iPhone vs iPad Charger
When you see two chargers from the outside, most of them look alike. Although Apple has premium look and feel to its product that would uniquely differentiates from the products of other vendors, it doesn’t differentiate among its own kin. We have seen a lot of people struggling to find out which charger is for their iPhone and which charger is for their iPad because both chargers resemble each other in a subtle way. Let us explore the differences and then we’ll discuss on how to differentiate them if you get them mixed up with one another.
iPhone Charger
iPhone charger is designed to charge the iPhone or iPod, and since they are relatively small devices and have batteries of small capacity, they only need a reduced amount of current to charge them. To be precise, iPhone charger is 5W where it is rated at 5V of voltage and 1A of current.
iPad Charger
iPad has a bigger battery and thus needs more power to charge it effectively. It is 10W in capacity rated at 5V voltage and a current of 2A. The physical mold is the same as iPhone charger, and which makes them difficult to be identified when placed together.
Apple iPhone Charger vs iPad Charger Conclusion
Apple instructs you to use separate chargers for separate devices and thus you are advised not to use them interchangeably. However, theoretically, you can use them interchangeably, because when you use the iPad charger to charge iPhone, only the required current and thus power will be drawn. However, since it’s instructed against, better not do that. We can of course guarantee that you can charge your iPad with the iPhone charger, but it is going to take more time than the usual charging time with the original iPad charger because less current is given. In terms of how to identify them physically, the only help is what is written on the adapter. Typically, iPad charger would have ‘10W’ written on it while an iPhone charger doesn’t indicate anything.