The iPhone 16 series seemingly charges faster, and is more secure, than Apple has let on
When Apple unveiled the iPhone 16 series earlier this week it revealed a lot of improvements and new features, but there are some upgrades that the company has stayed rather quieter about for some reason.
Most excitingly – and it seems especially odd to us that Apple didn’t talk about this – it seems these phones probably charge quite a lot faster than Apple let on. A certification spotted by WhyLab (via ShrimpApplePro and 9to5Mac), shows that all four iPhone 16 models – meaning the iPhone 16 itself, the iPhone 16 Plus, the iPhone 16 Pro, and the iPhone 16 Pro Max, should support 45W wired charging.
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That’s rather faster than Apple would lead you to believe, as while the company never talks about specific wired charging speeds, it has said that you can charge these phones to 50% in 30 minutes with a 20W or higher charger.
THIS IS A VERY GOOD NEWSAll the iPhone 16 series has up to 45W wired charging! According to the CQC https://t.co/nlRIvrBib5 pic.twitter.com/8cUnGDsLMISeptember 12, 2024
The implication there would be that charging tops out at 20W, but Apple made similar claims last year, and actual charging speeds were a little higher at between 27-29W depending on the model. So it’s entirely plausible that speeds have further jumped this year.
Since this information hasn’t come direct from Apple, we can’t say with 100% certainty that it’s accurate; but if the iPhone 16 line can support 45W charging then that’s a big jump, and brings the phones in line with flagship rivals like the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra.
Of course, you’ll also need a fast-enough charger to enjoy the full benefit, and the 20W chargers that Apple has been suggesting won’t cut it.
Privacy protection
Another feature Apple hasn’t talked about is ‘Secure Exclave’, which is present in the A18 and A18 Pro chipsets that power the iPhone 16 line.
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This feature was first found on the M4-powered iPad Pro (2024), and it basically makes it harder for malicious apps to disable the camera and microphone indicators on your iPhone.
These indicators show when the camera or microphone are active, and malicious apps might be used to watch or listen to you without you knowing, so these apps would attempt to disable the indicators.
On earlier iPhone models these indicators were enabled by software, so it would be feasible – albeit probably not easy – for an app to mess with them, but Secure Exclave uses hardware to control them, making it harder to disable them.
This is a fairly niche feature, so it’s understandable that Apple wouldn’t highlight it, but 9to5Mac claims to have confirmed via iOS 18 firmware that it’s present, and it should provide extra peace of mind for privacy-conscious iPhone owners.
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James Rogerson
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James is a freelance phones, tablets and wearables writer and sub-editor at TechRadar. He has a love for everything ‘smart’, from watches to lights, and can often be found arguing with AI assistants or drowning in the latest apps. James also contributes to 3G.co.uk, 4G.co.uk and 5G.co.uk and has written for T3, Digital Camera World, Clarity Media and others, with work on the web, in print and on TV.
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