4 ms·

One thing about USB-C PD is that you don't need the 96W charger or even an Apple charger to charge your MacBook. While you may miss out on "fast charging" at ma

One thing about USB-C PD is that you don't need the 96W charger or even an Apple charger to charge your MacBook. While you may miss out on "fast charging" at maximum speed, any USB PD compatible charger will charge your MacBook at the fastest speeds available based on compatibility, automatically. Anker chargers work fairly reliably, are more easily available than Apple chargers (on Amazon etc.) and there are several options for 100W+ PD available.

parker_mountain 4y ago
> you don't need the 96W charger Depending on the workload and model of computer, 96W can absolutely be required, and a lower wattage inadequate. The new PD spec allows for up to 240w, with special cables required.
- mixmastamyk 4y ago
  Yet, not for common workloads and 12+ hours of sleep per night.
- Dylan16807 4y ago
  You can put it into a medium power setting. 96W of drain will use up the maximum-size laptop battery in a single hour. It's not necessary.
  - fnordpiglet 4y ago
    When I play Kerbal Space Program, which runs in mono, it uses the full 96W and doesn’t even charge the battery. Calculating that delta v is that hard.
  - parker_mountain 4y ago
    > 96W of drain will use up the maximum-size laptop battery in a single hour. It's not necessary. When I work in blender, especially in larger scenes, it's necessary. When I play games, it's necessary. When I run a long build in Unity, with a render pipeline stage, and the fans kick on, and I'm maxing out my laptop running 120w+, it's not even adequate. There's a reason the new PD spec goes up to 240w (2.5x 96w), and it's not because they felt like it - playing games absolutely is a workload that requires it. It's not necessary, for you. For those of us who do more than edit text files, it's extremely necessary.
Rebelgecko 4y ago
Unless this changed on newer MacBook, you don't even need USB PD. Even an old school A-to-C cable will work. Granted that's never something I'd want to use since it's incredibly slow, but it was a good backup the time I forgot to pack my 60w Gan charger. IIRC I only got the battery up to about 50% after charging overnight.
martinald 4y ago
Yes, exactly. I know people love to hate on USBC but PD is generally excellent. I've often been in a case where I don't have my macbook charger but my 18W PD phone charger can keep my macbook going (and actually charge it quite slowly overnight).
brundolf 4y ago
One time I had my macbook pro plugged in, and was confused why it was (very slowly) still draining energy An hour or so later I realized I was accidentally using my girlfriend's macbook air charging brick. It couldn't keep up, but it was supplying as much energy as it was able to
Symbiote 4y ago
I buy my colleagues two charges: one for portable use, and one that is tidied neatly behind their desk. Since Apple has supported USB-C charging, I buy generic chargers with a cord-brick-cord arrangement, as these are much easier to hide in the cable tray of the desk. They're also about a third of the price, and have proper cable grommets so they last longer.

parker_mountain 4y ago

> you don't need the 96W charger Depending on the workload and model of computer, 96W can absolutely be required, and a lower wattage inadequate. The new PD spec allows for up to 240w, with special cables required.

mixmastamyk 4y ago
Yet, not for common workloads and 12+ hours of sleep per night.
Dylan16807 4y ago
You can put it into a medium power setting. 96W of drain will use up the maximum-size laptop battery in a single hour. It's not necessary.
- fnordpiglet 4y ago
  When I play Kerbal Space Program, which runs in mono, it uses the full 96W and doesn’t even charge the battery. Calculating that delta v is that hard.
- parker_mountain 4y ago
  > 96W of drain will use up the maximum-size laptop battery in a single hour. It's not necessary. When I work in blender, especially in larger scenes, it's necessary. When I play games, it's necessary. When I run a long build in Unity, with a render pipeline stage, and the fans kick on, and I'm maxing out my laptop running 120w+, it's not even adequate. There's a reason the new PD spec goes up to 240w (2.5x 96w), and it's not because they felt like it - playing games absolutely is a workload that requires it. It's not necessary, for you. For those of us who do more than edit text files, it's extremely necessary.

Rebelgecko 4y ago

Unless this changed on newer MacBook, you don't even need USB PD. Even an old school A-to-C cable will work. Granted that's never something I'd want to use since it's incredibly slow, but it was a good backup the time I forgot to pack my 60w Gan charger. IIRC I only got the battery up to about 50% after charging overnight.

martinald 4y ago

Yes, exactly. I know people love to hate on USBC but PD is generally excellent. I've often been in a case where I don't have my macbook charger but my 18W PD phone charger can keep my macbook going (and actually charge it quite slowly overnight).

brundolf 4y ago

One time I had my macbook pro plugged in, and was confused why it was (very slowly) still draining energy An hour or so later I realized I was accidentally using my girlfriend's macbook air charging brick. It couldn't keep up, but it was supplying as much energy as it was able to

Symbiote 4y ago

I buy my colleagues two charges: one for portable use, and one that is tidied neatly behind their desk. Since Apple has supported USB-C charging, I buy generic chargers with a cord-brick-cord arrangement, as these are much easier to hide in the cable tray of the desk. They're also about a third of the price, and have proper cable grommets so they last longer.