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Power Bank Suggestion?

Sovon Halder

Sovon Halder

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Dec 3, 2016
563
181
India
Looking around to pick a high capacity power bank. I want to be able to charge iPhone, AirPods and in necessary cases my 2017 13" MacbookPro TB. My priority is to spend as less time as possible charging and as few cables/adapters carrying.

I'm looking at 26800mAh from Ravpower & Anker which I carry in flight travel. But there are just too many variations. Found that, 2.4amp input over USB micro-B would take ~10 hours to charge the battery-bank itself, also another wall adapter to carry. So want to go usb-c route so I can use Apple's 61W adapter to charge the bank which might draw 30w and be full in ~4hours.

But the models with a USB-C PD doesn't seem to have Qualcom QuickCharge 3, so not sure whether it would be a bad move to go for a usb-c pd model when it won't be able to deliver full wattage to the macbook pro anyway.

And this https://www.anker.com/uk/products/variant/PowerCore-26800mAh-USB-C/A1375011 I can't find in their product listing, so donno if there is a defect or anything why it's removed.

Any suggestions / tips ?
 
The first one is of lesser capacity, now that I know that there are way more juice I can carry in flight.

But man, the second one looks interesting. But it's gigantic and with a separate adapter AND a brick! It would be too bulky for my daily travel. Besides I have no need for such a large device with AC wall adapter.

I'm looking at these two --

PowerCore+ 26800mAh PD https://www.anker.com/uk/products/variant/PowerCore-26800mAh-USB-C/A1375011

RAVPower 26800mAh PD https://www.ravpower.com/26800mah-Type-C-external-battery-charger-black.html

I would have bought Anker since it's a better design and a bit smaller. But Neither of them are available in India with retail price. :(
 
The Anker is HUGE and heavy! I narrowed it down to the RavPower and the Mophie as per my link. The RavPower (your link) will NOT charge a MacBook Pro! ... In the end I purchased the Mophie in the Apple store as its smaller and lighter than the RavPower as per my link and charges my MacBook Pro 2017 with TB perfectly! Admittedly you get an extra USB slot on the RavPower but I didn't need it. Let me know which one you go for and your experience.
 
Sure. Read the description of the product as per your Amazon link carefully and you'll see it stated there in the product description. Also the new MBP's 2016 & 2017 need 61W power (as per Apple). The RavPower in your link max is 30w.

Cheers
Marc
 
Marc_S said:
Sure. Read the description of the product as per your Amazon link carefully and you'll see it stated there in the product description. Also the new MBP's 2016 & 2017 need 61W power (as per Apple). The RavPower in your link max is 30w.

Cheers
Marc
Click to expand...
I think there is been a mistake somewhere. None of my links are of Amazon. Regardless, if you are referring to the amazon product description of the Ravpower bank I linked, I think there is a mistake again somewhere.

It's either you mean to say something different by saying 'The RavPower (your link) will NOT charge a MacBook Pro!' OR maybe you have got the concepts wrong. I don't mean to be rude by any means and please correct me if I am wrong.

In any case, the 30W output of USB-C charges the macbook pros, just not as fast as 61w/87w adapters. Mophie, Ravpower, Anker all of these has same 30W output via the USB-C PD and they all charge macbook pros at a slower rate.

Can anybody else shed some light on these ?
 
Hi Savon, no problem, no offence just trying to help. Sorry if I misunderstood your requirements. I was referring to the links in your original post and referencing the ability for these powerbanks you refer to charge the MBP. On the Anker page it says clearly that this 26800mAh will not charge MBP's.

The RavPower link you posted says nothing about MBP's only MB's and I remember researching this so I went to the Amazon UK site where it is clearly stated it does not charge MBP's. so not me saying this.

Anyway, lets see if anyone else has opinions or experience.
 
Yes, neither Anker nor Ravpower on their product page mentions that these can charge Macbook Pros. Their marketing material only includes Macbooks because it can output 30W max which is same as the original power adapter supplied by Apple with the Macbook.

But these power banks CAN charge macbook pros, just slowly. You can see there are many videos on youtube. Also if you search the community answer section of Amazon's page, you'll see that people often use these to charge their fully spec'ed out 15".
 
Oh I didn't think 30w powerbanks were able to charge MBP's at all. The Mophie I purchased charged my MBP from 5% to 100% in under 1.5 hrs approx. What did your research say about how long would it take to charge a 13 inch 2017 MBP with a 30W powerbank?
 
I googled "anker 26800 macbook pro 13" and in the first result - http://community.anker.com/t/powercore-26800-pd-not-charging-macbook-pro-13-2016/54628/8 directly from AnkerSupport:

"Please be assured that this PowerCore+ 26800 PD should charge your Macbook Pro 13’ just fine though at slower rate than the Apple supplied charger, as it only outputs 30W max. According to our engineers’ test, it will take about 3 hours for the mac to be fully recharged by the PowerCore+ 26800 PD."
 
Cool. I was willing to pay a bit more for the luxury of fast USB C to USB C MBP charging in a compact device which I can take on an aircraft. Here's are some photos giving you an indication of the size of my Mophie battery. Nice talking to you and good luck with your whatever is your choice :)
 

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Thanks for the photos.

Only if I could buy on of these. My country, India charges around 45% of import duty on power banks. Combine that along with product price AND shipping charges. In Amazon India, the importers are selling the 119USD Anker PD power bank at 17000INR (roughly 265USD).

EVERY TIME this happens; whenever I try to purchase something, it ends up being not available in my country. :(
 
I just bought the Anker Powercore+ with PD. I bought it to charge my laptop, iPhone and iPad. While its a little on the larger side its very portable for everyday carry in a back. I went out of town for a couple of days and didnt bring any chargers with me other than the Anker. I was able to charge my 13" MBP once, iPad Pro 9.7 once and iPhone 8 Plus three times and still had 20 percent left on the Anker. That alone was well worth the price and weight of the battery.
 
satinsilverem2 said:
I just bought the Anker Powercore+ with PD. I bought it to charge my laptop, iPhone and iPad. While its a little on the larger side its very portable for everyday carry in a back. I went out of town for a couple of days and didnt bring any chargers with me other than the Anker. I was able to charge my 13" MBP once, iPad Pro 9.7 once and iPhone 8 Plus three times and still had 20 percent left on the Anker. That alone was well worth the price and weight of the battery.
Click to expand...
You chose a great option because in all the review forums that I've seen, the recommendation is for Anker; though a bit pricy, it's 'quality' is best in the market. Which one(capacity) did you buy and where did you buy it from and for how much?

The standalone charger seems to be unavailable in Amazon for a while now. Also it's not listed in the Anker website. It's strange why they removed it barely a year after releasing it. Did you notice ?
 
I bought the one with the wall charger it was a package. It could just be OoS, I got it on Black Friday when it was discounted so they could have sold out of them for a minute.
 
That is just crazy (from my perspective). 86$.

Here I am bargaining for the same product with the seller whose listing price is 17000INR i.e roughly 260$

Pathetic!
 
I am interested in a Power Bank myself. I looking to charge iPhones, iPads and related devices. I am not looking to charge my Macbook Air though. I am looking for a Power Bank with multiple ports that I can charge two or more devices at once. I would like a Power Bank that is portable and I can carry it in my backpack. I would use it for emergency purposes if I don't have a cable or available outlet.
 
If you don't need USB PD, get the Anker 26800mAh WIth Quick Charge 3.0 battery. It's excellent I've read, best in it's class.
 
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Wow. These are interesting; specially the Omni 20 USB-C one.

I just have to figure something out to get them to India.
 
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