Apple's 87W USB-C power adapter is meant for charging the 15-inch MacBook Pro with Touch Bar. But is it safe to charge an iPhone or iPad with it?
If You Don't Have Any Other Charger Lying Around, the 87W USB-C Power Adapter is Perfectly Safe for Charing Up Your iPhone or iPad
It's no surprise at this point that Apple's mobile lineup of devices support fast charging if you have the right accessories. The iPhone 6, all the way to the latest iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, can manage a power draw of up to 10W. The iPad, on the other hand, can do 12W with utmost ease. But wait, if you have the new iPad Pro with you, then you'll be surprised to learn that it can do a power draw of up to 29W, given you're ready to invest in a USB-C to Lightning cable and a 29W Apple power adapter.
The big question arises when you realize that Apple makes an 87W USB-C power adapter for the 15-inch MacBook Pro. What will happen if you connect a USB-C to Lightning cable with it, and charge an iPhone or iPad? Will it fry your iPhone or iPad upon connection? Or give your devices a super speedy recharge?
Guess what? Nothing fancy will happen at all. It will just charge your device at its fastest, safe charging rate. Nothing more.
The product description adds a little bit of relief as well if you read through it carefully.
The 87W USB-C Power Adapter offers fast, efficient charging at home, in the office, or on the go. While this power adapter is compatible with any USB-C–enabled device, Apple recommends pairing it with your 15-inch MacBook Pro with Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) ports for optimal charging performance. USB-C Charge Cable sold separately.
See, the thing is, our devices are becoming very, very smart when it comes to the amount of power they should draw safely. The days of worrying that your device might overheat, or even explode because of excessive power draw are long gone. In other words: if you have an 87W power adapter, or even a 61W one, your iPhone or iPad are absolutely safe when it comes to charging. These chargers, including the 29W one, support the USB Power Delivery standard, and won't go out of way to force more current into your device nor will your device request for it. Your smartphone or tablet will accept the safest charge every single time you plug it in.
Heck, I use the 29W adapter that came with my MacBook to charge up my iPhone and iPad every single time now. So far, no flames have been witnessed.
About the author: Uzair has been writing about tech for a little under 10 years. Started off in the Symbian days, migrated to Android, eventually settling on iOS and Mac to make a living. Loves photography, drones, talking about the latest tech, and firmly believes that iPad is the future of computing. Served as Editor-in-Chief with Redmond Pie for five years, author at The Readers Eye and many other freelance gigs. Wccftech is now his current home.
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