Can The Apple iPhone 6 Plus Play Nice With ‘Rapid Charging’ Technology? The Answer Will Surprise You

Apple’s large-screened iPhone 6 Plus is certainly a big leap by the company. Having listened to its consumers, the company came up with a phone that essentially belittled every advertisement by the company about the ideal screen-size that fits in the hand. To ensure iPhone 6 Plus has enough juice to last long, the company even fitted it with a larger battery. However, so far Apple hasn’t said anything about the ability of the large-screened iPhone to charge rapidly via the “Rapid Charging” technology-infused chargers.

“Rapid Charging” has been a successful marketing gimmick for the Android line of phones. Multiple flagship phones featuring Android today promise blazing-fast charging times using the allegedly revolutionary technology. For example, Motorola’s Droid Turbo promises an eight-hour charge in just 15 minutes. Not to be outdone, HTC’s Rapid Charger 2.0 promises to charge its phones released in 2014 over 40 percent faster. In layman’s terms, the One M8, the One E8, and Desire Eye should take almost half the time to 100 percent charge.

Interestingly, taking advantage of Apple’s silence on Rapid Technology for the iPhone 6 Plus, the Android camp is claiming superiority. Though the actuality couldn’t be further from the truth, there is an element of logic behind Apple staying mum on the ability to quickly charge its iPhone 6 Plus.

Essentially, the new iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus can be charged via the powerful 2.1A/12W charger from an iPad or the high-power USB port of a newer model Mac. The iPhone 6 Plus will easily take on juice, but will it charge “quicker”? Moreover, will the high capacity charger damage the iPhone 6 Plus’s battery?

This is where the charger itself comes into picture. Apple confirms that all the iPhones it has built so far are compatible with the charger. In the reverse order, the iPhone 6 Plus will be safely charged via the charger.

However, the charging speed depends on the “instructions” written on the Power Management chip on the phone, and it appears that Apple hasn’t “instructed” its iPhone 6 Plus to accept power at higher voltage to charge quicker than rated. Still, there is a big advantage to swapping out the 1A charger that comes with the iPhone 6 Plus with the 2.1A/12W charger.

Fortunately, the iPhone 6 Plus power management chips are made by the same company that introduced the concept of rapid charging. Known as Quick Charge 2, Qualcomm’s chips in the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus do possess the ability. Hence, it is observed that the 2.1A charger will charge your beloved iPhone 6 Plus a lot faster, even without “Rapid Charging” turned on.

Bonus Tip: It is observed that switching off all wireless communications (Flight Mode) enables the phone to charge a little faster.

[Image Credit | Apple]