iPhone 17 fast charging or just a marketing trick?

Apple has significantly improved battery life on its iPhones over the years, but charging speeds have remained an issue. To avoid the wait for your phone to run out of battery, Apple announced significant upgrades to charging speeds in the iPhone 17 series (and iPhone Air) released this year.

The iPhone 17's fast charging capabilities are actually improved over its predecessor.

PHOTO: REUTERS

According to Apple, users can charge 50% of the battery in just 20 minutes, or 30 minutes for the iPhone Air. To verify Apple's claim, Tom's Guide tested the charging speed of the four latest iPhone models, using the new 40W charger released by Apple itself.

Want to fast charge iPhone 17 have to pay extra money

The results show that the iPhone 17 series has a significantly better charging performance than the iPhone 16 series. Specifically, the iPhone 17 reaches 39% battery after 15 minutes and 71% after 30 minutes. Meanwhile, with a smaller battery, the iPhone Air only reaches 30% after 15 minutes and 55% after 30 minutes, slightly slower than the iPhone 16. The iPhone 17 Pro has a slightly faster charging speed, reaching 40% after 15 minutes and 72% after 30 minutes, while the iPhone 16 Pro only reaches 29% and 56% in the same period of time.

Although the iPhone 17 Pro Max has a slightly slower charging speed due to the large battery, it is still faster than the iPhone 16 Pro Max, which can reach 35% after 15 minutes and 64% after 30 minutes.

	15 minutes	30 minutes	Battery life (hours:minutes)
iPhone 17	39%	71%	12:47
iPhone 16	29%	57%	12:43
iPhone Air	30%	55%	12:02
iPhone 16 Plus	29%	55%	16:29
iPhone 17 Pro	40%	72%	15:32
iPhone 16 Pro	29%	56%	14:07
iPhone 17 Pro Max	35%	64%	17:54
iPhone 16 Pro Max	29%	55%	17:35

In terms of battery life, the iPhone 17 Pro Max can last up to 17 hours and 54 minutes, while the iPhone 17 Pro can last up to 15 hours and 32 minutes. However, with battery life of 12 hours and 47 minutes and 12 hours and 2 minutes respectively, the iPhone 17 and iPhone Air may need to be charged quickly more often, especially the iPhone Air with its ultra-thin design.

Note that the fastest charging speeds for the iPhone 17 can only be achieved with Apple's new $30 Dynamic Power Charger, which supports USB Power Delivery 3.2's new Adjustable Voltage Supply (AVS) protocol. This means you'll need a compatible charger to get the optimal charging speeds, making the process more complicated than many people expect.