As an Apple Watch owner, I was recently frustrated to find that my Apple Watch charger was no longer working. After doing some research and testing different solutions, I’m here to share how I solved the issue and the other potential solutions that I discovered along the way.
You can use any type of charging plug to charge your Apple Watch as long as it features a USB input and you connect it to a charging cable that ends with a magnetic charging pad. Without a magnetic charging cable, you can’t relay electric power into an Apple Watch as all models depend on inductive charging.
| Tips: |
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| It is possible to charge an Apple Watch without its charger, as long as you have a magnetic charging cable or a magnetic charging pad. |
| You can use a portable power bank, USB charger, or iPhone charger as an alternative to the official Apple Watch charger. |
| Be careful when choosing gadgets and cables to charge your watch, as low-quality products may damage the watch’s sensitive components. |
| The Apple Watch relies on inductive charging, which is a wireless method of power transfer that delivers electricity to portable devices using electromagnetic induction. |
| The red lightning bolt icon is an indicator that your Apple Watch is low on battery and needs to be charged. |
Table of Contents
Is It Possible to Charge an Apple Watch Without Its Charger?
The Apple Watch comes with a magnetic charger. This goes for all models of Apple Watch because they all rely on inductive charging; a wireless method of power transfer that delivers electricity to portable devices using electromagnetic induction.
As such, there’s no other way you can charge an Apple Watch without throwing a magnetic charger or magnetic charging cable in the mix.
If you lose it, displace it, or forget to bring it along on a trip away from home, you’ll need to buy a magnetic charging cable or magnetic charger (we’ll list some options in the following section).
- Here’s an interesting bit: earlier models of Apple’s smartwatches used to feature a hidden port that was supposed to be used for charging. Unfortunately, this port didn’t make it to official or newer models.
So does this mean we won’t be seeing any charging method for Apple Watch other than electromagnetic induction in the future?
Well, you never know! The technology world is always evolving. Soon enough, someone might just come up with a different way to charge an Apple Watch and you won’t have to use a magnetic charger anymore.
Read more: How long does it take Apple Watch to turn on?
Alternative Charging Solutions for Apple Watch
If you’re on the road and forgot to pack your charger with you, you lost/broke your charger, or you just can’t remember where you put it, don’t panic just yet!
You can use any of the alternative methods we’ll discuss below. It’s also a good idea to keep a spare cable in your backpack or carry-on bag just in case your Apple Watch runs out of juice when you’re away from home.
You’ll know when your Apple Watch is low on battery if you see it displaying a red lightning bolt icon as an indicator that some charging is due.
Of course, you’ll know when your Apple Watch is out of charge when it turns off on its own.
A heads up before we go through the alternative charging options: be careful when choosing gadgets and cables to charge your watch.
Not only do you need to connect the charger elements properly, but you also need to make sure that the gear you’re using to charge your Apple watch isn’t low quality or poorly made.
Otherwise, you may end up damaging the watch’s circuit or sensitive electronic components.
Read more: What is the microphone symbol on Apple Watch?
Portable Power Bank Charger
You can use your portable power bank as a charger for your Apple Watch. Simply plug the magnetic charging cable into the power bank, place the watch on the pad, and wait for it to come to life once again.
There are also portable power banks that feature a built-in magnetic Apple Watch charger pad. These will save you the hassle of bringing a cable as all you need to do is lay your watch on it and it’ll start charging.
Some of these models also include extra ports so you can charge your iPhone or iPad at the same time or separately.
USB Charger
USB Apple Watch chargers are basically USB sticks with a magnetic charging pad built-in.
You can stick these into a laptop, Mac, or any other device that receives electricity and has a USB port. After that, just place your watch on the designated pad.
An iPhone Charger
Last but not least, you can connect the magnetic charging cable to your iPhone charger head once you make sure it’s plugged into the wall. After that, place your Apple Watch on the magnetic pad and it should start charging as normal.
Wrap Up
So, can you charge an Apple Watch without the charger?
The answer is yes. You can use any type of charging plug to charge your Apple Watch as long as it features a USB input and you connect it to a charging cable that ends with a magnetic charging pad.
