How to Choose the Right Charger for Your iPhone | Look for These Things
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If you’re getting an iPhone 12 or an iPhone 13 soon, then you might be thinking about buying a new charger. Since 2020, Apple decided to stop including a charger inside the iPhone’s box to help save the environment—and probably save some money too. Now, it’s up to us to find the right charger for our iPhones.
Sure, you can always go with first-party accessories, but third-party manufacturers also have solid choices. Fortunately, there are many safe choices out there, but if you want to know what to look for, keep reading.
Choose a Reputable Brand
We’re not just talking about Apple or big tech brands here, but it’s still important. What does that mean? When browsing for the correct charger, try to avoid generic chargers that don’t have a reputable brand behind them. More often than not, these chargers will not only be bad for charging, but they can even hurt your iPhone’s battery. Remember that just because it’s cheap, that doesn’t mean it’s really a good deal.
Look for the Right Wattage
This is the most important aspect of any charger. You need to find one with the right power, so it takes advantage of your iPhone’s fast-charging ability.
What’s the magic number? According to Apple, iPhone 12 and later models need at least a 20W charger for fast charging. With that said, don’t think the more wattage the better. For most iPhones, anything above that might be overkill – meaning, they won’t charge faster than usual just because the wattage is higher.
On the other hand, recent reports say that the iPhone 13 Pro Max supports up to 27 watts. So you can use a 30-watt charger and charge your iPhone 13 Pro Max even faster. Of course, that’s not been confirmed by Apple.
Other than wattage, Apple gives additional specifications. These are the minimum requirements you need to look for in a fast-charging charger, according to Apple.
- Frequency: 50 to 60 Hz, single phase
- Line Voltage: 100 to 240 VAC
- Output Voltage/Current: 9 VDC/2.2 A
- Minimum Power Output: 20W
- Output Port: USB-C
Which iPhone Chargers Are Best?
This can all be a bit overwhelming at first, but most quality chargers already meet Apple’s requirements. Of course, as we mentioned, it’s easier to buy from a reputable brand than test a bunch of generic products.
If you don’t know where to start searching, Apple is always a great option. You just can’t go wrong buying a first-party charger.
- An excellent recommendation is the Apple 20W charger. It’s got everything you need to fast charge your iPhone.
- Although, if you want something bigger that could charge your iPhone, iPad, and MacBook, the 67W charger is another great choice.
- There are some solid third-party options out there. The Anker Nano is affordable and small but powerful enough to fast charge your iPhone.
- Another solid choice is the Belkin USB-C wall Charger. It also delivers 20 watts to fast charge your iPhone.
The good news is that there are many great chargers you can buy for your iPhone, whether you’re using the iPhone 12 or 13.
The Charging Cable Is Also Important
Fortunately, Apple still includes a charging cable in the iPhone’s box. However, if you want to buy an extra cable, make sure you’re also looking for quality and the right length. If you have already found a place to buy your wall charger, you might also find a good quality charging cable.
As a tip, try to get a charging cable that’s also durable. It’s not recommended that you use your iPhone when it’s charging, but if you’re going to move it around, try getting a sturdy cable so it’s hard to ruin.
Overall, whatever it is that you’re trying to buy, try to make sure they’re MFi certified. Made For iPhone, or MFi, is an Apple certification that’s given to every device that’ll work great with the iPhone without issue. Of course, that doesn’t mean anything that’s not MFi certified will hurt your iPhone in some way – it’s just a nice plus to have it.
