MacBook Pro charging options via USB C

[filbert42]

From what I read, my new MacBook M1 14" supports charging via USB C as well as MagSafe. I'd like to explore this as I would like to have a spare charging method and I don't fancy paying Apple's exorbitant price for a second MagSafe cable and charger. I would have thought this would already have been discussed but I can't find anything relevant in here.

What options do I have? The only USB chargers I have are an amp or two, designed for phones. I don't have anything that I think could even keep a laptop ticking over.

Any suggestions???

 

[AZhappyjack]

From what I read, my new MacBook M1 14" supports charging via USB C as well as MagSafe. I'd like to explore this as I would like to have a spare charging method and I don't fancy paying Apple's exorbitant price for a second MagSafe cable and charger. I would have thought this would already have been discussed but I can't find anything relevant in here.

What options do I have? The only USB chargers I have are an amp or two, designed for phones. I don't have anything that I think could even keep a laptop ticking over.

Any suggestions???

There are threads... but since you asked...

I use the Anker 60W PIQ GaN charger
B07PWC32ZD

and the CableCreations 10 foot braided USB-C cable
B01D175HMO

 

[Donsell]

Can't you use any 65-95W PWD USB-C power adapter? I'd buy one from a reputable manufacturer.

 

[JohnnyGo]

From what I read, my new MacBook M1 14" supports charging via USB C as well as MagSafe. I'd like to explore this as I would like to have a spare charging method and I don't fancy paying Apple's exorbitant price for a second MagSafe cable and charger. I would have thought this would already have been discussed but I can't find anything relevant in here.

What options do I have? The only USB chargers I have are an amp or two, designed for phones. I don't have anything that I think could even keep a laptop ticking over.

Any suggestions???

There are very good GaN chargers: powerful and small. Anker, Ugreen and Baseus are reputable names. Amazon or Ebay.

I mainly use 45W chargers with my new MBP 14” but I also have 65w and 100w chargers.

USB C Charger, Anker 45W Ultra-Slim Fast Charger for Travel, PowerPort Atom III 45W Slim Type C Charger, for USB-C Laptops, MacBook, iPhone 11/11 Pro /11 Pro Max/XR/XS/Max,Galaxy, Pixel, iPad and More https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0841J6CMK/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_CVJAE5DK8TF92V526XF3

 

[anthonyd]

You can use any USB based charger provided you have a compatible cable (i.e. USB-C terminated on one end). Meaning you can use a simple 5W USB charger (5v 1A), but you and the laptop will need to be sleeping/shut down for any meaningful charging.

My MBP 14" hovers around 6-15w drain in my normal usage, and 20-30w if on video calls. So for the vast majority of my usage, Apple's 20w charger for iPads or fast charging iPhones would positively charge my laptop over the course of a day.

I personally use a mix of the included 96w charger with MagSafe 3 cable and a Zyron 66w GaN 3-port charger with a USB-C cable. In my usage both are more than adequate, with the GaN charger being used for travel/roaming.

 

[venom600]

Can't you use any 65-95W PWD USB-C power adapter? I'd buy one from a reputable manufacturer.

This. Any charger that supports USB Power Delivery works.

 

[lclev]

I had a 2020 i7 13" MBP with a spare Anker USB-C charger (not sure about model) I keep at work. When I got the 2021 M1 MBP I leave the Apple charger at home and just plugged it into the Anker USB-C charger when I encode video - which sucks the battery down very fast. The USB-C charger works great.

 

[throAU]

From what I read, my new MacBook M1 14" supports charging via USB C as well as MagSafe. I'd like to explore this as I would like to have a spare charging method and I don't fancy paying Apple's exorbitant price for a second MagSafe cable and charger. I would have thought this would already have been discussed but I can't find anything relevant in here.

What options do I have? The only USB chargers I have are an amp or two, designed for phones. I don't have anything that I think could even keep a laptop ticking over.

Any suggestions???

