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Phil77354

macrumors 68000
Jun 22, 2014
1,927
2,036
Pacific Northwest, U.S.
I was thinking the same thing as the earlier posters, but being curious I decided to check.

What I found is that actually, the latest iPad (8th generation) appears to ship with a USB-C power adaptor, 20w, along with a Lightning to USB-C Cable, see:


It looks like that power adaptor cannot be used with the 5th generation iPad, see:


Expand the 'Compatibility' section and it will give you a complete list of Apple products that work with the charger.

Previously, base model iPads came with the lower power 12w adaptor, which is compatible with 5th gen:


I'm not completely convinced that the USB-C adaptor can't be used with the earlier iPad models, with the appropriate cable, because I thought these devices always managed the recharging rate to deal with chargers of various specifications, but you can see for yourself what the Apple spec pages say.

Perhaps someone else who is more knowledgeable can help us understand why this is.
 
Last edited:

rui no onna

Contributor
Oct 25, 2013
14,920
13,269
Apple doesn't always list all compatible devices particularly older gen, lower end models.

The 20W adapter is capable of outputting 5V (3A max) which is the voltage that the iPad 5th gen needs.

Our iPad 5th gen was at 100% so I drained it a bit with 3DMark Wild Life Stress Test so I can test. I can confirm it charges and right now, it appears to be pulling 12W from the 20W adapter.
 

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