Updated July 14 with more information about charging speeds and how each iPhone will be affected.
When Apple releases the iPhone 16 this fall, there will be a lot of changes. And now, it looks like one of the great twenty-first-century malaises, battery anxiety, will be partially allayed by the introduction of significantly faster charging.
The new speeds will be faster than any iPhone has previously had, and by quite a distance. It’s worth noting that some Android phone users will scoff at the upgrade, with phones like the OnePlus 12 supporting much faster speeds, for instance. And the battery sizes of the new phones will play a part in the charging capabilities—which has an interesting knock-on effect for the iPhone 16 Plus.
That’s because while there have already been reports of the battery sizes increasing for the iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max, the iPhone 16 Plus is thought to have a battery that’s smaller than the iPhone 15 Plus.
A drop in battery size by 8.6% is predicted, as pointed out by Britta O’Boyle at T3. Match that with support for faster charging and it seems possible that the iPhone 16 Plus will charge faster than the rest of the range.
There have already been reports of new updates to the iPhone 16 range. These include different displays on some models, wider implementation of the exceptional tetraprism camera, a new strategy for its new-generation processors, more advanced camera lenses, noticeably more efficient OLED displays, a new thermal design to prevent overheating and an improved main camera sensor.
But this new report addresses battery life, the key metric for all of us. It’s not just that the battery will be different, though a recent report says it will, but that when it’s run down, it will be much faster to recharge.
That’s down to the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max supporting 40W wired charging speeds, according to a report from IT Home and spotted by MacRumors. And it may apply to the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus, too.
Right now, all phones in the iPhone 15 series support wired charging speeds of up to 27 watts, assuming you have a powerful enough charging plug. That means that you can charge your iPhone 15 from flat to 50% in about 30 minutes. That’s not bad, but faster would be better.
Support for wired charging of up to 40W would really reduce that charging time, again assuming you have a powerful enough charging plug. Theoretically, it could mean that you could charge the iPhone 16 from nothing to 50% in little more than 15 minutes.
In reality, it’ll probably be longer, if the rumor is right that most of the iPhone 16 series will have larger batteries which, therefore, will take a little longer. Even so, reaching 50% charge in around 20 minutes could be on the cards.
How about wireless charging, that supremely convenient but slower way of juicing your battery? Currently, that maxes out at 15W but the report predicts support for 20W wireless charging, too.
Expect more revelations before the iPhone 16 series is released, likely in mid-September.
