Apple’s new iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, and iPhone X finally come with the extremely worthwhile fast-charging feature that, indeed, will charge the new iPhones faster than any previous iPhone – but it won’t work with the included charger.
Apple claims you can charge the iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, and iPhone X to 50% in just 30 minutes with fast charging. It’s an incredibly meaningful feature, and arguably more useful than the wireless charging that Apple spent plenty of time boasting about during its September event on Tuesday.
However, there’s a big downer if you want to fast-charge the iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, or iPhone X: You’ll need separate accessories to use the fast-charging feature.
Specifically, you’ll need to buy Apple’s $49 29W USB-C power adapter along with a $25 USB-C-to-Lightning power cable to benefit from fast charging in the iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, and iPhone X.
Those who own the new MacBook and MacBook Pro laptops that come with USB-C power adapters can use those to fast charge the new iPhones, too. However, they’ll need to buy the $35 USB-C-to-Lightning cable to plug their new iPhones into their MacBook laptop power adapters.
That's an extra $25 to $75 you have to spend to make full use of the new iPhones' fast charging feature on top of the new iPhones' already elevated price tags. At $700, the basic 64GB iPhone 8 costs $50 more than what the basic 32GB iPhone 7 cost at launch ($650). Sure, you get more storage in the basic iPhone 8 for the extra $50 it costs, but you don't have the choice to spend less for less storage if you don't need all 64GB.
If you want to fast charge your iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, or iPhone X, it'll be an extra $25 to $75, depending on whether or not you already have a USB-C MacBook power adapter. Meanwhile, Android phones have had fast charging for several years now, and they often come included with the fast-charging adapters and cables necessary for fast charging, so Android users don't have to buy separate accessories.