iPhone 12 mini USB C cable with a USB A adapter into an Anker PowerIQ2 charger - will it blend?

[PNutts]

This isn't a fast charging question, PowerIQ2 is only 18W. I assume the available wattage remains 18W with the USB A adapter, but I'm curious if the phone will be able to use the full 18W (similar to a USB A iPad charger charging at 12W instead of 5W). Without the full features of a USB C cable due to the four pin adapter, what's the maximum wattage the phone will utilize?

 

[jaytv111]

PowerIQ mostly means it supports fast charging standards like Quickcharge and others on Android phones, but as far as I know all Apple devices are limited to 12 watts over USB-A, no matter what the power supply is capable of (and Quickcharge and others can go higher than 12 on USB-A). On Apple devices you must use USB-C to get higher than 12, whether it’s an iPhone (up to 20 watts) or iPad (up to 30 watts) or MacBook (up to 96 watts).

 

[PNutts]

PowerIQ mostly means it supports fast charging standards like Quickcharge and others on Android phones, but as far as I know all Apple devices are limited to 12 watts over USB-A, no matter what the power supply is capable of (and Quickcharge and others can go higher than 12 on USB-A). On Apple devices you must use USB-C to get higher than 12, whether it’s an iPhone (up to 20 watts) or iPad (up to 30 watts) or MacBook (up to 96 watts).

Thank you. I've been doing a lot more searching and find legit-looking articles that state the 18W iPhone 11 chargers charge the iPhone 12 at near the 20W fast charge. So not saying you are wrong, I'm just gathering as much information as I can. I have no idea of the technical expertise of these sites, but they make purdy graphs.

Yes, your old 18W adapter charges the iPhone 12 as fast as the new 20W charger

[Update] The 18W charger you got with your iPhone 11 Pro won't officially fast charge your iPhone 12

 

[MarkX]

The iPhone 11 charger is USB C to lightning hence why it charges at 18 watts.

 

[jaytv111]

Thank you. I've been doing a lot more searching and find legit-looking articles that state the 18W iPhone 11 chargers charge the iPhone 12 at near the 20W fast charge. So not saying you are wrong, I'm just gathering as much information as I can. I have no idea of the technical expertise of these sites, but they make purdy graphs.

Yes, your old 18W adapter charges the iPhone 12 as fast as the new 20W charger

[Update] The 18W charger you got with your iPhone 11 Pro won't officially fast charge your iPhone 12

I think you misunderstand. Those chargers are type-C chargers. I was saying type-A chargers on all Apple devices are limited to 12 watts. That’s because Apple does not ever implement Qualcomm Quickcharge or Dash charging. Instead, they support 2.4 amp charging (12 watts) on type-A, or USB Power Delivery on type-C (>12 watts).

 

[Lwii2boo]

I think you misunderstand. Those chargers are type-C chargers. I was saying type-A chargers on all Apple devices are limited to 12 watts. That’s because Apple does not ever implement Qualcomm Quickcharge or Dash charging. Instead, they support 2.4 amp charging (12 watts) on type-A, or USB Power Delivery on type-C (>12 watts).

Exactly. OP if you don't understand what you are talking about don't claim you did a lot of research it's embarrassing

 

[PNutts]

Exactly. OP if you don't understand what you are talking about don't claim you did a lot of research it's embarrassing

So feisty. None of the links I posted are authoritative, there are no authoritative links provided in responses (just opinions), and my original question was using a USB-C cable with a USB-A adapter. It's ok that you don't know.

 

[PNutts]

I think you misunderstand. Those chargers are type-C chargers. I was saying type-A chargers on all Apple devices are limited to 12 watts. That’s because Apple does not ever implement Qualcomm Quickcharge or Dash charging. Instead, they support 2.4 amp charging (12 watts) on type-A, or USB Power Delivery on type-C (>12 watts).

I confused the issue. Everything I'm looking at is through the lens of using an adapter. This is the type of information I was looking for, but doesn't have the combination I have. From the link (emphasis mine):

iPhone 12 Pro Max, power measured by Kill-A-Watt:
8 Watts - USB-C Lightning cable with Apple iPad 12 Watt USB-A charger through USB-C to USB-A adapter

Looking at the information above the adapter may impart a performance penalty. It all rolls back to my original question of what's the maximum. Based on the results above and your comment it could be less than 12.

It's just a fun, theoretical question. This morning my 12 mini charged from 15% to 38% in less than 20 minutes using a USB-A cable on an 18 watt charger that arrived yesterday. It's not important to me what the wattage was, but I'll measure it later with a USB power meter and per your comment it should be up to 12 watts (again, different topic than my original question).

 

[cynics]

I confused the issue. Everything I'm looking at is through the lens of using an adapter. This is the type of information I was looking for, but doesn't have the combination I have. From the link (emphasis mine):

iPhone 12 Pro Max, power measured by Kill-A-Watt:
8 Watts - USB-C Lightning cable with Apple iPad 12 Watt USB-A charger through USB-C to USB-A adapter

Looking at the information above the adapter may impart a performance penalty. It all rolls back to my original question of what's the maximum. Based on the results above and your comment it could be less than 12.

It's just a fun, theoretical question. This morning my 12 mini charged from 15% to 38% in less than 20 minutes using a USB-A cable on an 18 watt charger that arrived yesterday. It's not important to me what the wattage was, but I'll measure it later with a USB power meter and per your comment it should be up to 12 watts (again, different topic than my original question).

