ipad and iphone chargers made a looped connection? is it bad?

so the weirdest thing is happening.. i got a new charger block, one that has 3 c ports and 2 usb ports. i have my phone (iphone 17) charger plugged in which is a c port, and my ipad (10th gen) is a c port too, also plugged in. note, they are 2 separate chargers


when i plug my iPad in, my phone does the ding noise for charging, but im not plugging in my phone.. and if i plug in my phone, my ipad makes the noise! i did google and it just says looped connection but basically my question is, is the weirdly shared connection bad for my ipad and phone?


thanks :)

iPad, iPadOS 18

Posted on Dec 19, 2025 11:44 PM

Reply
6 replies

Dec 20, 2025 2:25 AM in response to ashlyndesco

Your post appears unclear. As read, you seemingly suggest that both your iPad and iPhone are plugged-in to different USB-C ports of your new charger (Power Adapter) - but then contradict this with a statement that they are connected to separate chargers...


Assuming that your iPad and iPhone are connected to two different USB-C charging ports of the same physical Power Adapter, to understand why your devices both chime when connecting the second device, you first need to understand a little about how your USB-C Power Adapter works. This has nothing at all to do with the Power Adapter being able to supply adequate power.


Good quality USB-C Power Adapters support USB PD (Power Delivery). USB PD uses an active protocol with which to mutually negotiate a power profile - this profile defining both the voltage and supply current available for charging the connected device. The Power Adapter, connecting USB-C cable (which also contains electronic components) and the device being charged (in this instance being your iPad and iPhone) all participate in this active negotiation. When a common power profile has been selected, only then is power supplied to the connected device; your iPad or iPhone will chime when power is available for charging. The negotiation process is fast - typically a few tenths of a second and appears to be near instantaneous.


Many USB PD Power Adapters, despite having multiple USB-C connections, can only support a single power profile. When multiple devices are connected to this type of Power Adapter, the negotiation process runs for each connected device - each device potentially supporting different power profiles. The Power Adapter will select the highest power profile supported by all connected devices - and then supply the same voltage to all outputs; only then will the connected devices chime to indicate that charging power is available.


You should note that any disturbance or change to the devices will cause this type of Power Adapter to interrupt power to all USB-C outputs while the USB PD negotiation process re-runs. As such, connecting or disconnecting a device during charging will potentially cause all connected device to chime - this being the behaviour that I believe you are observing. If so, this behaviour is entirely normal and expected.

Dec 20, 2025 6:46 AM in response to LotusPilot

i said i got a new charger block with 3 c port plugs. meaning they are plugged into the same charger box. and i also said, they are 2 separate chargers, meaning charger cords. somehow between the two cords they acted as if they were one charger on two devices.


actually last night after i posted this when i left my ipad charging but unplugged my phone, my ipad charged for 5 minutes before not charging anymore, but never did that if i left my phone charging. anyway guess it doesn’t matter anymore, i plugged my phone charger into a different charger block and it doesn’t do it anymore. guess it only does it being plugged into the multiple chargers block.

Dec 20, 2025 8:35 AM in response to ashlyndesco

If I understand you are plugging both the iPad and iPhone into the same power source. I’m curious as to which power source (Anker, Griffin, etc). These are “smart” power sources that adapt their USB-C/PD output voltage and current limit to the requirements of the specific device plugged in, and if there is more than one device connected at the same time it must also allocate the current to each device. So whenever you add a device to the power source it must stop for a second to make these adjustments. The result is that the already connected device will be briefly disconnected, so it will essentially start charging again about a second later, and will beep.


Your post was a little confusing, because a “charger” is a power source or a chip in the device, not a cable.

ipad and iphone chargers made a looped connection? is it bad?

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