If you’re looking for a faster wireless charger for your iPhone, there are at least eight new models on the way, supporting up to 25W.
That’s thanks to the latest Qi2.2 standard, with eight different products being certified yesterday – but even after they launch, you may still want to wait …
Qi2.2 means faster wireless chargers
Early wireless phone chargers were based on the original Qi standard, overseen by the industry trade group Wireless Power Consortium (WPC). This was an important development, meaning you could buy any Qi-certified charger and know that it would work with almost any phone on the market – including iPhones. However, it maxed out at 7.5W, so wasn’t particularly fast.
The Qi2 standard was a major improvement, not least because Apple contributed to it by open-sourcing its MagSafe magnetic attachment system. Qi2 chargers also doubled power output to 15W.
Qi2.2 is the very latest update to the standard, further boosting power to 25W.
Eight products were certified yesterday
The Verge reports that the WPC yesterday certified the first eight Qi2.2 chargers.
Some of these have been officially announced, including Ugreen’s 10,000mAh MagFlow power bank. Baseus received certification for one power bank but says it has another on the way, along with a 3-in-1 charging stand. Belkin only announced that it will roll out “several” Qi2.2 products in the coming months, though its certification is for the UltraCharge Pro 3-in-1 charging dock.
Other certified companies haven’t yet made announcements. Anker is apparently set to expand its Prime series with a 3-in-1 Qi2.2 dock including a built-in display to monitor charging speeds, Aukey has a simple 2-in-1 charging stand on the way, and Scosche is readying a Qi2.2 version of its MagicMount Pro car mount. ODMs CVSMicro and BH EVS round out the set of eight with charging components to build into other products.
However, while Apple has been uncharacteristically generous in opening up the MagSafe standard (albeit without the branding), it seems the company may still have a way to encourage iPhone owners to buy its own chargers.
A regulatory listing spotted last month indicated Apple may be working on a MagSafe charger than supports 45W, rather than the 25W maximum of the Qi2.2 standard. No current iPhone supports this speed, but that suggests the iPhone 17 line-up may allow even faster wireless charging.
If you’re planning to buy an iPhone 17, you may want to hold fire for now.
Highlighted accessories
Photo by Oakywood on Unsplash
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
