Frequently, there has been some confusion about charging the iPad. Various tests have shown that the iPad mini5, iPad Air3/4, and iPad Pro can exceed 20W power during charging, and even when these models are gaming and charging simultaneously, the power input can reach over 30W.
Mikan has been curious about this as well, as he usually uses both iPad mini5 and iPad Pro. It’s easy to share the charging head with the MBP when it comes to iPad Pro, but Mikan is worried about whether using a 18W/20W charger with iPhone will waste the charging capacity. So, he conducted some experiments to verify his doubts.
The most standard way to conduct such experiments would be to compare the charging using 18W/20W charger and a charger with over 30W. However, for the sake of convenience, the author chose to use the iPad Pro with the Magic Keyboard for control and to change the input power to conduct the tests:
Firstly, the input power specification of the Magic Keyboard is:
Input: 5V 3A, 9V 3A
Output: 5V 2.5A, 9V 2.5A
When paired with the MacBook Pro (MBP) 13-inch standard 61W original charger, which supports the PD protocol, it has ample power and can fully meet the maximum power requirement of the iPad Pro.
So, if you use the MBP charger to connect the Magic Keyboard for charging, the power would be 9V2.5A=22.5W, which is similar to the standard 20W charger.
When the MBP charger is directly connected to the iPad Pro, the iPad Pro can reach the maximum input power supported, without wasting its charging capacity.
The testing method is to charge the iPad Pro from around 30% battery level for 30 minutes. Two tests are conducted with both the Magic Keyboard and the MBP charger, one during standby charging and the other while gaming to achieve higher input power.
Now let’s start the test, first with charging the Magic Keyboard:
iPad Pro battery level at 29%
The MBP 61W charger is used to connect the Magic Keyboard for charging for 30 minutes, and the power is 9V2.5A=22.5W. The iPad Pro is on standby while being charged.
The charge level is 56% after 30 minutes, a total of 27% charged
Recharge the iPad Pro to 29% again
Use the MBP 61W charger to connect the Magic Keyboard for charging, while the iPad Pro is playing Xbox games to ensure that the iPad Pro is still consuming power.
Charge to 51% in 30 minutes, a total of 22% charged
The conclusion is that the 22.5W charging power cannot meet the demands of full-speed charging while running games simultaneously, as part of the power is used for supplying power to the A12Z while running the games, which leads to a decrease in the charging rate.
Next, test the charging speed when the charger is directly connected to the iPad Pro
Recharge the iPad Pro to 30%, and then directly connect the MBP 61W charger for charging, while the iPad Pro is in standby and not in use
Finally, recharge to 62% in 30 minutes, a total of 32% charged
This result is a little faster than standby charging with the Magic Keyboard, indicating that the maximum charging power of the iPad Pro is slightly higher than 22.5W provided by the Magic Keyboard.
Recharge the iPad Pro to 29%, connect the MBP 61W charger directly for charging, and keep running Xbox games
Charge to 57% in 30 minutes, a total of 28% charged
It is evident that part of the power is still being used to supply the A12Z.
Summarizing the results:
Charging the iPad Pro during standby:
Magic Keyboard (9V2.5A) 30 minutes 27%
MBP 61W charger 30 minutes 32%
When the iPad Pro is used with high load and charging simultaneously:
Magic Keyboard (9V2.5A) 30 minutes 22%
MBP 61W charger 30 minutes 28%
When running Xbox game streaming on the iPad Pro, the A12Z is not fully loaded, and the temperature is very low. But considering factors such as the screen constantly being on, the Bluetooth controller being connected, and continuous high-bitrate Wi-Fi data transfer, the overall power consumption should still be around 5W-8W.
Conclusion:
· The maximum charging power of the iPad Pro is slightly higher than the 22.5W power provided by the Magic Keyboard, but not significantly. The maximum charging power of the iPad Pro should be around 23W-24W, which is consistent with the other test results
· When charging and gaming simultaneously, the charging speed will be slower, as part of the power is used to supply the device
· When charging and gaming on the iPad Pro, if the power allows, the supply power will be increased as much as possible without affecting the charging speed
· However, this power is not limitless. From the data, it can be seen that regardless of the size of the charger’s power, the maximum input power of the iPad Pro is still around 23W of charging power plus 5W-8W of device supply power, resulting in a total input power of around 28W-31W, which also matches the results measured using a power meter
根据很多电源功率测试可以知道，iPad可以达到高达30W的充电功率，但前提是需要同时进行高负荷的使用。这并不意味着电池会以更高的功率进行充电，多余的功率只是用来保证系统运行。系统运行的优先级更高，因此无论使用多大功率的充电器，输入功率最高也只能达到30W左右，而电池的充电功率最多也只有23W左右（受到温度等因素的影响，可能无法一直保持）。
· 如果不在意充电时进行高负荷操作对充电速度的影响，那么原配的20W充电器完全足够使用。这表明苹果标配的20W充电器并非“小气”（当然也不是很慷慨），因为iPad系列电池的最大充电功率也只能达到23W左右。
· 只有经常需要进行高负荷应用操作，比如游戏、视频编辑等，同时又不想影响充电速度，才有必要选择30W以上的充电器。（但需注意的是，进行高负荷操作同时充电时，可能由于过热导致无法达到最大充电功率）
· 对于妙控键盘+iPad Pro用户来说，因为妙控键盘的C口位置非常便利，所以使用妙控键盘充电是最常见的操作。妙控键盘用户并不需要特意选择任何充电器，原配的20W充电器（旧版是18W）完全够用，而且妙控键盘最大只支持9V2.5A，即使购买更大功率的充电器，电流也不会更大，因此也不需要选配更高功率的充电器。
以上就是本篇文章的全部内容，没有专业的电流表等设备，所以无法获得准确的功率和充电曲线。但进行这个测试是为了解决长久以来的疑惑，至少对于mini5笔者来说，现在可以放心地和iPhone共用18W/20W充电头了（笑）。感谢大家的耐心阅读，我们下次再见！