It appears that Apple is quietly making wireless charging a lot more flexible by unlocking faster speeds on third-party accessories. The company has silently added the new feature in iOS 26, which will be available to all users next month, potentially alongside the iPhone 17 launch. What piqued our interest is that all iPhone 16 models, except for one, will be getting support for faster wireless charging, bolstering the new Qi2 25W standard. This means that you will be able to make use of third-party wireless chargers from brands like Belkin and not just Apple’s own MagSafe accessories.
Apple’s iOS 26 update finally opens up faster 25W Qi2 wireless charging for iPhone 16, though one model misses out
If you are not familiar, all iPhone 16 models were already capable of being wirelessly charged at 25W, but the difference is that the only chargers you could use were from Apple. You would previously have to get an upgraded MagSafe charger paired with a 30W adapter to get the 25W speeds. Well, this is now changing, as iOS 26 will allow the same 25W speeds through any compatible Qi2.2 or Qi2 25W accessory (via MacRumors).
Belkin has already announced a trio of Qi2 25W chargers for the iPhone 16 lineup, boasting the same claim as Apple with 0 to 50 percent in 30 minutes. Now, all you have to do is pick up your favorite wireless charger that is capable of pushing 25WÂ speeds, and then use it on the go or if you want to make it a part of your themed desk setup. It is also good to see that the company did not reserve the feature for the upcoming iPhone 17 lineup, and casually rolled it out for the existing hardware. This also gives us clarification that the company will be adding Qi2 support to the upcoming iPhone 17 lineup as well.
While the feature is available for the entire iPhone 16 lineup, there is one particular model that the company has left out. That’s right, the iPhone 16e does not support the Qi2 wireless charging standard, but there is a possibility that future models of the device will have the option. We also have to take note that the company has not officially announced the added speed bump. The change was spotted in the latest iOS 26 beta, which will be available to all users next month.
Google also announced the new Pixel 10 devices a few days ago, and the Pixel 10 Pro models come with faster wireless charging speeds as well, which puts the devices head-to-head with the latest iPhone 16 lineup. We will be covering additional details on the subject, so be sure to keep an eye out.
