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Apple has taken a fair amount of flak over the years for how slowly its iPhones charge compared with a lot of Android phones that happily hit 100W or more. The new iPhone 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max finally speed things up a bit, but there’s a familiar catch if you want the full benefit.
Apple says the 18 Pro series can hit 50% in about 15 minutes. That’s roughly a quarter faster than the iPhone 17 Pro, which needed around 20 minutes for the same top-up. A quick five-minute charge is also claimed to give you about six hours of video playback. The improvement comes from higher peak power delivery.
Here’s the catch: you need a charger that supports peak 60W, USB Power Delivery 3.1, and Adjustable Voltage Supply (AVS). Apple’s own 40W Dynamic Power Adapter (which can output up to 60W) plus a compatible USB-C cable will get you those advertised speeds. Higher-wattage MacBook chargers, the 96W or 140W ones, don’t qualify because they lack the adjustable voltage feature. Plenty of popular third-party options over 40W, like some Anker 45W adapters, will still charge the phone, but they usually max out at the previous generation’s roughly 20-minute mark for 50%.
As usual, there’s no power adapter in the box, just a USB-C cable, so if you want the fastest wired speeds you’ll need to buy the Dynamic Power Adapter separately. Wireless charging gets a boost too: with a MagSafe charger and any 35W (or higher) adapter, you can reach 50% in about 30 minutes.
The upcoming foldable iPhone Duo, expected next month, supports the same faster speeds under the exact same conditions, so again you’ll need the right adapter for peak performance. It’s a welcome improvement, but the fact that the brand’s own higher-wattage MacBook chargers are not fully compatible with the 18 Pro series continues that long-running pattern of gating the top experience behind official accessories.
The good news is that Adjustable Voltage Supply isn’t some Apple-only proprietary standard. It’s an open protocol defined by the USB-IF, so any charger or power bank that properly supports PD 3.1 or newer should be able to deliver the peak power.
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