Linux 5.7 To See USB Fast Charge Support For Apple iOS Devices

[phoronix]

Phoronix: Linux 5.7 To See USB Fast Charge Support For Apple iOS Devices

The Linux 5.7 kernel that will be out in the late spring / early summer is poised to see support for USB fast charging support for Apple iOS devices...

http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=Linux-5.7-Apple-MFI-Fast-Charge

[horizonbrave]

I'm wondering now if fast charging is supported for Android devices. I guess it must be related to their chipset so perhaps it's not to be taken for granted...
By the way how fucked up is Apple universe and their willingness to integrate with or support Linux? I'll steer away.

[Sonadow]

Is fast-charging an Apple-only thing?

I have a expensive multi-output charger I bought from China that has charging ports for Qualcomm FastCharge, 2.5A ouput and 1A output. But regardless of which port I plug my phone or tablet into, they charge equally slowly (i'm not discounting the possibility that the Chinese just printed random output ratings on the ports and that they are all generic ports, but since I bought it for the multiple ports it's not a priority).

No Apple devices to test.

[CommunityMember]

Is fast-charging an Apple-only thing?

No, but more recently designed devices (properly) insist on negotiating the charging voltages/currents, and the reality is not all chargers and devices work well together as there are multiple (incompatible) implementations, and even the standards were often a bit "flexible" (i.e. broken). The (typically) more expensive advanced chargers will often claim they support many/most of the various standards, and those from the more reputable brands seem to get it right more often than not, but your experience will vary. Oh, and to the point of this new linux driver, iOS devices with their MFi (Made For iPhone) lightning cables are a different kind of special (and Apple has all sorts of patents/licenses required for use of bits of the MFi technologies).

[Guest]

No, but more recently designed devices (properly) insist on negotiating the charging voltages/currents, and the reality is not all chargers and devices work well together as there are multiple (incompatible) implementations, and even the standards were often a bit "flexible" (i.e. broken). The (typically) more expensive advanced chargers will often claim they support many/most of the various standards, and those from the more reputable brands seem to get it right more often than not, but your experience will vary. Oh, and to the point of this new linux driver, iOS devices with their MFi (Made For iPhone) lightning cables are a different kind of special (and Apple has all sorts of patents/licenses required for use of bits of the MFi technologies).

USB Power Delivery will unite it all. Even, quick charge 4 starts to be compatible with USB-PD. I'm using Lenovo 65W adapter (5V2A, 9V2A, 15V3A, 20V3.25A) to charge laptop, quick charge phone, and also quickly charge Nintendo switch.

[CommunityMember]

USB Power Delivery will unite it all.

Eventually, but there are still various incompatibilities (some devices and chargers may not share a high power compatible power profile, resulting in negotiating to a lower power capability), and non-compliant cables have been known to cause issues. Those that are willing (and able) to purchase the latest and greatest chargers and devices will likely experience the best charging experience. For others, some glitches will happen.

[Guest]

Interesting. MSI has been providing a Windows driver for my motherboard, that enables fast charging for Apple devices.

Sounds like it probably does the same thing.

[SystemCrasher]

PowerDelivery is fairly complicated to implement and generally requires either considerably changing circuits to use new controller, or adding extra chip, that adds cost. And "new" type C protocol is complicated/fast enough to put "sowftare" (firmware) solutions that cost nothing more or less out of equation. I'm not exactly sure what USB IF were thinking or why they need whopping 300kbps on secondary channel to merely negotiate power and roles, but I wouldn't count on PD uniting them all - for complexity, pricing and serious HW redesign reasons.

[Guest]

PowerDelivery is fairly complicated to implement and generally requires either considerably changing circuits to use new controller, or adding extra chip, that adds cost. And "new" type C protocol is complicated/fast enough to put "sowftare" (firmware) solutions that cost nothing more or less out of equation. I'm not exactly sure what USB IF were thinking or why they need whopping 300kbps on secondary channel to merely negotiate power and roles, but I wouldn't count on PD uniting them all - for complexity, pricing and serious HW redesign reasons.

Aren't there already pre-made integrated circuits handling all the "logic", which just need to be wired to power supply to control the output voltage?

[willmore]

Aren't there already pre-made integrated circuits handling all the "logic", which just need to be wired to power supply to control the output voltage?

That's what I was thinking. To do the signaling for these non-standard protocols requires sensing non-standard voltages on the D+/D- lines. I'm curious how that's handled by normal chipsets. I'm surprised to think that there is a standard way for a driver to sense that from all chipsets. I need to poke through this patch.