We Have a Winner: Outlet Charging Proves Faster for iPhone 4

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Date: Monday, July 12th, 2010, 04:02
Category: iPhone, iPod, News

Among the great debates of computer technology (along with whether or not to shut your computer down for the night or put it to sleep and how this affects the hardware) is the question as to whether or not to charge an iPhone or similar device via an outlet or USB port. Even in the case of charging an iPad, where the user receives a “not charging” message near the battery indicator, the device is charging, but slowly.

The guys over at When Will Apple? took the time to do a pretty decent job of comparing charging times on the iPhone 4, comparing USB to AC outlet. The conclusion: USB charging takes 23% longer to charge an iPhone 4 than charging via an AC outlet. If you’re in a rush to charge your phone, that’s a pretty significant difference.

The little flaw in this test is not knowing the amount of charge coming from the USB port used, as not all USB ports are created equal.

If you’ve found a different result on your end, please let us know.

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  • ventus

    I think that Apple should look into wireless charging. I mean wouldn't it be cool if you just walking into the house or office and your phone started charging! I mean, you would still have to use an adapter, but charging wouldn't take so long. I mean if you set up these wireless charges in like building and trains and stuff, you can essentially have a phone that never runs out of charge: http://www.loogos.org/articles/how-to-get-an-ap…

  • Melgross

    I've found that with my iPad, wall charging actually takes longer than charging through my Mac Pro. That was a surprise. In fact, while reading on my iPad, I can see the charge actually go down while plugged into the wall charger, but go up plugged into the Mac Pro.

    Explain that please!