This Tech Could Allow Your iPhone to Fully Charge in Less Than 20 Minutes
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During an interview with The Verge, Steven Yang, Anker CEO, explained how chargers may be able to fully charge a smartphone in less than 20 minutes, thanks to a high wattage and a new generation of gallium nitride (GaN) chargers. Believe it or not, GaN is a technology Apple is already implementing in its chargers.
During the interview, Yang talked about how chargers have evolved since Anker started using GaN chargers a few years back. Now, Anker uses the second generation of chargers called GaN2 and is ready to launch the third generation next year.
Gallium nitride, or GaN, has been used in chargers to replace silicon. This helps companies like Anker create incredibly powerful (and small) chargers that still deliver over 65 watts of power. Because of how “power-hungry” devices are, chargers have fortunately evolved rather quickly to provide a higher wattage and lower charge times.
The charge time used to be around three hours, but it’s been brought down to roughly one hour and 20 minutes with the 20-watt chargers, and then reduced to about 30-40 minutes with the 40-60 watt chargers. Even more adventurous brands are doing 120-watt, which would get the phone fully charged in less than 20 minutes. The phone manufacturers are really just escalating on that charging power rating and reducing the charging time.
Steven Yang
Because of the new GaN technology, some charger manufacturers are trying to implement 120-watt voltage to charge any phone in less than 20 minutes. If Apple replicates this, we would be able to fully charge an iPhone in less than half an hour.
Yang also discussed Apple’s plan not to include a charger with the newer iPhones. When asked about this, Yang mentioned that Anker is selling “a lot more chargers.”
Yes — a lot more, because this is a new category. Previously, a lot of users didn’t buy a charger by itself. Per our survey, about 50 percent of those users still just go back to using their old chargers, because they have saved some over the years. But more and more people are starting to shop for individual chargers. Of course, a large fraction of them will go to the device brand — for example, they will go buy an Apple or Samsung charger. Still, that gives us a chance as a third-party charger brand to reach those users. It is a chance to inform them about the superiority of our charger: the small size, the high power, durability, and the interoperability to charge all their devices from all the brands.
Steven Yang
Yang also supported Apple’s decision to exclude a charger, saying that it’s already reducing the effect on e-waste. According to a survey by Anker, around 50% of people reuse their old chargers instead of buying new ones.
