5 ms·

Removing the charger is a good move, in my opinion. USB-C chargers are everywhere now. Monitors with USB-C or Thunderbolt inputs will charge your laptop, too.

Removing the charger is a good move, in my opinion. USB-C chargers are everywhere now. Monitors with USB-C or Thunderbolt inputs will charge your laptop, too. I bought a monitor that charges over the USB-C cable and I haven’t use the charger that came with the laptop in years because I have a smaller travel charger that I prefer for trips anyway. You don’t have to buy the premium Apple charger and cable. There are many cheap options. I already have a box of powerful USB-C chargers I don’t use. I don’t need yet another one to add to the pile.

SkyPuncher 1y ago
I agree. I currently have 2 or 3 brand spanking new chargers sitting in the orginal Mac box. On the go, I've bought a small GaN with multiple ports. At home, I already have all of my desks wired up with a Usb-c charger.
- semi-extrinsic 1y ago
  Adding to the anecdata, the magsafe charger for my M1 MBP has been used a grand total of two times in five years.
ahmeneeroe-v2 1y ago
The battery is good enough that I often travel with just my phone charger. I can plug the laptop in at night when the slow charge rate isn't a hindrance and be fine with the all day battery life
- jazzyjackson 1y ago
  I was really surprised to find that the MacBook didn't mind charging from the 20W phone brick
  - dijit 1y ago
    it will even charge with the old USB-A brick. Takes like 10 hours and isn't officially supported I think, but it does work.
    - xethos 1y ago
      I would expect it to be backwards-compatible - USB-A charging would be, like you said, slow as hell, but it's still standard USB Nintendo I have no expectations for, but Apple isn't (IMO) that egregiously bad with backwards compatability
leakycap 1y ago
My MacBook M1 Pro w/ 441 cycles started doing a fun thing where if the battery gets under about 50% and you put it to sleep, the ONLY way to power on the device is to use the exact charger it came with. Higher powered Apple Studio Display PD, or even good 3rd party chargers, do not bring it back to life. This occurs even when the battery has 40-60% remaining if the laptop goes to sleep. Had a similar issue with my 2018 MBP Intel - the 86/87 Watt Apple charger was the only thing it would come to life with as the battery aged if the device got too low.
- kmacdough 1y ago
  If it's dead or if it's low? In my experience a low-power charger will revive, you just must wait for it to hit enough SOC since it is effectively starting off the battery. This does take a while, but starting dead on a supply that can't guarantee enough power would be dumb.
  - leakycap 1y ago
    My M1 Pro with 441 battery cycles won't power back on without the Apple charger it came with if I close the lid or put it to sleep and the battery isn't over 60%... something happens and the computer goes into a sleep state where the battery doesn't drain but no charger except the OG brings it back to life. Even a Studio Display, which can provide more power than my M1 Pro can use, won't wake it from this state. Apple wants $300 for a replacement battery so I'll just buy a new MacBook at that price, but the charger situation doesn't bode well for M5 MacBook buyers who wonder why their Mac is dead one day (and they just need the exact charger the system wants, but Apple didn't provide it)
    - ahmeneeroe-v2 1y ago
      >Apple wants $300 for a replacement battery Looks like iFixit shows thinks it's only a "moderate" difficulty replacement and should only cost you $109 https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/MacBook+Pro+14-Inch+2021+Battery+Replacement/150895 https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/MacBook+Pro+14-Inch+2021+Batter...
ksec 1y ago
>USB-C chargers are everywhere now USB-C 15W Chargers may be everywhere, but higher power charger required for MacBook Pro is not. I would have agreed if the devices is using 10W or 20W where you could charge it slightly slower. Not for a 70W to 100W MacBook Pro though.
- kmacdough 1y ago
  I've got several 50+W chargers from other devices (old mbp, soldiering iron, a generic one). If you don't have a high power charger, buy one. Easy enough. But there are plenty of use that don't need another.
  - apparent 1y ago
    I have some 50+W chargers from old devices also. However, they are much, much bigger than the current ones. Doesn't matter for when my computers is plugged at home, but I wouldn't want to travel with it since it's easily 3x the size/weight.
  - al_borland 1y ago
    Every time I’ve gotten rid of an old laptop the charger goes with it. They are a package deal in my book. I actually have very few USB-C chargers. With everyone leaving them out of the box, I don’t happen to have a bunch of them by chance. They took them out of the box before giving time for people to acquire them organically. I never bought a single lightning cable, but almost all my USB-C cables had to be purchased. This is not great, considering how confusing the USB-C spec is. Other than the one that came with my M1 MBP (which I will lose when I sell it), I have had to purchase every charger I have. Not being able to charge a $1,500+ laptop without buying a separate accessory is crazy to me. I’ve also seen many reports over the years comparing Apple chargers to cheap 3rd party ones where there are significant quality differences, to the point of some of the 3rd party ones being dangerous or damaging. I don’t know why Apple would want to open the door to more of that. I assume a lot of people will use a phone charger, then call support or leave bad reviews, because the laptop is losing battery while plugged in. Most people don’t know what kind of charger they need for their laptop. My sister just ordered a MacBook Air a couple weeks ago and called me to help order, and one of the questions was about the charger, because there were options for different chargers, which confused her and had her questioning if one even came with it or if she had to pick one of the options. This is a bad user experience. She’s not a totally clueless user either. She’s not a big techie, but in offices she used to work with, she was the most knowledgeable and was who they called when the server had issues. She also opened up and did pretty major surgery on her old MacBook Air after watching a couple YouTube videos. So I’d say at least 50% of people know less than her on this stuff. Apple positions themselves as the premium product in the market and easy to use for the average user. Not including the basics to charge the internal battery is not premium or easy. I can see it leading to reputational damage.
apparent 1y ago
When I buy a new laptop and sell my old one, I either have to sell the old one with the charger or keep the charger and sell the old one without. I don't actually have a bunch of spare chargers capable of charging a laptop (phone, sure). This is especially true for someone moving up to an MBP from an MBA, which takes less juice.
physicsguy 1y ago
USB-C chargers are everywhere but definitely not at the wattage needed to drive a laptop.

