Your Apple Watch Can Actually Charge a Lot Faster Than You Think

The newest Apple Watches all support fast charging … but achieving it can be a bit complicated.

Published November 12, 2024

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When Apple released the Series 7 in the fall of 2021, it was the first time it gave an Apple Watch the ability to fast charge. Specifically, it could charge 33 percent faster than any previous Apple Watch. Its battery could go from 0 to 80 percent in just 45 minutes.

Since then, most new Apple Watches have supported fast charging of some sort, thanks to the new charging architecture built into each watch and the capabilities of the new charging cable-and-puck ($29) that comes with them. But you’ll also need a specific type of wall adapter to make the magic happen.

Here’s what you need to know to get charging, fast.

Which Apple Watches support fast charging?

There are six Apple Watches that support faster charging. The Series 7, Series 8, Series 9 and Series 10 all support it. And the Ultra and Ultra 2 support fast charging as well.

The newest Series 10 supports the fastest charging of any Apple Watch. According to Apple, it can go from 0 to 80 percent in 30 minutes — 15 minutes faster than the Series 9 to get the same charge.

The second-generation SE is the only Apple Watch that Apple currently sells that does not support faster charging.

Also, if the Apple Watch puck you’re using was released before the Series 7, it will not have the proper architecture to support fast charging no matter the watch you pair it with. This means that in the above photo, Apple’s MagSafe Duo is not fast-charging the Apple Watch.

Can the Ultra 2 charge as fast as the Series 10?

Not in percentage terms.

While the Series 10 and the Ultra 2 both support fast charging, the Ultra 2 has a bigger battery and thus takes a little longer to charge. It can get from 0 to 80 percent in an hour, while the Series 10 can get that same percentage of charge in half the time.

Will my old charging puck fast charge my new Apple Watch?

apple watch charging — An older puck will still charge your new Apple Watch, but not at its fastest speeds.

No.

You need the new USB-C charging cable that comes with the newest Apple Watches. You can also buy this USB-C charging cable-and-puck separately from Apple. The last option is to buy a third-party charger that has been optimized to fast charge the latest Apple Watches.

Which power adapters will fast charge my Apple Watch?

Apple makes a bunch, like this one. There are a lot of third-party options as well. The bottom line is that it needs to be a USB-C power adapter that supports Power Delivery (PD) of 5 watts or more.

In the past four-odd years, Apple has stopped shipping many of its products (including iPhones, Apple Watches and AirPods) with the required wall adapter to charge them; ostensibly to help fight climate change. This has sparked a thriving ecosystem of manufacturers of third-party USB-C chargers.

Here are some of our favorites:

But my old charging puck will still charge my new Apple Watch, right?

Yes.

Your old Apple Watch puck will still charge the newest smartwatches, but it won’t charge them fast. It’ll charge the Series 6 at the same speed, which is significantly slower than the new models’ charging speeds.

Will third-party 3-in-1 chargers fast charge my new Apple Watch?

wireless travel charger — Mophie’s 3-in-1 Travel Charger with MagSafe is an obvious competitor to the MagSafe Duo. Like the MagSafe Duo, however, it can’t fast charge your new Apple Watch.

Depends.

If your 3-in-1 charger was released before the Series 7 (released September 2021), then it will most likely not support the fast charging speeds for the smartwatch. The reason is that most of these 2-in-1 or 3-in-1 charging systems only deliver 5 watts of power to the Apple Watch puck, which is not enough.

However, many third-party manufacturers have released new — or upgraded — versions of existing wireless chargers to take advantage of the new charging speeds.

For example, Belkin has released a couple of new-and-improved wireless chargers, like Boost Up Charge Pro 3-in-1, which can output 40 watts of power and simultaneously charge your iPhone, Apple Watch and AirPods at their fastest possible charging speeds.

Will Apple’s MagSafe Duo charge my new Apple Watch at its fastest speed?

tech roundup — The MagSafe Duo is Apple’s foldable 2-in-1 MagSafe charger for the iPhone and Apple Watch.

No.

The MagSafe Duo, Apple’s foldable 2-in-1 wireless charger, was announced in 2020 and its Apple Watch charging puck doesn’t support fast charging.

At the time of writing, Apple has discontinued the MagSafe Duo and it looks unlikely that it’s going to release an updated model with USB-C charging.

What is Optimized Battery Charging?

Your Apple Watch has a feature called “Optimized Battery Charging” that’s designed to protect its long-term battery health. When turned on — and it’s on by default — Optimized Battery Charging allows your Apple Watch to learn your habits and only charge to 100-percent right before you take it off its charger. The reason for this is that the less time your Apple Watch spends fully charged, the better it is for its general battery health.

When turned on, you can manually charge your Apple Watch to 100-percent whenever you want. All you have to do is tap your Apple Watch’s display when it is charging, tap the circle with the green or yellow charging icon, and select “Charge to Full Now.”

You can also turn off Optimized Battery Charging if you don’t like it. Here’s how.