Can I Charge Beats Flex With A MacBook Charger?
With the proliferation of USB-C ports used for charging, you might have noticed that your MacBook and your Beats Flex use the same type of port to connect your charger.
The standard charger for the Beats Flex uses a C-to-C connection.
hat means the USB-C shape is on both sides of the cable.
The standard block used for Beats Flex charging is 20 Watts.
Can I Charge Beats Flex With a MacBook Charger?
MacBook Air and newer iPads use a 30 Watt USB-C-to-C charger, so you can use your MacBook charger to charge up your Beats Flex to full battery. However, MacBook Pros use a much stronger charger between 45-60 Watts. That’s two to three times more Wattage than Apple designed the Beats Flex to be charged with.
You will be able to charge your Beats Flex with one of these powerful chargers, but you can cause overheating damage to your earbuds.
The battery on your Beats Flex earbuds is only large enough to power your earbuds for around 12 hours at 50% volume.
Physically, it’s about the size of a quarter.
Due to its smaller size, you can easily cause heat damage by using a much more powerful charging block than is recommended even if the cable that is used is the same.
Overcharging can lead to battery expansion and even lowering the overall battery capacity.
What kind of Charger Does Beats Flex Use?
Beats Flex earbuds use a USB-C to USB-C charging cable attached to a 20 Watt charging block.
It’s enough power throughput to bring your Beats Flex from no battery to an hour and a half of battery life in ten minutes.
It can even fill the battery capacity entirely in a little under 90 minutes.
Using a higher capacity charging block like the 45 Watt block used for MacBooks or the 65 Watt block for MacBook Pros will charge it even faster but at the risk of overheating and causing damage to your earbuds.
Even with the safety features built-in to Apple products to prevent this kind of damage, it can still overheat and expand your battery.
You can use nearly any USB-C to USB-C you want to.
Just make sure that the block you plug it into is no higher than 30 Watts.
The recommended block to use would be 20 Watts.
My recommendation is not to risk it. Even if the Beats Flex is not the most expensive earbuds, you don’t want to cause damage to them just to charge a little faster every now and then.
Can You Charge Beats With An Apple Charger?
You can absolutely charge your Beats Flex with an Apple Charger. The block used for charging Apple’s iPhone is a perfect example. It is 20 Watts and has a USB-C connection port.
This is the charging block recommended for use with your Beats Flex.
However, as stated in the previous section, not all Apple charging blocks are created equal.
They have different Watt ratings that stand for the amount of power coming from the wall, through the cable, and into the device you are charging.
Apple sells charging blocks, or power adapters, of these different ratings:
- 5W USB
- 12W USB
- 20W USB
- 30W USB
- 45W USB
- 61W USB
- 85W USB
- 96W USB
- 100W USB
Not all of the blocks have a USB-C port to connect to.
For example, the 5 and 12W have a standard USB-A connection port that would require an adapter to connect your Beats Flex to.
These are safe to use to charge your Beats Flex but will take longer to get your Beats Flex to a full charge. The 20W power adapter is the standard for Beats Flex.
I would recommend this power adapter if you have the option.
In situations where you do not have access to your regular charger, a 30W power adapter like the one used for MacBook Airs is still relatively safe to use.
Once you get to 45W and higher, I would stay away from them.
Even though they will charge your Beats Flex, they may overcharge and cause heat damage that is irreversible.
In a worst-case scenario, this can lead to battery expansion, explosion, or device melting.
How Do I Charge My Apple Beats Flex?
In order to charge your Beats Flex, you will need to have three things:
- Beats Flex
- USB-C to USB-C cable
- 20W Power Adapter (This can be substituted for a different block if a 20W is not available, but it is not recommended.)
Connect the USB-C cable to the power adapter.
Then, plug the power adapter into a convenient wall outlet for charging.
Now, all you need to do is plug the unconnected USB-C connector into your Beats Flex.
In about 10 minutes, you will have an hour and a half battery to work with.
If you leave it plugged in for a little under 90 minutes, it will be at a full charge and ready for audio playback for up to 12 hours.
Can You Charge Beats Studio Buds With MacBook Charger?
It all comes down to which MacBook you own.
MacBook Pro chargers are way too powerful to use for your Beats Flex.
The USB-C cable will connect to your Beats Flex and even charge it incredibly quickly.
It may also overcharge your Beats Flex battery and cause it to overheat and expand.
In some cases, this can lead to a dangerous explosion.
An overcharged battery may explode even after it has been disconnected from the charger.
As these earbuds are designed to hang around your neck, any explosion can be deadly. It’s important not to overcharge your Beats Flex earbuds.
Besides the dangers of battery expansion, it will also lead to your earbuds losing overall battery capacity and shorten your earbuds lifespan.
I strongly recommend that you do not use any power adapter over 30 W to charge your Beats Flex.
If you are without your Beats Flex charger and need to get some power into them, you can plug your earbuds into your MacBook’s USB-C port.
It will drain the battery from your MacBook, but only the small amount needed to fill your Beats Flex.
This is the best option for emergency charging.
FAQ
Can I use other USB-C charging blocks to charge my Beats Flex?
Other brands of charging blocks or power adapters will work for your Beats Flex as long as it has a USB-C port or you have a USB-A to USB-C cable.
If you are around other people with earbuds or headphones that use a USB-C charger, it should be safe to use their charger to get some power into your Beats.
Just make sure they aren’t using a power adapter with over 30 W.
It should be labeled on the side with outlet prongs.
Can I charge my Beats Flex with my iPhone?
Your Beats Flex do not have wireless charging.
You may be able to get some charge from your iPhone’s battery to Beats by connecting them with a USB-C lightning cable.
This is a little bit tricky and may not work.
Just to be safe, the answer is no.
Your iPhone was not designed to charge other devices from its charging port.
Why don’t I get 12 hours of battery life from my Beats Flex?
The 12 hour playback time cited by Apple is specific to listening to music at 50% volume.
The audio drivers and wireless adapters inside your Beats Flex both take power to charge.
The higher the volume you play audio, the more power it will use.
If you listen to music and videos at 100% volume at all times, you are likely to only get between 8 and 10 hours of battery life depending on how old your earbuds are.