This is close as I could get for you. 12 watt USB A Apple charger going through a USB A to USB C cable. Its the shortest I had, 8" (least resistance).

Even that short 8" USB A to USB C has too much resistance to get 12 watts. Voltage has dropped below USB spec acceptable limits at 4.71vdc. If I increase the load by even a faction of an amp higher the power supply trips off on its safeguards.

I think with a USB C using a USB C to A adapter on the charger the results would have been a tad bit better.

You might find this interesting. We know that 12 watt power supply is doing as it advertises from the above pic.

BRAND NEW APPLE Lightning cable can deliver around 10 watts max, trying to increase the load again to get as close as I could to 12 watts only gets me to 11.3 watt and WELL below 5 volt we need.

Moral of the story....volts x amps = watts. When you restrict the voltage to 5 vdc the only way to increase watts is to increase amps. And higher amps at a low voltage makes the requirements for the cable (to minimize all the resistance you can) just too unrealistic.

 

[jaytv111]

I confused the issue. Everything I'm looking at is through the lens of using an adapter. This is the type of information I was looking for, but doesn't have the combination I have. From the link (emphasis mine):

iPhone 12 Pro Max, power measured by Kill-A-Watt:
8 Watts - USB-C Lightning cable with Apple iPad 12 Watt USB-A charger through USB-C to USB-A adapter

Looking at the information above the adapter may impart a performance penalty. It all rolls back to my original question of what's the maximum. Based on the results above and your comment it could be less than 12.

It's just a fun, theoretical question. This morning my 12 mini charged from 15% to 38% in less than 20 minutes using a USB-A cable on an 18 watt charger that arrived yesterday. It's not important to me what the wattage was, but I'll measure it later with a USB power meter and per your comment it should be up to 12 watts (again, different topic than my original question).

Whether it’s an adapter or cable it will still be 12 watts for Apple devices. Adapters and cables with USB-A have something inside that lets the device know it’s connected to a USB A port. Now, there are devices that go higher than 12 watts over A, using Qualcomm Quickcharge or Oneplus Dash Charging and a bunch of others, but Apple has never supported those, only supporting PD over type C, or standard USB charging which is up to 12 watts over A. Your iPhone is charging at 12 watts if USB A is anywhere in the chain. It doesn’t matter the power supply or who makes the adapter or what, Apple and USB A equals 12 watts at most.

I saw for myself that an older iPhone (6s maybe) charged pretty fast over 12 watts type A, it even got pretty hot doing so. And if you look up how long it takes to fully charge an iPhone, the surprising thing is that 18 or 20 watts doesn’t make a huge difference over 12 watts, 20 watts is most useful for MagSafe charging which introduces a lot of loss. The higher power when wired is mostly speeding up when battery is less than 50%, but iPhones slow down the charging at over 50%.

 

[PNutts]

This is close as I could get for you. 12 watt USB A Apple charger going through a USB A to USB C cable. Its the shortest I had, 8" (least resistance).

View attachment 1808031

Even that short 8" USB A to USB C has too much resistance to get 12 watts. Voltage has dropped below USB spec acceptable limits at 4.71vdc. If I increase the load by even a faction of an amp higher the power supply trips off on its safeguards.

I think with a USB C using a USB C to A adapter on the charger the results would have been a tad bit better.

You might find this interesting. We know that 12 watt power supply is doing as it advertises from the above pic.

View attachment 1808036
View attachment 1808037

BRAND NEW APPLE Lightning cable can deliver around 10 watts max, trying to increase the load again to get as close as I could to 12 watts only gets me to 11.3 watt and WELL below 5 volt we need.

Moral of the story....volts x amps = watts. When you restrict the voltage to 5 vdc the only way to increase watts is to increase amps. And higher amps at a low voltage makes the requirements for the cable (to minimize all the resistance you can) just too unrealistic.

Ah, seeing the numbers I understand. I didn't know if the adapter would make it a hampered USB C or an enhanced USB A. Turns out neither. Thank you for the thoughtful response to me not knowing how to ask my question.

 

[PNutts]

Whether it’s an adapter or cable it will still be 12 watts for Apple devices. Adapters and cables with USB-A have something inside that lets the device know it’s connected to a USB A port. Now, there are devices that go higher than 12 watts over A, using Qualcomm Quickcharge or Oneplus Dash Charging and a bunch of others, but Apple has never supported those, only supporting PD over type C, or standard USB charging which is up to 12 watts over A. Your iPhone is charging at 12 watts if USB A is anywhere in the chain. It doesn’t matter the power supply or who makes the adapter or what, Apple and USB A equals 12 watts at most.

I saw for myself that an older iPhone (6s maybe) charged pretty fast over 12 watts type A, it even got pretty hot doing so. And if you look up how long it takes to fully charge an iPhone, the surprising thing is that 18 or 20 watts doesn’t make a huge difference over 12 watts, 20 watts is most useful for MagSafe charging which introduces a lot of loss. The higher power when wired is mostly speeding up when battery is less than 50%, but iPhones slow down the charging at over 50%.

I appreciate your patience and persistence. All your answers are spot on. I did misunderstand your first response, and your second response cleared it up. It was the adapter that was the wildcard for me. And similar to the link I provided, the adapter dropped it from 12 watts to 7 watts (I let the phone drain to 15% overnight so I could do my comparison while the phone was calling for the most power).

I set my wife up so she can fast charge because it's hard for her to stay in one spot for long. I'm always in the car or at my desk, so I'm good with 12 watts in the car and up to 12 watts from the MagSafe wireless charger at my desk.