If you have an iPhone 12 and just upgraded to iOS 17.4.1, you can now use some of the additional charging speed that Qi2 wireless charging technology offers.
Apple’s MagSafe first launched as a competitor to Qi charging with the iPhone 12 in 2020. Since then, a Qi2 standard has been released which is more in line with MagSafe, though Apple has continued to limit its peak charging speed.
The MagSafe charging protocol allows charging of up to 15W, but to date, non-Apple-certified chargers have only been able to charge at 7.5W. This seems a bit odd given that Apple contributed its MagSafe technology to the Qi2 standard and the iPhone 15 range now supports that, but older iPhones do not.
Per Macworld, following the iOS 17.4 upgrade, the iPhone 12 can now be charged at more than the old Qi charging speed.
Using non-MagSafe chargers, Macworld testing showed that iPhone 12 charging was faster than before, and even displayed the Qi2 icon. Tests using both Apple and non-Apple chargers demonstrate clear improvement.
Specifically, an iPhone 12 Pro Max was charged to 30 percent in 38 minutes with an Apple MagSafe Charger. It took an Anker Qi2 MagGi Wireless Charger 33 minutes to get it to 30 percent battery capacity.
Before the iOS update, a regular iPhone 12 would take around 20 minutes to reach a 30 percent battery charge, demonstrating a bit of a speed boost to the protocol.
If you’ve updated to iOS 17.4.1 on your iPhone 12, please let us know about your experience in the comments.
Via AppleInsider and Macworld