Dan Loewenherz, the founder of a software studio in Texas that helps startups turn ideas into working products, has take it upon himself to compare iPhone charging times by charger.
USB
USB Type-C is great, but the standard isn’t perfect yet
USB Type-C is a forward-thinking I/O standard that aims to bundle both ease of use and versatility in one universal package. Not only is it becoming popular in the mobile device market, but it’s also finding its way to the game console and portable notebook markets among others.
If you own any of Apple’s new MacBooks or MacBook Pros, then you’re likely already accustomed to the USB-C life. While it takes a little bit of getting used to at first, it can be a smooth transition after some time. Nevertheless, I have a beef with the USB-C standard; at least in its current form.
The best power adapters to fast charge iPhone 8 and iPhone X
Alongside wireless charging, the iPhone 8 and iPhone X support a new feature Apple has dubbed fast charge. Apple states that you can achieve 50% battery with just 30 minutes of charge time.
Wireless charging is a convenient way to charge, but the speed is exceptionally slow. Wirelessly, you can charge with 5W (soon to be upgraded to 7.5W later this year). That is the same as Apple's slowest USB power adapter. If you are looking for a quicker way to fuel up, fast charge is your best option. Of course, it isn't nearly that simple and you must use a compatible cable and power adapter to make it happen.
We went hands-on with several of the best power adapters to fast charge iPhone 8 and iPhone X.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nOllkbo99SU
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To use fast charging on your iPhone 8 or iPhone X, you need two components. A Lightning to USB-C cable, and a USB-C wall charger.
Lightning cableWhen it comes to the Lightning cable, you really only have one option: Apple. Currently, Apple does not certify any third-party manufacturers to produce USB-C Lightning cables.
The reason you need a USB-C Lightning cable is because the standard USB-A Lightning cables that come with your phone, only support USB 2.0, which is limited in charging speed. The USB-C variant supports USB 3, which can charge at faster rates.
Wall chargersWe took a look at a myriad of options for wall chargers that will support fast charge, including Apple's power adapters. We will break them down one-by-one, then provide a summary at the end on how they performed, as well as our recommendations.
Apple 5W charger
Apple includes a 5W charger in the box with every iPhone. Annoyingly, this is one of the slowest for your device. We still included it in our test, but it obviously was the worst performer.
Apple 12W charger
This is the charger that is included with several iPads. It is quite a bit faster when charging your phone, and something many have taken advantage of for years. While it is great for older phones, it still isn't the fastest option available for Apple's latest devices.
Apple 29W charger
If you have a 12" MacBook, you will have one of these lying around. This is Apple's smallest USB-C power adapter, and a great option for charging up your phone with fast charge. The biggest downside, is the price of Apple's adapters are quite hefty, and we've found several third-party options that charge nearly as quick for almost half the cost.
If you don't have a MacBook, and want to pick one of these up, they are on Amazon for $47.93.
Other Apple chargers
Apple has larger USB-C charging adapters as well. For instance, the 61W and 87W chargers included with the MacBook Pros. It is entirely safe to use these high powered chargers with your iPhone, as they will limit themselves to only what the iPhone can handle. The iPhone 8 and X can't handle nearly that amount, so using any of these adapters will yield pretty much the same charge times as the 29W power adapter.
Anker 30W charger
This Anker charger is a great solution for fast charging, and comes in at nearly half the price of Apple's.
There are two minor downsides to the Anker charger, which is the lack of extension cord support like Apple's, and the status LED that is unnecessarily added to the front.
Size wise, it is pretty much the exact same size as Apple's 29W adapter, if not a tad larger.
You can find this 30W Anker charger for just above $21 on Amazon.
Aukey Amp Duo
The Aukey Amp Duo is another really handy one because it not only is a USB-C charger, but has an adapter with two USB-A ports as well. You can't utilize them all at once, but you can use either the USB-C port for fast charging, or the two USB-A ports for other devices.
This is a great option because not only does it have the added convenience, but it comes in with a very low price of $22.99 over on Amazon.
Lumsing
Lumsing is another attractive offering. It can provide up to 48W of power between its USB-A and USB-C ports. Both ports can be used simultaneously, and even comes in cheaper than the Aukey solution.
