iPhones and iPads use the same port for charging – Type C. But just because you can use a MacBook charger on an iPhone, does that mean you should? You’d be surprised to know that you actually can safely do so!
As long as the charger provides power equal to or more than your iPhone or iPad needs, it is perfectly fine. All MacBook chargers (up to 96W) provide more power than iPhones and iPads need (around 20W), so you can charge your iPhone or iPad using them. The devices will only power as needed.
- Can I use my MacBook charger to charge my iPhone?
- Can I charge my iPad Pro with my MacBook Pro charger?
- Can you charge an iPhone on a MacBook?
- Can I use a 20W charger on an old iPad?
- Can I use a 96W charger for iPhone?
- Can you use Apple fast charger on an older iPad?
- Can I use my iPhone charger with my iPad?
- Can I use my iPad Pro USB type C cable to charge a MacBook Pro?
Can I use my MacBook charger to charge my iPhone?
It is perfectly OK to use a MacBook charger to charge your iPhone. Even though MacBook adapters have higher power ratings (up to 96W) compared to iPhones (20W), your iPhone will only extract the amount of energy it needs. The extra power won’t damage your iPhone since the device won’t use it.
Different MacBooks and iPhone models have different power ratings. Still, even the latest iPhones have power ratings less than that of any MacBook. As long as you do not have a VERY old iPhone, you can use a MacBook charger to charge your iPhone.
Can I use my MacBook Air charger to charge my iPhone 12?
You can use your MacBook Air charger (which goes up to 30 W) to charge an iPhone 12. 50% of the charging will be done in 25 minutes, and the rest in about an hour – bringing the total time taken to charge to almost an hour and 25 minutes.
You can also use a MacBook Air charger to charge any other iPhone.
Since a MacBook Air charger has a higher rating (30 W) than the recommended rating for an iPhone 12 charger (which is around 20 W), the iPhone will only use the power it needs .
You don’t need to worry about the extra 10 W “burning” or damaging your iPhone 12.
For more about fast charging an iPhone through a MacBook, see “Does a MacBook Pro Fast Charge an iPhone?” section further below.
Can I use 87 watt MacBook charger for iPhone?
As long as the power adapter has a rating higher than your iPhone needs, you can use your 87 W MacBook charger to charge your iPhone. No iPhone requires an adapter over 87 W. Therefore, you can use an 87-watt MacBook charger to charge any iPhone.
MacBook Air ( 2018 and 2020 models) have 30 W chargers. MacBook Pros, however, have higher power ratings. A 13-inch MacBook Pro has a power rating of 61 W, a 14-inch has a rating of 67 W and the 15-inch MacBook Pro has a power rating of 87 watts.
Can I charge my iPad Pro with my MacBook Pro charger?
As a general rule of thumb, a low-rated device can be safely charged using a higher-rated charger. An iPad Pro uses a power adapter of 30 W which is the same as the one used by a MacBook Air.
MacBook Pros tend to have even higher power ratings than the Airs , therefore you can use your MacBook Pro charger (or any charger having a rating of at least 20 W) to charge your iPad Pro regardless of the generation.
Can you charge an iPhone on a MacBook?
Apple has stopped including power adapters with newer iPhones claiming that this helps reduce the carbon print and is environment-friendly.
You can directly charge your iPhone from a MacBook. Connect your iPhone to the MacBook, and your iPhone will automatically start charging.
If you’re connecting your iPhone to your Mac for the first time, a pop-up will ask you if you trust the MacBook. Even if you choose “Don’t Trust,” your iPhone will still charge.
Keep in mind that the charging rate will be fairly slow and will drain the MacBook’s battery a little faster than normal. However, charging an iPhone on a MacBook will not damage the Mac’s battery – see section “Will the MacBook battery be damaged charging the iPhone?” further below.
Does MacBook Pro fast charge iPhone?
MacBooks can charge iPhones, but they’ll charge them slowly. Though iPhones support fast charging, they need a high wattage charger to be able to do so. MacBooks, regardless of model, cannot act as power supplies of 18 W since Thunderbolt ports have a limit of 15W.
For this reason, no MacBook can fast-charge an iPhone since MacBooks (newer models) have Thunderbolt 3 USB-C ports which only supply power up to 15 W.
