nothing wrong with fast charging except you pay for it through reduced battery health.

Many people want speed these days because they're on their phone most of the day.

Some are more willing to pay to play, simple as that.

 

[nmart1214]

This only makes sense if chargers and phones haven't been regulating their own charging for a long time. A 240w charger isn't using 240w all the time, it's only using it if the thermals and battery allow it to. Once a device heats up or approaches full battery, charging slows down significantly.

Android gaming phones with high speed chargers that were meant to be played while plugged in have existed for many years and have never been a safety issue.

 

[Cirillo Gherardo]

It is also a fact battery dies faster with fast chargers. I also thought it was a myth and used 20W charger all the time with my phone until I saw that battery health started decreasing way too fast, backed down to 5W charger and it magically slowed down.

You're conflating things together that you don't understand and drawing conclusions that are not true.

Wireless charging, fast charging, overnight charging, charging while using ...absolutely NONE of these things will affect the battery health in a meaningful way. Emphasis on the word meaningful. All use of the battery, charge and drain, "affects" its health. Doesn't mean that the effects are meaningful, or will translate to any sort of noticeable impact to real world usage any time during the normal lifespan of the phone.

 

[ApplesAreSweet&Sour]

It does look like it could be the original charger from Apple (UK's version).

But why do they have a case on the charger? I bet it overheated due to not being able to dissipate heat properly.

Yeah. Unlike iPhones, I’m pretty sure most chargers will not slow charging when getting too hot.

And to those worried about 40W charging and fast charging at large -Apple plays it exceptionally safe and has several many safety measures in play, making sure your iPhone will stop taking in power long before reaching critical temperatures.

Yes, your battery will probably wear down a little slower if you never fast charge. But maybe not. Or just not a whole lot by comparison.

Either way, you’re still not avoiding going through charge cycles. Nor is slow charging at 5W generating zero heat.

I don’t think too much about it as (possibly) wearing down the battery slightly faster is worth it in situations when you don’t have much time to charge.

I can’t think about my iPhones battery all the time.

 

[fatTribble]

I think there is a huge difference between buying a charger off of some shady site and using an Apple charger. I used to charge on the Apple 5w charger overnight. Now with USB-C I use the 20w Apple charger. So I’m not into the fast charging, but I think as long as you use an Apple or Apple approved charger you’re fine. Yes, I get the impact to battery health. You could always use the 5w Apple charger and a USB-A to C cable to charge your iPhone if you’re concerned.

 

[4sallypat]

I agree with this post. I personally think a slow charger is probably better, no different than on a Tesla where too much DC fast charging is a negative for battery longevity and available capacity after 5 years of ownership.

One of the aspects I wonder about more is what happens to battery life due to wireless charging? Does wireless charging create added heat that induces more wear/tear on the battery/device? Maybe a slow 5-10W wired charging is going to be best.

One aspect, just like with cars, is that most probably don't keep their devices long enough. Some cars just have to last through the lease window, then it's someone else's problem unless the used market discounts them very heavily for too much depreciation, but that's much longer term than most people's decision making windows. With phones, it may be the same. I'm one of the few who keeps devices long enough presumably, so I care - I have Apple change out the battery at about the 2.5 year mark so I can get to 5 years of usage. Because I'm using my phone longer than the people around me, I care more about battery longevity and health. (The exception is when Apple offers a really good premium to market price for my trade in towards a new phone - I will then upgrade before the 5 year mark...)

Who says fast charging a Tesla is bad.
New studies are showing it has negligible impact due to advanced BMS (Battery Management Systems).

I fast charge my Ford between 90-100% using Tesla Superchargers - not an issue since I am not planning on keeping her after 3 years when the warranty expires.

 

[Alpha Centauri]

I have a 20W charger for my 13 Mini but exclusively use the 5W that came with my OG SE. In the last few years however I'm using tethered CarPlay frequently for Maps, so this thread has me wondering what wattage the car's electrics pump out on the USB-C side.

 

[NewOldStock]

Device has charging circuits to limit power inputs.
Dead horse again.

 

[macfacts]

Yep. Seems like user error to me. What would possess someone to put a case on a plug?

3rd party charger probably, the case is to make it seem more premium, to get people to buy it.

 

[macfacts]

Device has charging circuits to limit power inputs.
Dead horse again.

"Usb killers" can't even damage iPhone

 

[AppleTO]

One of the aspects I wonder about more is what happens to battery life due to wireless charging? Does wireless charging create added heat that induces more wear/tear on the battery/device? Maybe a slow 5-10W wired charging is going to be best.

My previous iPhone XS (purchased a few weeks after launch) was almost exclusively charged with a 7.5 watt wireless charger I purchased at an Apple Store when I first got the phone. I used the charger every night, all night.

The phone was given to a family member nearly two years ago when I upgraded, and it’s still on its originally battery.

I can’t speak for others, but I was very pleased with the how well the battery kept up with the 7.5 watt wireless charger. Now I have a 14 Pro, and its battery health is a very different story…

 

[HiVolt]

I've been using 10W iPad chargers for my larger iPhones (XS Max, 12 PM, 15 PM), and before that the old 5W chargers...

Works just fine for overnight charging, and even with 80% limit on my 15PM I get thru the day just fine.

Never used MagSafe because excess heat is not a good thing for a battery.

 

[Conza]

Largely agree with you - I think the title being "Why is faster charging still promoted as superior?" would read more easily, I clicked this thinking it would be a pro-fast charging post, and since I'm on team 'slower charge' was interested in new information, I digress.

People are lazy, people want things quickly, I get it. I charge my phone often overnight, or the following morning (15PM), I limit myself to 80% capacity and I can't change the charging speed, but at 27W to me that's relatively slow enough that I'm happy with it.

I just came from a S22 Ultra where I limited it to 85% charge, never let it go below 25% and left it at 20-25W charging (I think it's technically fast charging still but not super fast).

I would say slower/medium charging speeds will become more popular, I want to keep my 15PM until either the 19PM or 20PM, and it will all be down to battery remaining, and advancements of the new phones, will I need a new battery in 2 or 3 years and at the point of getting a 2nd battery, will I just decide may as well go to a new phone? That's what I'm anticipating.