2 min read
Apple’s new iPhone lineup brings faster charging speeds, but there’s a familiar catch. The iPhone 17, 17 Pro, and 17 Pro Max can reach 50% in just 20 minutes, while the slimmer iPhone Air takes 30 minutes to hit the halfway mark. It’s impressive progress, but Apple’s execution is frustratingly predictable.
The company credits this jump to its new 40W Dynamic Power Adapter, which features a 60W maximum. The name is clunky, and the charger itself is a little misleading. While it delivers 40W regularly, it can briefly hit 60W for around 15 minutes, according to early testing.
What makes this charger different is Apple’s switch to Adjustable Voltage Supply (AVS). Instead of using the older Programmable Power Supply (PPS), AVS allows the iPhone to request voltage between 15V and 48V in 0.1V increments. This flexibility benefits high-power devices, but PPS is already capable of handling 40W and even 60W charging.
Here’s the problem: most USB chargers people already own support PPS, not AVS. That means your existing fast charger probably won’t deliver the promised 20-minute boost on the iPhone 17 series.
Apple’s new $39 adapter doesn’t support PPS at all. Tests confirm it only works with standard USB Power Delivery 3.0, reducing its usefulness for any PPS-enabled device you might already have.
This raises a bigger question for iPhone owners. Can the iPhone 17 still hit 50% in 20 minutes using a standard 40W or 60W PPS charger? And if it can, will charging be as efficient as with Apple’s AVS-powered adapter? The answers will determine whether users need to buy yet another proprietary Apple charger or if their existing gear is good enough. For now, iPhone owners will have to experiment with their own cables and adapters to see what actually delivers Apple’s promised speeds.