Fast charging is a feature that relies on power, and a 15-W port simply will not cut it.
With the newer Macs to come, there is a great possibility that their power output will be enough to fast-charge iPhones.
Will the MacBook battery be damaged charging the iPhone?
Charging an iPhone from a MacBook will not damage the Mac’s battery at all. Charging an iPhone has a similar effect as using the MacBook in a normal way.
Suppose your Mac normally uses ~ 5% battery per hour. If you do a power-intensive task on your Mac, such as video rendering or video editing, your Mac will use the battery faster. All charging an iPhone does is simply use more battery – as if using the Mac itself more intensively.
Even if you regularly charge your iPhone from your MacBook, there will be little impact on the Mac’s battery. The battery will not be damaged, but its lifespan may be slightly affected (by a few days over the course of years) because of it being used more.
Can I use a 20W charger on an old iPad?
Here is the list of iPads that support its latest 20W USB-C charger:
- iPad (7th generation) and newer models
- iPad mini (5th generation) and newer models
- iPad Air (3rd generation) and newer models
- iPad Pro 10.5-inch and newer models
These iPads support fast charging with a 20W charger. You can use a 20W on old iPads but they will charge at the same rate they charge with their original adapter.
Since the iPad 7th generation is included in the list of 20W-supported devices, you can use a 20W charger on it, and it will only withdraw power as needed
Can you use a 30-watt or a 67-watt charger on an iPad?
Under normal conditions, iPads will only draw power up to 12W. if an iPad is being fast charged, this limit goes up to 18W. No iPad will draw power of more than 18W regardless of what charger you use.
This is why you can safely use either a 30W or a 67W charger on an iPad.
Can I use a 96W charger for iPhone?
The MacBook Pro 16-inch has a 96W charger that users often use for charging their iPhones (specifically iPhone 11), which is safe.
iPhones do not consume more power than needed. This amount depends on the iPhone model but most modern iPhones use around 20W.
Whether you have an iPhone 12, iPhone 11 or an older iPhone, you can use any charger as long as its rating is > 20W. You can also use a 20W charger.
In a nutshell, you can use either a 20W, 30W, 60W or a 96W charger for iPhone. Anything above 20W will do.
Can you use Apple fast charger on an older iPad?
Fast chargers are essentially chargers with relatively higher power ratings than normal chargers. Specifically, 8W, 20W,2 29W, 30W, 61W, 87W, or 96W USB-C Power Adapters are used for fast charging. [Source: Apple].
However, fast charging is only available on iPads released after iPhone 8. You can use a fast charger on older iPads and iPhones – though it will act as a normal charge and won’t fast charge your devices.
Your device will only consume power as per its requirement. Even if a charger has a higher power rating than the device needs, the device’s maximum power input will remain the same.
A 96W charger will only provide 20W for an iPad that needs 20W.
Can I use my iPhone charger with my iPad?
Your intuition might tell you that using an iPhone charger on an iPad will damage the iPad since it has to “suck” up more energy than the charger can easily provide. This is not true, however.
The amount of energy supplied to an iPad does not damage it. iPads usually work best with 20W – 30W chargers. Newer iPhones also require the same rating, so there’s no chance of damaging your iPad if the charger used is of a newer iPhone.
Unless your iPhone is an extremely old one, using its charger won’t damage your iPad. The iPad will simply charge much slower than usual.
If the charging rate is similar to that of the discharge rate of the iPad, however, this may damage your iPad. Here’s an example to understand this better:
Let’s say your iPad consumes 1% charge per hour when idle. If you use an extremely old iPhone charger, the charger rate might be similar to that. A lot of stress is put on the batteries, which may get damaged in the long term.
Tried adding a little personal touch. Should I keep this tone or should I just straight away give the answers?
Can I use my iPad Pro USB type C cable to charge a MacBook Pro?
Type-C cables are just a means of transferring power from the adapter to a device. These cables are universal, and all type-C cables provided by Apple can transfer the same amount of maximum power.
Though an iPad Pro’s USB Type-C cable is a little narrower than that of the MacBook Pro, it can easily transfer 96W as the Mac needs.
Therefore, you can safely use your iPad’s Type-C cable to charge a MacBook Pro, and it will charge at the same rate it normally does.