Real World Testing Shows IPhone 16 Pro Max Charging Performance Disappointing

Apple launched the iPhone 16 series with larger batteries and faster charging. (photo: x @chargerlab)

JAKARTA - Apple launched the iPhone 16 series with larger batteries and faster charging. Although Apple does not disclose battery capacity and charging speed specifically, documents from Chinese regulators reveal that all iPhone 16 models support charging speeds of up to 45W. In theory, this should offer much faster charging compared to previous models.

However, the test results showed disappointing. Based on the tests conducted by ChargerLAB, the speed of filling the iPhone 16 Pro Max turned out to be far from expectations.

First of all, ChargerLAB found that the iPhone 16 Pro Max is not equipped with an E-marker chip, which is a protocol controller chip in a USB Type-C cable that functions to manage power delivery and data communication. This technology is used by USB-PD chargers that support high current output and faster data transfer speeds.

Test Results With Apple Official Charger

In a trial with Apple 140W's official charger and the original cable included in the box, the iPhone 16 Pro Max only reached a charging speed of 30.19W, much lower than the reported 45W charging speed. In fact, when ChargerLAB tried another official Apple charger, the results still did not show a significant increase.

With charging speeds only around 30W, these results are slightly higher than the 27W charging speed the iPhone 15 Pro Max has. Despite the small increase, the expected 45W charging speed doesn't seem to be achieved, and this could be misleading for users hoping for a significant improvement in this latest model.

Testing With Third Party Chargers

ChargerLAB also tried to charge from a third party, but the results were similar. The maximum recorded charging speed only reached 31.86W, not much different from the results obtained with Apple's official chargers.

Based on this test, it can be concluded that the iPhone 16 Pro Max charging speed is only around 30W. This is indeed a little faster than the iPhone 15 Pro Max, but far from the advertised 45W figure, so it can be disappointing for users who expect faster charging on this latest model.