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robgendreau

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Jul 13, 2008
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Does anyone have a recommendation for an external battery pack for a MBP 16" running the current system?

I almost bought one from RAVpower (20000), but upon contacting them found it only worked on an earlier system.

I'm looking for something that meets the USB PD spec, because I have to use it with a camera that requires that spec.

TIA
 
good luck if you find one that puts out more than 30 watts and is allowed on an airplane. There's plenty of USB PD 26000mah or smaller that is allowed on flights, but they don't put out more than 30watts.
You really need 60 watts to be able to use and charge the macbook pro 16, even then you can't do anything intensive

There's some giant batteries that will work, but they're bulky expensive and can't be brought on a flight.
 
I have this one which outputs 45W and it will slowly charge my MBP 16"! I don't know about the legality of taking it on a plane though.

 
I don't care about flying (the COVID would probably kill me before the battery fire would...sigh). But you can carry up to a 100Wh lion battery in carryon. I'm not entirely sure about what the nominal voltage is of that PowerCore cited above, but I think 3.6, the cell voltage, hence under 100Wh. Barely. So the same for a 30W or 45W output port (it's the cells that matter, not what voltage can be output from the ports).

And there are tons of USB-PD batteries out there, 30-45W, usually about 10mAh to 26ish. Just wondering about the best ones. I can live with the lower charging (obviously...otherwise I'd use the wall).

And thanks for the info on that PowerCore+...it's confusing since they seem to have both a 45W and 30W now. I'll probably go with the Anker; had good experience with them previously.
 
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I’ve been using the Zendure SuperTank since their kickstarter release and I’ve had no complaints. I‘ve taken it on my carryon bag a handful of times without any issues.

 
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Thanks for the tip on the Zendure.

It's really frustrating looking at these, as the manufacturer's are often kind of dodgy with specs. Like for USB PD; some provide different amperage at the different voltages, and I need at least 30W. Some only seem to do the minimum 27W per the spec at 15v say. And some (RAVPower) while having good specs won't work with the current macOS per RAVPower. Sometimes they just add up the wattage of more than one port. And frankly if they make me dive into the depths of their websites to find the info, fergeddaboutit.

The one that does seem to be upfront, and that's even recommended by my camera manufacturer, the 45W 26800 Anker PowerCore+, is unavailable now.
 
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I just received the Zendure Supertank Pro, and started trying it out with the MBP 16".


Yes it can charge the MBP 16" at 100W!

A great feature is that you can see the power output being delivered on the display.

What would be even better is if there was pass through charging with the MBP, though that may not be technically possible. (It will pass through charge e.g. an iPad Pro).
 
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