The new iPhone 8 and iPhone X may support fast charging, but it does not do so out of the box. That’s because the bundled charger in every new iPhone cannot do fast charging.
As per our report this morning, the Tech Specs pages for the iPhone 8 and iPhone X both reveal fast charging support – but only mentioned in the fine print that this is only possible with the 29W, 61W, and 87W USB Type C chargers from the MacBook range. Apple is bundling the bog-standard 5W 1A charger with every new iPhone, which really is a very odd decision – most Android smartphones today ship with at least a 5W 2A charger.
The main reason behind this is purely technical: the new MacBook and MacBook Pro charge using USB Type C, which supports up to 100W power delivery, which the 5W and 12W iPhone and iPad chargers cannot handle. The new iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, iPhone X, and (surprise, surprise) the iPad Pro all have an USB-C Power Delivery chip to handle the additional current – it just needs a compatible charger.
As such, if you own a MacBook or MacBook Pro, you can use the power bricks to charge your iPhone 8 or iPhone X…but you’ll still need to purchase a cable for it.
While the MacBook power cables use a USB Type C on both ends, the iPhones naturally use Lightning, so you’ll need a USB Type C to Lightning cable, which costs RM119 for 1m and RM169 for the 2m option. The power bricks cost RM229 (29W), RM299 (61W), and RM349 (87W).
In all, that means you will need to spend an additional RM348 – at least – to use fast charging on the new iPhone 8 and iPhone X.
