The iPhone 17 simply made USB-C charging much more of a nightmare

USB-C is an unfixable mess, that I’m satisfied of, however a small a part of me noticed mild on the finish of the tunnel — that was till Apple launched the iPhone 17 sequence. With Apple’s newest telephones, it’s now even tougher for customers to search out the proper plug to optimally fast-charge all their devices directly. Allow me to clarify why.

The excellent news, because it have been, is that the iPhone 17 sequence claims “up to 50% charge in 20 minutes” with Apple’s new 40W Dynamic Power Adapter. That’s nonetheless not tremendous quick, however it’s undoubtedly an enchancment on final yr’s fashions, which ended up at round 40% after the identical size of time.

I don’t have an iPhone 17 to check the specifics but, however the secret to barely quicker charging this yr appears to be the introduction of USB Power Delivery Adjustable Voltage Supply (AVS). The unhealthy information is that Apple nonetheless has not adopted the broadly supported USB Power Delivery Programmable Power Supply (PPS) protocol utilized by primarily each flagship Android cellphone, however at the very least it’s not added one other proprietary mannequin into the combo. Unfortunately, you’ll be hard-pressed to search out assist for each protocols on common USB-C chargers — at the very least for now.

Apple has a brand new 40W Dynamic Power Adapter to promote you, nevertheless it’s not the one charger that helps AVS; Google’s new 67W Pixel Flex charger does too. Apple’s new charger can hit 60W briefly with a present increase, nevertheless it’s uncertain the most recent iPhone will maintain energy that top. Either manner, Apple’s charger doesn’t seem to assist PPS — making it far much less useful should you’re a cross-platform gadget proprietor.

Likewise, the numerous high-end PPS chargers I’ve examined don’t assist AVS, owing to its comparatively new standing. Options are extraordinarily restricted if you wish to cost the most recent iPhones and Pixel as rapidly as attainable. PPS was launched within the USB PD 3.0 specification, whereas AVS was added in 3.1. With USB PD 3.2, AVS turned obligatory for Standard Power Range (27–100 W) and is all the time required for Extended Power Range (>100 W) — making it obligatory for Apple’s 30W+ energy score on the most recent model of the usual.

The key takeaway is that newer high-power units implementing the most recent USB PD 3.2 specification should assist AVS, however PPS stays non-obligatory. Apple’s adoption of AVS with the iPhone 17 is probably going as a result of following this official requirement quite than the model actively supporting one of the best quick charging choice accessible for iPhones — which might nonetheless be PPS.

If you’re within the technical variations, AVS allows voltage choice with enhanced 100mV accuracy and scales from 9V to 20V for SPR units (telephones, tablets, laptops) and as much as 48V for HPR/EPR. By comparability, PPS offers finer 20 mV voltage steps (with 50mA present steps) as much as 100W for SPR devices. In earlier revisions, PPS might go as little as 3.0V (later 3.3V), however within the present USB PD 3.2 spec, its minimal seems to have been raised to 5V, with a typical usable vary as much as 21V.

In observe, the variations are refined however essential. AVS allows wonderful voltage choice to raised match system energy wants, enhancing effectivity and thermal conduct over common USB PD. However, it stays a static protocol — the negotiated voltage holds till your gadget or charger actively requests a brand new energy configuration.

PPS retains key benefits for ultra-fast battery charging. It dynamically adjusts in actual time to comply with adjustments in battery voltage, whereas AVS stays static after negotiation (although it may be renegotiated). PPS’s low-voltage functionality and wonderful granularity permit units to bypass inside regulation and cost batteries straight, lowering thermal loss and rushing up charging — a characteristic AVS doesn’t assist. That mentioned, AVS is healthier for system-wide energy with a particular voltage requirement.

In quick, PPS continues to be the extra highly effective and versatile choice for optimized battery charging. Meanwhile, AVS serves as a bridge between fixed-voltage common PD and ultra-flexible PPS, with the purpose of enhancing effectivity, particularly at larger energy ranges.

If the earlier part really made sense, congratulations. You are actually within the prime 1% for shopper data on USB-C quick charging — and that’s an enormous drawback.

I haven’t a clue how anybody expects customers to navigate the wonderful variations between USB PD, PPS, and AVS, which all use the identical USB-C port. While loads of prospects will stump up the money for official equipment simply to make certain issues work, that’s not a wholesome scenario for the USB-C ecosystem as a complete. USB-C’s main gross sales pitch was that one port would do every part, and but right here we’re with not two however now three branches of the identical specification used to cost at this time’s hottest devices.

Thankfully, an outdated USB-C charger will technically work for the most recent iPhones, so that you don’t have to purchase a brand new one. However, you gained’t get the pace or effectivity advantages that AVS offers, simply the usual mounted PD voltages (5V, 9V, 15V, and so forth). Annoyingly, even a strong new charger to spice up cost your laptop computer or Android cellphone, doubtless gained’t optimally fast-charge the most recent iPhone 17. Still, Apple’s telephones are hardly that fast, so the variations ought to be small.

Eventually, AVS will turn out to be mainstream, however that’ll nonetheless require everybody shopping for yet one more charger to assist every part. Talk about an e-waste nightmare. Between the iPhone 17’s new AVS setup and the Pixel 10 Pro XL requiring a comparatively area of interest 20V model of PPS, I can solely hope Samsung doesn’t throw one other spanner within the works when it unveils the Galaxy S26 Ultra.