paulr

I am on a domestic 763 and, for fun, tried plugging my iPad into the in seat USB port in 13C. Nada. So I tried my iPhone. Also nada. My seat opponents' ports don't work either.

I have never had these work on a 763, although I am usually on other aircraft types. Are they supposed to work? Is there a magic trick?

3Cforme

USB 2.0-level current isn't going to charge an iPad.

Yes, I have found Delta's USB ports on 763s to charge a phone.

DeltaFan4Now

On all DL equipment I have tried (76x, 777, 747), despite all appearances to the contrary, the devices charge by the time I reach my destination. Sometimes it even says "Not Charging", yet 6-10 hours later I have full charge and it's ready to go.

pleasantsn

Doesn't the 763 have power outlets? I just charge my iPad there, because the actual iPad charger will pull twice as much current.

chunky649

Post #2 answered it. USB (except for USB 3.0) has a specification limit of 500mA (half an amp). Your iphone and ipad, while uses the USB interface, doesn't really conform to it in that it draws much much more current (over 1000mA for the iPad)....

Some devices will charge (slowly) even if it say it isn't charging, but will take a long long time.

I had some experience where my stock laptop adapter was drawing too much current and resetting the outlet's circuit breaker... so it didn't charge, changing to a 90W travel adapter made it work.

Your charger needs to be smart enough to draw only what is given, otherwise, it won't charge.

In the end, YMMV.

xliioper

I believe Apple devices may trickle charge off a 500mA USB port if they are in standby mode. Not sure if that is true with the non-intelligent airplane USB ports though. You may need to trick the Apple device with a couple 49.9K and 75K ohm resistors as documented here to present +2.0V on the D+ and D- USB lines.

randidliyo

Yep, charged my droid with no problem, used my laptop after removing the battery so it wouldn't draw too much, no problem.

paulr

Hmmm. This is odd; the USB ports in my 763 wouldn't work to charge either my iPad (which can, but does not have to, draw 1A) or my iPhone. Then on my new-ish 738 leg SLC-SFO, plugging in the Apple wall charger to the in-seat 110V outlet wouldn't charge either device. When I swapped to a backup Apple wall charger, it wouldn't charge either. Both of these chargers are known good (I used them Saturday at home), so I'm not sure what was going on.

Next time I'm on a 763 I'll take a lower-power device and see if I can USB-charge it.

DrRumack

The big mystery to me are the Ethernet ports on the 763/764. Anyone have any idea what those are for?

N830MH

Because the aircraft doesn't have one yet. They hasn't install it lately. Right now, DL will working on it.

exwannabe

They serve a local web page with a working award calendar.

Seriously, likely just for future expansion. Costs nothing to put a spare jack in, costs a lot to add in later.

randidliyo

Those Apple products have built-in condescension mode that won't allow them to work with regular voltage. It needs to be ivoltage, from an iplug, on an iplane. Anything non "i" would be insulting and beneath the level of engineering.

xliioper

Once again, this article goes in to great details on Apple device charging. The USB ports on the 763 are from the days of the iPod and predate the iPhone/iPad. Starting with the iPhone 3GS (and iPad), Apple does not support the older USB SEI standard for charging that is employed by the USB ports on the 763.

c_d

This minus the latter part. A charger, in particular an iCharger, usually doesn't know what to "draw" as the check for "more" would already violate the standard and potentially activate a circuit breaker.

AFAIK this is only for making the device charge at all. Apple is very good in disqualifying otherwise perfectly capable equipment by deliberately deactivating it. A cable is usually just a cable and this very old FW/USB combo cable from the iPod days is technically fit to charge an iPhone 4s or iPad3. What Apple did however is to change the "fingerprint" of the cable by adding resistors so that the dreaded "This equipment is not suitable for charging" (or so) comes up.

The only way of reliable charging is one of those USB battery packs that is pass-through capable. The (pack-)charging end goes into one or more discharging USB ports and the iPad/iPhone. Apple wall plugs often won't work when the high-performance wall plugs were bought. My 4S plug (the tiny one) works like a charm while my quick-charge Macbook Air never works in planes.