Because of the additional power, this is also a great option for a MacBook charger as well.
It's currently listed on Amazon for $21.99.
RAVPower
The last option we looked at is the 36W dual charger from RAVPower. It is also the cheapest on the list by just a hair. We were very impressed with the Qi charging pad and USB-C battery pack from RAVPower, and we were just as happy with their power adapter as well.
Like Lumsing, it has both USB-A and USB-C ports to accommodate different types of chargers at the same time. The downside is that it is a bit less power than the very similar Lumsing model.
You can currently find the RAVPower adapter on Amazon for $20.99.
PerformanceWe performed a test with several of the included power adapters, to see how they stood up to one another, and Apple's options.
For this test, I would drain the iPhone 8 Plus, then start a timer for 30 minutes. At the end of the 30 minutes, I would take note of the battery percentage that was gained. I tested 3 of Apple's power adapters, as well as a few additional chargers.
The first thing to note, the 5W charger is useless. After a full 30 minutes, barely 25% of the battery was regained. This is pretty terrible considering your other options.
Apple's 29W charger performed best, though not by much. In fact, there was only slight deviation in all of the chargers when they were tested. This helps verify Apple's claimed of 50% capacity in 30 minutes, and that you don't need to splurge on Apple's first-party adapters. The third-party ones performed almost nearly as well, with more features, and often half the cost.
Wrapping upWhen it comes to picking a favorite, it's hard to say. If you are going purely for the lowest cost that can act as a fast charger, RAVPower is probably your best bet. But if you are looking for some additional functionality out of it, the Aukey Duo is a solid choice.
Regardless, all performed well and you can't go wrong choosing any of them.
Let us know which is your favorite, or any others you've found down below in the comments.
Elgato Thunderbolt 3 docking station looks great next to your MacBook Pro [video]
So far, we've taken a look at Thunderbolt 3 docks from CalDigit and OWC. Now we have a solution from Elgato as well. The Elgato offering takes a horizontal orientation, similar to OWC. It offers several ports, in a streamlined and well-designed body.
These USB-C chargers support Fast Charge in iPhone 8, iPhone X & iPad Pro
iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus and iPhone X are all fast-charge capable, allowing users to achieve up to fifty percent charge in 30 minutes with the right cable and power adapter.
LaCie Porsche design USB-C portable hard drive is a stylish partner for your MacBook
Most major manufacturers have been steadily upgrading their external drives to take advantage of USB-C and Thunderbolt 3. Now that Apple has replaced all their ports on their latest machines, we've seen more and more hit the market. One of the earliest adopters is LaCie who brought their chic Porsche design to their USB-C mobile drive.
Apple TV 4K no longer has USB-C port
The new Apple TV 4K has brought back the speedy Gigabit Ethernet port (the previous box uses the slower 10/100 Mbps Ethernet for wired Internet), but it's lost the handy USB-C port.
Barclays: iPhone 8 to ship with 10W USB-C power adapter with fast charging
Apple's 5.8-inch iPhone 8 is expected to ship with a stronger ten-watt power adapter in its box, featuring a USB-C connector and fast-charging support. That's according to Barclays analyst Blayne Curtis's note to clients Wednesday, a copy of which was obtained by MacRumors.
Current iPhones include a five-watt power adapter in the box.
The analyst claims that iPhone 8 will include a dedicated USB-C Power Delivery chip that enables fast charging capabilities. The new ten-watt power adapter will also sport an integrated USB-C Power Delivery chip. Both chips will be supplied by Cypress Semiconductor and it's basically the same CYPD2104 part used in Apple's new 10.5-inch iPad Pro.
It should be noted that iPhone 7 already supports fast-charging capability when connected to Apple's 29-watt USB-C power adapter for MacBook via a Lightning to USB-C cable.
The new 12.9-inch iPad Pro and the 10.5-inch iPad Pro are capable of fast charging, too.
KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said in March that the OLED-based iPhone 8 would retain its Lightning connector and have a dedicated USB-C Power Delivery chip on the logic board.
