It's not Apple's fault that the new iPhone doesn't support 25W wireless charging.

Have you all seen this year's new iPhone?

After watching the press conference, Tony noticed a detail. There is a difference in the Magsafe charging power between the Chinese version and the overseas version of the iPhone 17. The Chinese version supports 15W, while the overseas version supports 25W.

Hey, Apple, are you practicing discrimination? Why can the overseas version use higher - power wireless charging, while we can only use 15W?

Later, Tony did some research and found that the product page of the overseas Magsafe charger clearly states: "Certified for Qi2 25W", while the Chinese version only indicates "Compatible with Qi charging".

Alright, after seeing this, Tony kind of understands what's going on...

To explain why Apple doesn't offer 25W Magsafe charging in the Chinese version, let Tony first explain what "Qi2 25W", which is closely related to 25W Magsafe, is.

First of all, in April this year, the WPC (Wireless Power Consortium) released a new wireless charging standard "Qi2.2", which supports a maximum power of 25W.

Then in July, the WPC came up with a "Qi2.2.1" version. In fact, the technical content is the same as Qi2.2, but it uses a more intuitive name "Qi2 25W". It's a brand - building for Qi2.2 to facilitate market promotion, and this is also one of the standards supported by the overseas Magsafe.

Third - party accessory manufacturers like Ugreen and Anker already have products certified for Qi2 25W, but they haven't been launched yet. They probably look like this, with a relatively obvious Qi2 25W logo in the middle of the charger.

Before the iPhone 17, there was another phone that supports Qi2 25W, the Google Pixel 10 Pro XL. Like the iPhone, it has built - in magnets, so it can be attached without a phone case. Google even named this magnetic charging technology "Pixelsnap".

Yes, domestic manufacturers have already pushed wireless charging power to nearly 100W, while these foreign manufacturers are still excited about 25W wireless charging power. It's really a bit speechless...

But as Tony mentioned before, one of the pain points of wireless charging is that currently, each manufacturer's wireless super - charging can only be used with their own accessories, and the universality is very poor. So, having a real fast - charging standard that can serve as a backup is actually very necessary.

Look, now the power of this public protocol has finally reached a usable level, and even manufacturers like Google have actively joined. This is a good thing. Why don't domestic manufacturers join, and why doesn't Apple allow its use? Maybe some friends will also question that the phone got extremely hot with 15W charging before. Can the heat be controlled with the increased power?

There are a large number of self - made Magsafe cooling solutions on Xiaohongshu.

So, Tony found the latest Qi standard manual and is going to have a good chat with you all today.

This time, Qi2 25W supports a 25W wireless charging power, which corresponds to the upgrade of two protocols in the Qi2.2 standard. One is the MPP (Magnetic Power Profile) for the magnetic alignment between the phone and the wireless charger, and the other is the APP (Active Alignment Profile) for the in - car scenario, which actively adjusts the coil position. The maximum output has increased from 15W in Qi2 to 25W.

Milo in the editorial department often complains that his OPPO Find X7 Ultra can't be charged in his old electric car. It seems that from now on, I have to persuade him to buy an Android car with a Qi2.1 charging pad.

As for the confidence to achieve "ultra - fast" charging, it comes from these new technological upgrades:

This time, Qi 2.2 has a new power control mechanism (Power Modes and Gain Linearization); more advanced foreign object detection (MPLA2 FOD, Mated Q FOD, and FOD Delta Ploss calibration), and strict thermal management.

The "upgrade log" of Qi2.2 on the official website (machine - translated)

Tony won't go into details about how these technologies are implemented and the testing details:

You just need to know that Qi2.2 can better control and output charging power in various scenarios (different temperatures, coil alignment, phone case thickness, etc.). It can more intelligently detect and control power loss during charging, better detect foreign objects to prevent abnormal temperature rise, and has established a very strict thermal management mechanism (the surface temperature rise ≤ 25°C at room temperature of 23°C, that is, the absolute temperature ≤ 48°C), reducing power waste and heat generation in every aspect.

With such strict standards, what's the actual result?

Our colleague, ChargerLab, once tested an unlaunched NXP Qi2.2 charging module. When charging an iPhone 16 Pro with iOS 26 system, the input power of wireless charging reached 24.22W, and the maximum temperature of the phone during charging was 37.6 degrees Celsius.

Look, Qi2.2 has really done a lot of work to increase the power by 10W. If manufacturers can gradually support this faster and cooler universal protocol in the future, we digital enthusiasts won't need so many different models of wireless chargers at home...

But the problem lies in the "Interim Provisions on Radio Management of Wireless Charging (Power Transmission) Equipment" issued by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology in September last year. This regulation has reduced the working frequency range of wireless chargers, and the 360kHz frequency band used by MagSafe and Qi2 products does not meet the new regulations.

Yes, the new Qi2.2 and 25W Magsafe still operate at a frequency of 360kHz. This is why the new Chinese - version iPhone does not support 25W wireless charging, and it's also very likely that these seemingly great Qi2 25W wireless chargers will have no market in China in the future.

The 360kHz frequency is still used in the Qi2.2 test.

Actually, the difficulty of promoting Qi2.2 in China is not just a matter of regulations.

Take the newly released Pixel 10 series as an example. The smaller Pixel 10 Pro does not support Qi2.2. Instead, considering heat dissipation, it only supports 15W charging power of Qi2.

And the larger Pixel 10 Pro XL only has a pitiful 5200 mAh battery. It's hard not to say that it's affected by the built - in magnets.

It requires both heat dissipation and built - in magnets... Trying to do too many things in a limited phone body space ultimately means sacrificing battery space.

This sacrifice is enough to discourage most domestic manufacturers who are competing in battery capacity. Although the Wireless Power Consortium also has a "Qi2 Ready" solution that doesn't require built - in magnets in the phone but adds magnets to the phone case, in this case, the phone case also needs to be certified. It all costs money, and no matter how you calculate it, it's a thankless task.

How reluctant domestic manufacturers are to install magnets in phones can also be seen from OPPO's actions.

As you know, since last year, OPPO has been committed to promoting the magnetic ecosystem. Now, all flat - style wireless chargers have been removed from the OPPO official website, and it has fully embraced magnetic charging.

All the wireless chargers currently on sale in the OPPO Mall

But a magnetic charger must be used with a magnetic phone case. If the coil position is not aligned correctly, directly outputting 50W may cause problems. However, OPPO itself can't guarantee that the magnet positions of all third - party magnetic phone cases on the market are accurate. So what should be done?

So OPPO came up with a tricky move - adding a Hall - effect magnet to the official phone case, which is like an official endorsement for magnetic coil alignment. The phone will only output at full power when it senses this magnet, which has driven many third - party accessory manufacturers crazy...

A magnetic phone case of a third - party brand. Note the induction magnet in the lower right corner.

Well... Even OPPO, which loves the wireless magnetic ecosystem, would rather come up with such