Dan Pražák AirPods have become more and more affordable lately, so I find that more and more people around me own them. Since I can boast of them myself since February, I am often asked about user experience and other observations. The most frequent question is whether AirPods or charge their case through a 12W adapter for the iPad, whether they can somehow damage the headphones, and if it is possible, then whether it will be faster, as with the iPhone. Perhaps the same question has occurred to you before, so today we will put everything into perspective.
I will tell you right at the beginning that you can of course charge the AirPods case with the iPad charger. Information can be found directly on Apple's website, where in the support section, specifically at article Battery and charging of AirPods and their charging case, states the following:
If you need to charge both the AirPods and the case itself, it will be fastest if you use USB charger on iPhone or iPad or connect them to your Mac.
The truth can be found in another article from Apple. It summarizes what devices can be charged with the 12W USB iPad adapter and that using it some devices and accessories can be charged faster than with a 5W adapter. AirPods are specifically mentioned in the following sentence:
With the 12W or 10W Apple USB power adapter, you can charge iPad, iPhone, iPod, Apple Watch and other Apple accessories, such as AirPods or Apple TV Remote.
This partially answers the second question, whether the headphones or their case will charge faster when using the iPad charger. Unfortunately, unlike the iPhone, for example, AirPods belong to the category where a stronger adapter won't help you recharge faster. The case still takes about two hours to charge anyway, which theoretically means that it reduces its own power consumption.
"It theoretically follows from this that I reduce my own performance"
No, it follows from the laws of physics and not theoretically but also practically.