I Regularly charge mine with a 30 watt MacBook Air charger. Given the low power consumption doing basic stuff it will even charge whilst I work if its just web browsers, terminal windows, remote sessions, etc.

 

[filbert42]

I can see I have a raft of new acronyms to learn. PD, GaN, PIQ, and so on. It’s a while since I needed to know anything about chargers.

I find that I do have an 18w charger with PD and a vertical lightning flash by the USB C outlet. That might, from what’s been said above, be enough to charge my MBP overnight - possibly even enough to stop it running down in light use. I don’t have any USB C to USB C cables, though.

Thanks for all the input and I apologise for missing the other threads on this topic. Searching for charging and USB C gives too many hits to comb through and I’ve obviously missed them.

 

[white7561]

I can see I have a raft of new acronyms to learn. PD, GaN, PIQ, and so on. It’s a while since I needed to know anything about chargers.

I find that I do have an 18w charger with PD and a vertical lightning flash by the USB C outlet. That might, from what’s been said above, be enough to charge my MBP overnight - possibly even enough to stop it running down in light use. I don’t have any USB C to USB C cables, though.

Thanks for all the input and I apologise for missing the other threads on this topic. Searching for charging and USB C gives too many hits to comb through and I’ve obviously missed them.

In my use case. On idle or watching local h264 videos. With the brightness at 8 clicks from below . On my MBP 16inch it's usually using about 10w average. I suggest turning off your laptop if you want to charge using 18w i think. To make sure it's not that slow.

 

[bloomberg]

Wanted a 2nd charger but the 140w was out of stock so ended up getting this one for $30. It has good reviews and works well so far.

 

[smirking]

As others have said, any USB-C power source will work. It's just a matter of how well it'll work. These laptops are so power efficient that even a woefully underpowered charger might deliver enough power to keep you going all day.

This was always the case. I have a USB-C battery pack for my 2018 MBP. It only delivers 25W. If I was away from my office and thought I might need every bit of my battery that day, I kept that battery pack plugged in while my laptop power was still at 100%. It couldn't keep pace with the power drain, but it would add enough to slow the drain enough that I could squeeze out another 2 or 3 hours.

 

[throAU]

As others have said, any USB-C power source will work. It's just a matter of how well it'll work. These laptops are so power efficient that even a woefully underpowered charger might deliver enough power to keep you going all day.

Like I said, I'm using an old MacBook Air charger when I'm at work and have my MagSafe charger at home.

It will happily sit basically 100% charged all day doing basic non-3d workload stuff - on a 30 watt charger.

Including driving 2 external displays, time machine backups, etc.

 

[Alameda]

I can see I have a raft of new acronyms to learn. PD, GaN, PIQ, and so on. It’s a while since I needed to know anything about chargers.

I find that I do have an 18w charger with PD and a vertical lightning flash by the USB C outlet. That might, from what’s been said above, be enough to charge my MBP overnight - possibly even enough to stop it running down in light use. I don’t have any USB C to USB C cables, though.

Thanks for all the input and I apologise for missing the other threads on this topic. Searching for charging and USB C gives too many hits to comb through and I’ve obviously missed them.

USBC to USBC cables aren’t all the same. Some are certified for 30 or 40 Gbps Thunderbolt. All are certified for power delivery, but not all are certified for 100 Watt power delivery.

In general, a high speed data cable isn’t going to be a 100 Watt power cable and a 100 Watt power cable won’t deliver high speed data. These two features add cost to the cable, so you usually buy one or the other in the cable.

 

[filbert42]

USBC to USBC cables aren’t all the same. Some are certified for 30 or 40 Gbps Thunderbolt. All are certified for power delivery, but not all are certified for 100 Watt power delivery.

In general, a high speed data cable isn’t going to be a 100 Watt power cable and a 100 Watt power cable won’t deliver high speed data. These two features add cost to the cable, so you usually buy one or the other in the cable.

How to I test a cable to see what it will do? None of the ones I have seem to carry any markings.