iPhone 17 series may not charge faster with older third-party power bricks

Apple's new iPhone 17-series smartphones are the first of their line able to use Apple's new 40W Dynamic Power Adapter with 60W Max, a charger that, as the name suggests, might be able to power a compatible device by 60 watts (W) for a limited time before dropping back down to 40W for the majority of the cycle for reduced charging times overall.

That is because the Dynamic Power Adapter is the first of its kind to use the adjustable voltage source or AVS version of the (ideally) universal USB-PD 3.2 standard, as demonstrated by the Reddit user privaterbok in the course of a charging study using the new first-party power brick.

Obviously, it could not test USB PD 3.2 AVS using an iPhone 17, 17 Pro or 17 Pro Max at this point in time (September 17, 2025), as the devices are still at the pre-order stage (although the Adapter itself is available on Amazon for $39).

However, privaterbok did report that the Dynamic Power Adapter was able to charge a MacBook Air at 60W despite being 'seen' as a 40W power source.

The charger was also capable of sustaining its maximum rate while connected to a small portable power station - and for up to 18 minutes at a time, before dropping "smoothly" back down to 40W without any sharp drops in voltage.

The 40W Dynamic Power Adapter was also found to stay relatively cool at up to 62°C, despite being the smallest mobile charger Apple has ever produced.

According to the Redditor's multimeter, the accessory does not support other typical forms of USB-C charging such as PPS or Qualcomm QuickCharge 4.0.

Therefore, it might not be able to charge all devices with a USB-C port in the same potentially optimal way.

Then again, it was found to allow a docked Nintendo Switch 2 to output in 4K, something the console is not supposed to do unless it gets 60W of USB-PD power.