One new smart feature with the latest iOS 18 update is assisting you to identify the charging speed of your iPhone. Before, we taught you how to charge your iPhone faster. Now, it's somewhat different.

As you go to the Settings menu and tap on it, you easily find whether your current charging configuration is efficient enough or requires an upgrade.

Identifying Slow Charging in the Battery Section

How to Identify If Your iPhone Charging Setup is Slower

The new update brings a "Slow Charger" alert in the Battery section when the system detects a suboptimal charger. MacRumors reports that you will also notice an orange bar pointing out lower charging times in the chart used to view your battery usage.

The orange marker appears in both the 24-hour and 10-day views of battery use, so you can always keep an eye out for it.

What Makes a Charger 'Slow'?

There are a few common causes when you feel that your iPhone is taking its own sweet time to charge:

• Wired chargers with less than 7.5W output
• Standard Qi1 wireless chargers transmitting less than 10W
• USB ports of cars or multi-port hubs
• Chargers that distribute power across multiple devices

Common Reasons for Slowing Down the Charging Speed

There are several reasons which cause your iPhone to charge slowly. Here is a closer look at what might be holding it up:

Counterfeit or Low-Power Chargers

Apple devices are sometimes supported by some chargers, especially knock-offs or third-party non-certified charging products, which may claim that they can charge such devices but deliver low power.

An example is wireless charging where some third-party wireless charging products support MagSafe but provide only the minimal speed offered by Qi.

Power-Sucking Accessories

Connected accessories, such as headphones or other items, connected at all times might force your iPhone to cap the charging speed at 7.5W for safety.

High Usage While Charging

Running power-intensive apps, playing graphics-intensive games, or streaming high-brightness video while charging requires extra power and might slow the rate at which it can charge as your iPhone balances both power and heat.

Charging in Warm Environments

Your iPhone may pause or slow down charging when plugged into a warm room or in direct sunlight. This is a temperature-sensitive protection feature that makes sure you do not harm your battery, but it may slow charging a little.

Best Practices for Optimized Charging

Follow these best practices to get the fastest charge:

1. USB-C Power Delivery Charger

The best would be to use a USB-C Power Delivery charger with its appropriate cable. Using USB-C to charge your iPhone 15 or later, or using a USB-C to Lightning can be an ideal option for earlier iPhones. A USB-C Power Delivery charger ensures a faster speed for discharging your power and, therefore, for charging your device.

2. Select MagSafe or Qi2-Certified Chargers

Wireless charging can be done using Apple's MagSafe Charger or even any third-party options coming with Qi2 certification.

Both the chargers here thus offer faster speeds than any standard Qi wireless charger and make perfect choices for iPhone users looking for a fast charging source.

For more iPhone tips, check our early November report on how to improve your iPhone's battery life.