Hi guys, David and David here from payetteforward.com, and in this video, we're going to explain
why your iPhone XS or iPhone XS Max charges so slowly.
Slowly... or at least why it seems like it does.
A little bit of background: Batteries in phones — lithium-ion batteries — are measured
in milliamp hours.
Not micro-amp hours.
So if you see a little mAh next to some lithium ion batteries, it measures the capacity of
the battery.
So the question is, what phone are you comparing the iPhone XS to?
So let's assume you have an iPhone 7.
Okay.
So an iPhone 7 came with a 1960 milliamp hour battery.
Yep.
Okay.
So 1960.
The iPhone X has a 2716, and the iPhone XS has a 2658 milliamp hour battery.
So right now we're comparing a 1960 milliamp battery to a 2658 milliamp battery.
Yes.
So it's going to take longer — maybe about 33 percent longer — because it's about
a third bigger.
Yeah, I mean the battery — the battery is physically bigger.
It's going to take longer to charge.
And obviously it's not a perfect science.
But like David said, it's going to take longer.
But there's a kicker!
So let's say that you've had your iPhone 7 for two years, and a lot of us know that lithium
ion batteries degrade with time.
The performance goes down.
So instead of the brand new 1960 milliamp hour battery, yours is now at 70% of that,
which is 1372.
So now we're comparing the charge time of a 1372 milliamp hour battery to the iPhone
XS, which is 2658 milliamp hours.
And that's about 50% bigger.
50% bigger.
So, you know, It's about a hundred percent bigger!
Right.
And then, even though if you have an old iPhone 7, for example, if it takes less time to charge
up, it's also going to die much faster because battery capacity has degraded.
So the first thing we want to get across is that it might be charging normally.
Especially if you upgraded from an older iPhone, you might notice a difference here.
Now, there are other factors that play into how fast your iPhone charges.
Did you change your charger?
For instance, the iPhone XS comes with a 1 amp charger.
Yes.
When you charge your iPhone in a computer, typically that's 500 milliamps.
So it's going to charge about half as fast.
If you have an iPad charger or a fast charger laying around, a lot of times those are about
2 amps — 2.1 amps.
So it's going to charge faster depending on the amperage of the charger.
It's important not to use a charger with too high of an amperage, however, because as a
rule, lithium-ion batteries are not good when they get hot, and they're not good at taking
charge really, really fast — except in certain circumstances that are special.
So let's talk about fast charging real quick.
Apple came out and said, okay.
Our new phones are going to be fast charging phones.
But what they didn't say publicly is that you have to have a very unique set of circumstances
for your iPhone to be able to fast charge.
And what are those?
Well, you need the Apple special USB-C to lightning cable connector, which you can only
get at Apple.
We actually checked Amazon today and there's no generic version yet.
So you have to buy Apple's version.
Not the one that comes in the box.
You have to buy a USB-C. And your computer might not even have this.
The new Macs do!
You have to get the USB-C and you need to get another connector to get to the USB port,
which is wild.
Yeah.
So, USB-C to lightning, plus an Apple USB-C power adapter, like one of them that comes
with the new MacBooks.
But it's not like you can plug them both in at once.
So you're going to be in the hole here like 50 bucks at least — 60 bucks — just to
be able to fast charge your iPhone.
But when you fast charge your iPhone, it will go from 0 to 50% in 30 minutes.
And that's part of the thing about lithium ion batteries.
It's okay to fast charge them up to a point, but you don't want to fast charge them all
the way up to one-hundred percent.
And higher amperage chargers that aren't smart like the Apple ones will just push it too
far, too fast, and problems can happen.
Overheats, and breaks.
Yep.
That's what can happen.
So is it charging more slowly?
Maybe.
Apple has released a Software Update recently that addresses charging issues — 12.0.1.
So check that out.
Maybe you want to update iOS.
Yeah, try it, but my gut feeling is that people are just, you know, used to having a faster
charging phone.
Yeah, so that is why your iPhone XS or XS Max is charging so slowly.
Leave us a comment down below.
I want to hear your thoughts on this issue specifically.
Are you facing this specific issue?
Is your iPhone XS or XS Max actually charging slowly?
We'd love to hear from you.
Yeah, what phone are you coming from?
Yep, and don't forget subscribe to this channel for more awesome iPhone videos.