iPhone says slow charger: what it means and how to fix it

If you have an iPhone running iOS 26, you may have noticed that it now reports an estimated time to finish charging at 80% on the Lock screen. If you’re not using a fast charger, it won’t do this and will say “Slow Charger” instead.

This probably means you are using a weak power brick or an old cable. For fast wired charging, get the New charging brick That are rated at 30 watts or more, and USB-C cable …

Newer iPhones have much larger batteries compared to models that are five years old or older. This means that if you recently upgraded from an older iPhone, in addition to switching from Lightning to USB-C, you may not have a modern fast charger.

For example, if you’re using an older USB-A charger with a rectangular port, it will only charge your iPhone at a maximum of 7.5 watts, and it’s likely only 5 watts. Charging times this fast with the iPhone 17 can take three hours or more.

With the right accessories, iPhone fast charging speeds will reach a sustained rate of between 20W-30W. At this speed, you should be able to charge from zero to 50% in less than half an hour.

The exact brand of power adapter doesn’t really matter. Any USB-C charger with Power Delivery will likely do the job.

For iPhone 17, Apple recommends new Dynamic chargerwhich may be the most efficient option in terms of speed and power consumption, but the difference is negligible. Cheaper name-brand USB-C fast chargers Like deny or Belkin It will also work just fine.

Fast wireless charging

You can also see the slow charger indicator if you are using Qi wireless charging. This may be because you are using a first generation Qi charger that delivers less than 10W of power.

If you want fast wireless charging, look for official MagSafe accessories or the standard Qi2 brand. The latest iPhones support wireless charging speeds of up to 25W.

For example, this Belkin MagSafe charger It can charge your iPhone at up to 25W speeds, plus there’s room for AirPods. The cheapest option is this Simple wireless charging pad It can charge iPhone at 15W speed.

You don’t have to upgrade

Whether your iPhone reports slow charger status or not, there is no safety risk or chance of damaging the phone when using it with a slow charger. The only factor here is comfort. If you’re only charging your phone overnight, it doesn’t matter if your tabletop charger takes three hours to fill your phone. It will work just fine.

But if you want the fastest charging speeds, perhaps for your office or kitchen charging station, the options above describe how you can achieve that, wired or wirelessly.