iPhone 14 Pro Max has a secret wireless charging upgrade

(Image credit: Tom's Guide)

The iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro brought in several upgrades compared to the iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 Pro. But there may have also been a subtle MagSafe charging upgrade that Apple didn't mention before.

Testing conducted and published by ChargerLAB shows that the iPhone 14 Pro Max, when compared to an iPhone 13 Pro Max, charges faster and with higher peak speeds for longer when powered up via Apple's own MagSafe charging puck.

MagSafe for iPhone has had an official rating of 15W (when using a 20W wall charger) since it debuted on the iPhone 12 (although it's slower on the iPhone 12 mini and iPhone 13 mini). However, the iPhone 14 Pro Max still improves on its predecessor, taking 2 hours and 18 minutes to fill up completely, compared to the iPhone 13 Pro Max's 2 hours and 26 minutes. It's similar when looking at a half-hour sprint test too, where the iPhone 14 Pro Max reaches 35% full while the iPhone 13 Pro Max lags behind at 30%.

We saw this marginal difference in our own wired charging tests, too. The iPhone 14 Pro Max charged to 42% in half an hour compared to 40% with the iPhone 13 Pro Max, both using the same 20W Apple charger.

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Row 0 - Cell 0	MagSafe charging speed (% filled after 30 minutes, tested by ChargerLAB)	Wired charging speed (% filled after 30 minutes, tested by TG)
iPhone 14 Pro Max	35%	42%
iPhone 13 Pro Max	30%	40%

The cause of this improved speed may be down to changes to power and thermal management within the iPhone 14 Pro's A16 chipset and battery. The battery size differences may also have had a minor impact. According to third-party teardowns, the iPhone 14 Pro Max's battery is 4,323 mAh, while the iPhone 13 Pro Max uses a 4,352 mAh battery.

The enhanced MagSafe speed likely isn't a big enough difference to warrant you upgrading or feeling jealous of iPhone 14 Pro Max owners, but it's still a benefit of the new model that Apple hasn't publicized. For the biggest differences between Apple's 2022 and 2021 flagship phones, take a look at our iPhone 14 Pro Max vs. iPhone 13 Pro Max face-off.

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Richard is based in London, covering news, reviews and how-tos for phones, tablets, gaming, and whatever else people need advice on. Following on from his MA in Magazine Journalism at the University of Sheffield, he's also written for WIRED U.K., The Register and Creative Bloq. When not at work, he's likely thinking about how to brew the perfect cup of specialty coffee.