SkyPuncher 1y ago

I agree. I currently have 2 or 3 brand spanking new chargers sitting in the orginal Mac box. On the go, I've bought a small GaN with multiple ports. At home, I already have all of my desks wired up with a Usb-c charger.

semi-extrinsic 1y ago
Adding to the anecdata, the magsafe charger for my M1 MBP has been used a grand total of two times in five years.

ahmeneeroe-v2 1y ago

The battery is good enough that I often travel with just my phone charger. I can plug the laptop in at night when the slow charge rate isn't a hindrance and be fine with the all day battery life

jazzyjackson 1y ago
I was really surprised to find that the MacBook didn't mind charging from the 20W phone brick
- dijit 1y ago
  it will even charge with the old USB-A brick. Takes like 10 hours and isn't officially supported I think, but it does work.
  - xethos 1y ago
    I would expect it to be backwards-compatible - USB-A charging would be, like you said, slow as hell, but it's still standard USB Nintendo I have no expectations for, but Apple isn't (IMO) that egregiously bad with backwards compatability

leakycap 1y ago

My MacBook M1 Pro w/ 441 cycles started doing a fun thing where if the battery gets under about 50% and you put it to sleep, the ONLY way to power on the device is to use the exact charger it came with. Higher powered Apple Studio Display PD, or even good 3rd party chargers, do not bring it back to life. This occurs even when the battery has 40-60% remaining if the laptop goes to sleep. Had a similar issue with my 2018 MBP Intel - the 86/87 Watt Apple charger was the only thing it would come to life with as the battery aged if the device got too low.

