How many watts does the M1 MacBook really need?

[deeddawg]

Interested in discussion, in case I would recharge an M1 MBA on the go with a power solar system which output should I need from the solar panel on the USB-C port? Thanks!

Whatever your time and budget allows. These will use up to a 30 watt supply*, and will charge more slowly from lower wattage supplies.

Not sure of your specific circumstance, but consider whether a USBC power bank might be a simpler solution

* I forget if the MBA will charge at a slightly higher than 30W
level.

 

[Internaut]

According to notebookcheck, average power consumption under load of the M1 MBP is around 30 watts, maximal power consumption is around 50 watts. This is for the entire laptop. Overall, I'd say that 61W charger is plenty for the laptop with some external devices connected.

my M1 MBA came with the 30W charger and I have tested that with the Caldigit Soho. However, I've also bought an Anker 61W charger and that works very nicely. Doesn't the MBP come with 60W charger? That will be more than adequate.

 

[JoshMTL]

got this cable that shows the wattage when charging.
I would normally hit between 38 to 42 watts.

But just today, i noticed it reached 50watts...
Hopefully apple can increase the charging speed to 60-80watts one day...

 

[pshufd]

My Caldigit Soho USB-C dock arrives tomorrow.

Like any bus-powered dock, it will eat a portion of the power supplied by Apple's charger - before sending the rest to the MacBook via Power Delivery.

Can I assume that Apple's 61W charger offers enough headroom to power the M1 MacBook Pro AND a few hard drives + webcam?

Otherwise, it seems that any dock owner has to buy a new, bigger, power supply.

I recently bought a wall power meter and it was about $13. If you're curious, you could try one of these or borrow one for a friend. I need to test out my M1 Pro Macbook Pro on this.

 

[pshufd]

I just tested my M1 Pro MacBook Pro with the power meter and it used 9-11 watts watching a full-screen YouTube video and some casual web browsing. The battery was already fully charged so this was the draw from the wall from the power brick (140 Watt Apple brick).