Your iPhone may require a quick charge from time to time. Maybe your iPhone is practically dead, and you only have a few minutes to charge it before leaving the house.
This may seem insignificant at times—after all, a car charger or outlet could be just a short walk away. However, there are situations when a quick charge is essential, like when you’ll be gone for the majority of the day and charging isn’t practical or even possible.
Here are some strategies for charging your iPhone as quickly as possible, regardless of the situation.
Upgrade the charger and cable that came with your iPhone.
Apple has included fast charging in its smartphones since the debut of the iPhone 8 in 2017. It’s a feature that works with a variety of charging accessories, both official and third-party.
Compatible chargers include any Apple charger with a high enough power or a third-party charger that supports USB Power Delivery (PD). A Lighting to USB-C power connection is also required. With this cable and charger, you can charge your iPhone to 50% capacity in around 30 minutes. Charging speeds of up to 2.5 times faster are reported by some manufacturers.
Fast USB PD chargers come in a number of brands and models, however the most powerful range from 30W to 60W per port. When buying a charger, make sure to look at the total power versus the port power. Some chargers claim to deliver 30W of power, but this is usually divided into 18W and 12W for each USB port in a two-port charger.
Shut Down Your Phone
While this may appear to be a no-brainer, turning off your iPhone is often more difficult than you think. Turning your phone off—even for a short time—can be unsettling when you have texts, emails, messages, note-taking, calls, reminders, and more stored on it. This is especially true if you’re constantly on the move and need to check in with your boss.
When your phone is turned off and doesn’t have to keep up with everything it’s doing, it will charge much faster. Shut down your phone, plug it in to charge, and go into another room to work on your computer if you can. Hopefully, you’ll be powered up before you realize it.
Turn on Airplane Mode on your iPhone.
If a complete shutdown isn’t possible, your iPhone can be put into Airplane Mode.
Cellular connectivity on the iPhone is one of the most energy-intensive features. When we aren’t utilizing Wi-Fi, our phones are always looking for the nearest cell tower. To locate them, your smartphone emits radio waves and continuously analyzes signal strength to determine a tower’s vicinity for the optimal connection. It’s a difficult task, and the energy demands rise even more when towers are scarce and your phone must reach out by sending out stronger signals.
Airplane Mode gives you a temporary escape from these actions by turning off all of your device’s wireless radios. This functionality has been shown in tests to reduce full charge times by a few minutes. Even if it isn’t much, every little bit helps.
If you’re new to iOS or Airplane Mode, access Control Center by swiping down from the top-right corner on iPhones without a Home button or up from the bottom of the screen on iPhones with a Home button. Tap the airplane icon to enable or disable the mode once it’s open.
Switch to Low Power Mode.
Low Power Mode on your iPhone, like Airplane Mode, helps speed up charging by minimizing the phone’s burden. Most non-essential background tasks are temporarily reduced or paused when Low Power Mode is enabled.
Automatic email fetching, automatic downloads, some visual effects, iCloud, auto-lock, and 5G usage are all affected. It also disables background app refresh, a function that allows apps that aren’t being used to check for new information and updates even when they aren’t being used.
Toggling Low Power Mode is as simple as going to Settings, selecting Battery, and then tapping the Low Power Mode switch at the top of the screen.
Maintain the temperature of your iPhone.
It’s critical to keep your iPhone cool when charging so that it can perform at its best. This includes avoiding both external and internal heat, such as that generated by the iPhone.
Keep your device away from direct sunlight and avoid placing it on hot surfaces, such as the tops of appliances or other gadgets, to keep it cool.
It’s also vital to avoid utilizing apps that could cause temperature spikes when charging. Mobile games with a lot of resources are known to heat up your device, therefore you should avoid playing them while your phone is charging.
If your iPhone becomes overheated when charging, it’s a good idea to remove your case to let the heat out. In most circumstances, though, this should not be an issue.
Wireless Chargers Should Be Avoided
Wireless chargers make up for their convenience by sacrificing efficiency. It’s better to avoid this choice if you need a speedy charge. Wireless charging is convenient, however, it is not as fast as standard wired charging.
Look at the power figures for Apple’s own MagSafe Charger if you’re still unsure. According to the product page, it can charge up to 15W, compared to 30W or even 60W chargers that use regular connections.
Consumer Reports discovered a significant time disparity in tests as well. An iPhone 12 Pro took two hours and 36 minutes to charge using Apple’s MagSafe wireless charger. In comparison, the identical procedure took only one hour and 45 minutes with Apple’s basic Lightning connector for the phone.
So use wireless if you have to, but avoid it if you want to gain the most battery power in the shortest amount of time.
Make a contingency plan
What could be better than a lightning-quick charge? In the first place, there was no need for one. Fast charging comes in handy in a pinch and is a nice perk to have. However, having a charging backup plan for those occasions when you’re rushing and can’t plug your gadget in is more advantageous.
Increasing your charging options is part of this strategy. Consider purchasing extra chargers for your car, office, backpack, or locker at the gym. You may even buy a power converter to turn your car’s power plug into a “wall outlet” for speedier charging on the road. While this isn’t required in most circumstances, it may be beneficial if you spend a lot of time in your car and regular charging isn’t sufficient.
Don’t forget about power banks, which are portable batteries that may be used to recharge your iPhone wherever you are. It’s a good idea to keep these on hand as backups. Solar-powered battery packs are also available, which are extremely useful for camping, hiking, riding, and other outdoor activities.
Summary
In most cases, these methods should help your iPhone charge faster, allowing you to avoid emergency power problems. You can try out different combinations of strategies to see what works best for you.
If charging is still a problem, you should take a closer look at your phone. It’s possible that the overall health of your battery is declining, especially if you’re using an older smartphone.