kmacdough 1y ago
If it's dead or if it's low? In my experience a low-power charger will revive, you just must wait for it to hit enough SOC since it is effectively starting off the battery. This does take a while, but starting dead on a supply that can't guarantee enough power would be dumb.
- leakycap 1y ago
  My M1 Pro with 441 battery cycles won't power back on without the Apple charger it came with if I close the lid or put it to sleep and the battery isn't over 60%... something happens and the computer goes into a sleep state where the battery doesn't drain but no charger except the OG brings it back to life. Even a Studio Display, which can provide more power than my M1 Pro can use, won't wake it from this state. Apple wants $300 for a replacement battery so I'll just buy a new MacBook at that price, but the charger situation doesn't bode well for M5 MacBook buyers who wonder why their Mac is dead one day (and they just need the exact charger the system wants, but Apple didn't provide it)
  - ahmeneeroe-v2 1y ago
    >Apple wants $300 for a replacement battery Looks like iFixit shows thinks it's only a "moderate" difficulty replacement and should only cost you $109 https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/MacBook+Pro+14-Inch+2021+Battery+Replacement/150895 https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/MacBook+Pro+14-Inch+2021+Batter...

ksec 1y ago

>USB-C chargers are everywhere now USB-C 15W Chargers may be everywhere, but higher power charger required for MacBook Pro is not. I would have agreed if the devices is using 10W or 20W where you could charge it slightly slower. Not for a 70W to 100W MacBook Pro though.

kmacdough 1y ago
I've got several 50+W chargers from other devices (old mbp, soldiering iron, a generic one). If you don't have a high power charger, buy one. Easy enough. But there are plenty of use that don't need another.
- apparent 1y ago
  I have some 50+W chargers from old devices also. However, they are much, much bigger than the current ones. Doesn't matter for when my computers is plugged at home, but I wouldn't want to travel with it since it's easily 3x the size/weight.
- al_borland 1y ago
  Every time I’ve gotten rid of an old laptop the charger goes with it. They are a package deal in my book. I actually have very few USB-C chargers. With everyone leaving them out of the box, I don’t happen to have a bunch of them by chance. They took them out of the box before giving time for people to acquire them organically. I never bought a single lightning cable, but almost all my USB-C cables had to be purchased. This is not great, considering how confusing the USB-C spec is. Other than the one that came with my M1 MBP (which I will lose when I sell it), I have had to purchase every charger I have. Not being able to charge a $1,500+ laptop without buying a separate accessory is crazy to me. I’ve also seen many reports over the years comparing Apple chargers to cheap 3rd party ones where there are significant quality differences, to the point of some of the 3rd party ones being dangerous or damaging. I don’t know why Apple would want to open the door to more of that. I assume a lot of people will use a phone charger, then call support or leave bad reviews, because the laptop is losing battery while plugged in. Most people don’t know what kind of charger they need for their laptop. My sister just ordered a MacBook Air a couple weeks ago and called me to help order, and one of the questions was about the charger, because there were options for different chargers, which confused her and had her questioning if one even came with it or if she had to pick one of the options. This is a bad user experience. She’s not a totally clueless user either. She’s not a big techie, but in offices she used to work with, she was the most knowledgeable and was who they called when the server had issues. She also opened up and did pretty major surgery on her old MacBook Air after watching a couple YouTube videos. So I’d say at least 50% of people know less than her on this stuff. Apple positions themselves as the premium product in the market and easy to use for the average user. Not including the basics to charge the internal battery is not premium or easy. I can see it leading to reputational damage.

apparent 1y ago

When I buy a new laptop and sell my old one, I either have to sell the old one with the charger or keep the charger and sell the old one without. I don't actually have a bunch of spare chargers capable of charging a laptop (phone, sure). This is especially true for someone moving up to an MBP from an MBA, which takes less juice.

physicsguy 1y ago

USB-C chargers are everywhere but definitely not at the wattage needed to drive a laptop.