30W charger for 13" MBP (2018)

[pasadena]

Hello!

I just got my 13" MBP 2018 with TB, with its 61W charger, which I find very bulky and heavy.

Does anyone know if the 30W USB-C charger from Apple, with an USB-C cable from Apple (same one as the one that comes with the MBP, so rated for the 61W charger) would be enough to slowly charge it while sleeping, and maintain the charge while doing light work on the computer?

I would use it mostly when travelling (in the plane, with the 61W one in my checked-in luggage), so wifi off, bluetooth on, watching videos or doing office-type work.

 

[strukt]

It should work fine, but it may be slow.

 

[pasadena]

It should work fine, but it may be slow.

Yes, I don't mind that, as long as it can maintain the charge under low-ish load for the duration of an international flight with layovers.

 

[New_Mac_Smell]

Yes, I don't mind that, as long as it can maintain the charge under low-ish load for the duration of an international flight with layovers.

It will probably struggle to maintain a charge, however it will easily slow down the discharge. It's got a 10 hour battery life, if you're just using it for light tasks it should be fine without the charger - so adding one should be fine. I'm not convinced there's a great deal of difference in bulk between the chargers, by the time you add the cable and stuff.

I've used the 30w charger for my 15" and it does still drain but helps.

 

[Honza1]

I use similarly sized Anker (I think it is 36W) when I travel to charge/maintain my 15inch high end MBP. It charges over night and keeps charge when doing light work. When need more power, batteries help, so overall, it works just fine. Only problem is that when I play music, there seems to be some hum from the power source, Apple power sources are better filtered.

 

[Trey M]

As others have stated, it should be fine and especially if you’re just performing light tasks (email, Word, etc) it may actually not be so bad.

I would refrain from doing it on an extremely frequent basis, as slower charging will actually cause more stress on the battery, but if it’s an occasional thing I’d be all for it.

 

[BigMcGuire]

I use similarly sized Anker (I think it is 36W) when I travel to charge/maintain my 15inch high end MBP. It charges over night and keeps charge when doing light work. When need more power, batteries help, so overall, it works just fine. Only problem is that when I play music, there seems to be some hum from the power source, Apple power sources are better filtered.

I second this. I have several Anker 30w USB C chargers throughout the house. We take these (my wife and I both have 2017 MBP 13' TB laptops) whenever we go out on a trip.

They do manage to keep the laptops charged especially if idling or doing something like watching Youtube and reading webpages. However, if you're doing something incredibly CPU intensive, your battery will drain. They also charge really slow and are not built as well as Apple power supplies.

I bought an 87W Apple charger and WOW does that thing fly - wife and I use this if we need to charge our laptops quickly. Otherwise we just use our stock Apple Chargers or the Anker chargers. I have a dedicated Anker 30w at work that I use. Been working fine for 2 months.

 

[newellj]

Found this thread looking for confirmation that a 13" rMBP (2018) will be fine on a 30W charger. I have been A/B testing the 61W charger and a 30W charger from a rMBA. They're charging at the same rates (running from ~18-22W), according to Coconut Battery.