Apple’s It’s Glowtime event was packed with new announcements, with the iPhone 16 lineup debuting alongside the Apple Watch Series 10, new AirPods models, and more. With so much being revealed, it’d be easy to miss the fact that Apple is bringing a big charging upgrade to the iPhone 16 lineup.
If you dig through the spec pages of the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro, you’ll notice a small but significant change to the charging and battery life of these devices. That’s because these products now support MagSafe wireless charging at up to 25W (provided you have a 30W power adapter or better), nearly double the previous 15W limit. And it will also work with the Qi2 standard for better compatibility, though only up to 15W.
The new 25W MagSafe limit could make a big difference to your device’s charging times. According to Apple’s own figures, you can now charge your iPhone 16 or iPhone 16 Pro to 50% in under 30 minutes. That applies to both MagSafe wireless and wired USB-C charging, provided you use a 30W or 20W adapter for each respectively.
Compare that to the iPhone 15 line, which were capable of fast charging up to 50% in 30 minutes, but only with a wired connection. On those devices, MagSafe charging was limited to 15W, the same power limit MagSafe has had since its introduction in 2020.
Flying under the radar
Apple barely mentioned this faster charging speed during the event’s keynote. The company’s marketing chief Greg Joswiak said only that the iPhone 16 line will come with “a new MagSafe charger for even faster wireless charging.” Joswiak didn’t provide specific power output or charge time figures, while Apple’s press releases buried the details in their footnotes.
That means it would be very easy to miss this important update. If you want your iPhone to charge as quickly as possible, it can be a tempting reason to upgrade.
Phones have offered fast charging for a while now, and many of the best Android phones have blazingly fast charging times – the Realme GT 3, for example, boasts 240W fast charging. But that requires a cable (the Realme GT 3 doesn’t offer wireless charging at all), and wireless charging hasn’t yet managed to come anywhere near the same speeds. While Apple’s 25W MagSafe upgrade is well below the best wired charging speeds, it’s still a welcome improvement.
There were plenty of other upgrades announced with the iPhone 16 lineup, including a new Camera Control button, faster chips, improved cameras and more. While the charging upgrade hasn’t had as much time in the sun as some of the other new features, it could prove to be just as important.
For our first impressions of one of the new iPhones, read our hands-on review of the iPhone 16 Pro.