Apple Watch Series 7 fast charges from any USB-C PD adapter rated 5W or more

News
By Oliver Haslam
published

Apple Watch Series
Apple Watch Series (Image credit: Apple)

What you need to know

  • Apple Watch Series 7 can charge 33% faster than older models.
  • Apple has confirmed that any USB-C PD charger rated 5W or more will fast-charge just fine.

Apple has confirmed that any USB-C PD charger rated 5W or more will fast charge the new Apple Watch Series 7. That means that the majority of people won't need to buy a new charger — any old USB-C charger they have should do the trick.

The news comes after Apple published a new support document outlining the situation at a time when Apple Watch Series 7 pre-orders are arriving in some parts of the world. Apple says that all of its chargers rated 18W or above are good for fast charging the new wearable, while any third-party charger from 5W upwards has the green light.

With fast charge, your Apple Watch Series 7 battery level can go from 0 percent to 80 percent in about 45 minutes.

Fast charging requires an Apple USB-C Magnetic Fast Charging Cable. This cable has aluminum around the magnetic charger and a USB-C connector.

You also need one of these power adapters:

  • Apple 18W, 20W, 29W, 30W, 61W, 87W, or 96W USB-C Power Adapter
  • A comparable third-party USB-C power adapter that supports USB Power Delivery (USB-PD) of 5W or greater

The news means that people might not necessarily need to rush out to buy a new USB-C charger — the chances are good that whatever USB-C charger they have currently will do the job just fine.

All of the best iPhone chargers will do the job admirably and some can even charge multiple devices at the same time — perfect for powering an Apple Watch and an iPhone!

Oliver Haslam
Oliver Haslam
Contributor

Oliver Haslam has written about Apple and the wider technology business for more than a decade with bylines on How-To Geek, PC Mag, iDownloadBlog, and many more. He has also been published in print for Macworld, including cover stories. At iMore, Oliver is involved in daily news coverage and, not being short of opinions, has been known to 'explain' those thoughts in more detail, too.

Having grown up using PCs and spending far too much money on graphics card and flashy RAM, Oliver switched to the Mac with a G5 iMac and hasn't looked back. Since then he's seen the growth of the smartphone world, backed by iPhone, and new product categories come and go. Current expertise includes iOS, macOS, streaming services, and pretty much anything that has a battery or plugs into a wall. Oliver also covers mobile gaming for iMore, with Apple Arcade a particular focus. He's been gaming since the Atari 2600 days and still struggles to comprehend the fact he can play console quality titles on his pocket computer.