There is a bit of a mystery around iPhone 16 charging speeds.
Apple says it has sped up MagSafe wireless charging, but it claims wired charging speeds remain set at around 20W. However, some people claim the iPhone 16 series are charging faster with a cable too.
Is that really true?
We had to investigate and for that we tested iPhone 16 charging speeds for all four new models using three different fast chargers and different cables, and after all of this testing we have the answer.
No, the new iPhone 16 series do not charge any faster than before
No matter which fast charger or which cable we used, we got the following charging speeds:
We measured these speeds using the ChargerLab's Power-Z power meter, trying different combinations of chargers and cables to ensure we are not missing something.
Here are the chargers we used:
Anker 737 Charger (GaNPrime)
Spigen ArcStation Pro GaN 652 Dual Port Wall Charger PE2106
Samsung 45W Power Adapter
We hooked these up to the official iPhone 16 cable which has 3A capacity, but also tried with a Samsung-made 5A cable, which did not make a difference (the Galaxy S24 Ultra, for example, requires a 5A cable for its fast charging, so we had to test this out too).
So these 20W to 27W charging speeds are the same as in previous years.
In case you are wondering that 27W number and why it is higher than the official 20W speed that Apple advertizes... well, that is nothing new. The Pro Max models in the last couple of years can hit those same charging speeds, but for some reason Apple is not reflecting this in the specs.
And here are the charging speeds of the last four generations of Pro Max iPhones.
The iPhone 15 Pro Max is the only exception to the rule, and it charged slower than the other models. We don't know the reason for that, it might be a peculiarity with our specific 15 Pro Max model.
iPhone 16 CAN charge faster, but only in this one very specific use case
However, there is one very specific scenario where the new iPhones will actually charge faster.
The moment you start playing a game or running a very intense application (like a benchmark), the iPhone 16 series are able to ramp up the charging speeds reaching 38W to 39W in our testing.
iPhone 16 Pro Max can reach around 38W but ONLY when a game or a benchmark is running, and the moment you exit that app it immediately goes back to its nominal charging speeds (Image by PhoneArena)
This is a brand-new capability, and basically it ensures that iPhones will maintain their charging speed when you use them. So these extra watts basically ensure the iPhone can run those intense graphics and the remainder of the power goes to charging. Previously, that was not the case and when you ran a more intense app, your charging speed would slow down.
However, the moment you exit the game or benchmark, charging speeds instantly go back to their nominal 20W or 27W value.
Of course, as always, these maximum charging speeds are maintained until you reach around 50% charge level, and then they drop to much lower speeds. That is done to protect the battery and such progressively slower charging is true for all phones.
Summary: No faster wired charging in the iPhone 16 after all
So in summary, nope, iPhone 16 models don't charge any faster, UNLESS you often use your iPhone while charging and only then you will see faster speeds.
Otherwise, it still takes around 1 hour and 40 minutes to fully top up an iPhone.
As for MagSafe wireless charging, that is indeed faster – as Apple claimed. With 25W speeds supported, you can now top up much quicker as you can see in the results in our chart above.
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Victor, a seasoned mobile technology expert, has spent over a decade at PhoneArena, exploring the depths of mobile photography and reviewing hundreds of smartphones across Android and iOS ecosystems. His passion for technology, coupled with his extensive knowledge of smartphone cameras and battery life, has positioned him as a leading voice in the mobile tech industry.
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