Apple is discontinuing its 5W iPhone charger in favor of a new, more efficient design. The company says the new charger will be more reliable and efficient, and it’s cheaper too. The old charger was designed for older iPhones that don’t have a fast-charging port. It would take hours to charge an older iPhone with this charger, which was also very expensive. The new charger will charge an iPhone in just minutes, which is great for those who are always on the go. The old 5W iPhone charger also didn’t work with newer iPhones that have fast-charging ports. This meant that you had to use an older model of your phone to charge an iPhone with this charger. This was also expensive and time-consuming. The new 3A/5V/1A Apple iPhone Charger is much more efficient and reliable than the old 5W iPhone charger. It can charge an iPhone in just minutes instead of hours, which is great for those who are always on the go or who want to save time on their charging process. Plus, it’s much cheaper too!
The official Apple 5W USB Power Adapter is still available in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, and a few other countries. It has remained nearly identical since it was first included with the iPhone 3G in 2008, with a single USB Type-A port and a maximum charging speed of 5W. That’s much slower than the 15W charging speed that modern iPhones can handle. It’s priced at $19 in the United States.
MacRumors and Mac Otakara report the 5W charger is currently sold out in Apple’s online stores in Australia, Japan, France, New Zealand, Germany, Italy, Spain China, and other countries. It seems like the company is slowly phasing it out, as the last remaining stock runs out in each country. Apple still sells a larger 12W power adapter with the same USB Type-A connector, alongside many wall chargers with USB Type-C ports and higher power outputs. Most recently, Apple released a dual-port 35W charger.
Even though faster USB chargers are widely available, slower adapters like the 5W model are still used by some to avoid excessive wear and tear on smartphone batteries. Even though modern smartphones are designed to avoid overheating or wearing out the battery when charging, and usually have software features to limit the maximum battery level or charging speed, using a slower power adapter for overnight charging can still be beneficial for long-term battery health.
Source: MacRumors, Mac Otakara
