Right now to charge my iPhone 8 I’m using a PD charger, a USB-A to lightning cable, and a USB C-to-A adapter in between.
Does this setup supply Power Delivery/fast charging to my iPhone, or do I have to use a USB C cable?
Relevant apple support article suggests that you need an “Apple USB-C to Lightning cable,” but I’m not positive that’s correct.
ttps://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208137
Anker has released first MFi certified USB-C to Lightning cable this year. This cable lets iPhone users access full-speed charging at 18W; a speed unreachable by standard USB-A to Lightning charging.
Using the adapter, the regular USB-A cable does not fully utilize the power supplied,
Also you dont really need the Apple USB-C to Lightning cable, MFi certified cables may be used.
You can check more here
With that set up aren’t getting PD charging.
As far as I know you will not be getting full speed charging. It’s not that an unauthorized cable couldn’t carry the power it’s that the charger and cable must verify they are authorized to the phone.
If you’re going to buy a c to lightning cable I’d go for the Anker one, not much price difference but it just feels so much sturdier.
The iPhone 8 supports two different fast charging standards.
The primary is USB Power Delivery. That requires using an 18W (or better) USB-C PD charger. And a USB-C to Lightning cable (MFi certified guarantees power pass through). It can charge the iPhone up to 15W, though usually it is lower when measured.
The second is Apple 2.4A. This is an old standard created by Apple when they released the iPad and was included with the iPhone 4. It has been present on iPhones since. It requires an Apple 2.4A compatible USB-A charger and a regular Lighting cable (USB-A to Lightning). It can charge the iPhone up to 10.5W, though again it is usually less.
USB PD is faster when the iPhone’s battery is lower. As it charges Apple 2.4A catches up. By 70% charge all fast charging stops.
I have more details on fast charging newer iPhones here.
Thanks for the responses, everyone.
queuebitt: Are you saying I’m not getting 2.4A fast charging with the setup I described above? Subjectively, it seems much faster than Apple’s standard 5w charger, but I haven’t timed it.
In case it matters, I’m using Aukey’s 18W PD charger.
You can use a usbc meter to see how much watts is going into iPhone
If you’re using a USB-C charger that supports USB PD and has 9V or 12V output, then your iPhone should be using USB PD. Not Apple 2.4A. USB PD is newer and better, and in my testing the iPhone prefers it when both are available.
If you’re using the AUKEY PA-Y18 18W PD then it doesn’t offer Apple 2.4A. But it does offer USB PD, so you’re good. I have a review of that charger, with power meter readings with an iPhone 8. The wattage is low, I don’t recall what the iPhone’s battery level was. If over 50% it is normal to be that low.
Chargers that do offer Apple 2.4A usually don’t list it. I have to use a power meter that sniffs out supported standards and power profiles of a charger to identify them for my reviews.
The included 5W charger does not support USB PD or Apple 2.4A. A lot of other options are faster. Apple includes the slowest charger for any smartphone today.