Assuming Curtis is right, iPhone 8 might come bundled with either a Lightning to USB-C cable or a female USB-C to male USB-A adapter with an integrated fast-charging chip so that customers could use their existing Lightning to USB cable to fast-charge the phone.
iPhone 8 concept courtesy of iFanr.
macOS 10.12.5 fixes issues with USB headphones & Windows 10, lays the groundwork for future macOS releases
Apple today released the mostly maintenance macOS Sierra 10.12.5 software update alongside updates to iOS, watchOS and tvOS. According to release notes accompanying the download, 10.12.5 fixes issues with USB headphones and Windows 10 installations while laying the groundwork for future macOS releases.
Plus, this version of macOS “enhances compatibility of Mac App Store with future software updates.” Apple is expected to preview the next major version of macOS at its annual developers conference next month.
macOS Sierra 10.12.5 can be installed via the Mac App Store's Updates tab.
Read Apple's support doc for detailed information about the update's security content.
Safari 10.1.1, which comes included in the 10.12.5 update, patches for more than half a dozen WebKit-related vulnerabilities while fixing yet another instance of address bar spoofing that could fool users into believing they're visiting a genuine rather than a maliciously crafted webpage designed for phishing attacks.
It's available for OS X Yosemite 10.10.5, OS X El Capitan 10.11.6 and macOS Sierra 10.12.5.
A minor update to iTunes for Mac and Windows was also pushed today.
iTunes 12.6.1 comes with unspecified app and performance improvements along with a fix for a WebKit exploit on Windows 7 and later which could result in arbitrary code execution after processing maliciously crafted web content.
Satechi’s new hub gives your MacBook Pro ports for USB, 4K HDMI, SD/microSD & more
Popular Apple accessory maker Satechi today launched a sleek and compact hub that adds a bunch of missing ports to your MacBook Pro (late-2016 model), including two USB 3.0 ports (so you can charge your iOS devices without having to purchase a new cable), an HDMI port with support for 4K video output, a pair of SD/microSD memory card readers and more.
The hub has two Thunderbolt 3 dongles that take up both USB-C ports of the new MacBook Pros with Touch Bar (don't worry, you also have an additional passthrough Thunderbolt 3 port).
Here's a quick overview of all the ports on this hub:
Thunderbolt 3 (1x)—Data transfer speeds up to 40 Gb/s are supported. In addition, the port supports a single 5K display or two 4K external displays at 60Hz with passthrough charging for 13 (61W) and 15-inch (87W) MacBook Pro models HDMI (1x)—Video output in 1080p at 60Hz or 4K at 30Hz is supported USB 3.0 (2x) and USB-C (1x)—Transfer speeds of up to 5 GB/s are supported SD/microSD (1x)—Transfer speeds of up to 104 MB/s are supportedAnd now, watch Satechi's promotional video for the device.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTq9PorggHY
Priced at $100, the aluminum-clad Type-C Pro Hub is compatible with both Touch Bar and non-Touch bar MacBook Pro models. As a bonus, Satechi is offering these in two finishes, Silver and Space Gray, to complement your notebook.
You can buy the new Type-C Pro Hub starting today on Amazon..
Now that Apple has stopped discounting USB-C accessories, check out these cheaper alternatives
It was fun while it lasted: the age of Apple's discounted USB-C adapters and dongles is over as of today. But don't you worry as we just updated our roundups of cheaper USB-C adapters and USB-C cables from third-party vendors that you may need for your new MacBook Pro.
Following complaints from customers regarding the need for various dongles, Apple temporarily discounted many USB-C peripherals sold in its stores as a way to assuage their concerns. The limited-time deals were supposed to end on December 31, 2016 but the company extended the price cuts until March 31, 2017.
WSJ: iPhone 8 to sport curved OLED screen, supplant Lightning with USB-C
The Wall Street Journal is reporting that iPhone will feature a flexible screen based on organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display technology and supplant Lightning with USB-C.
The story corroborates KGI Securities analyst Ming Chi-Kuo's claims that Apple will release three new phones this year in the form of the brand new OLED-based iPhone 8 model with refreshed industrial design and the more iterative LCD-based iPhone 7s and iPhone 7s Plus updates.