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Alternative AC Adapter for new MacBook Pro

M

magbarn

macrumors 68030
Oct 25, 2008
2,957
2,253
technoholic said:
How does USB PD work then? Will it only charge with as many watts as it needs based on what is running on the laptop? If so then yeah, it's not bad. Also you get the other 4 USB A ports at 2.4A each
[doublepost=1481561624][/doublepost]The other thing I'm considering in order to cut down what I need to carry with me is the oneadaptr twist+ which attaches to the Apple charger in place of the plug.
Click to expand...
I typed it in wrong, what I meant was that the Anker adapter is reporting 45 available watts for charging/running the laptop. So if charging is using 20 watts, the laptop can allocate up to 25 watts of operation before stopping charging. Another way of looking at it is if you're doing something very intensive with screen at max brightness and you're consuming >45 watts, the macbook will start to dip into the battery. Not sure why Apple doesn't see that the Anker can supply 60 watts... With the Apple adapter you have 60 watts total to play with which is plenty.

Even my wife's rMB 29 watt Apple USb-C charger can charge my 2016 rMBP 15, just not at full speed.
 
T

technoholic

macrumors 6502a
Mar 20, 2016
572
226
magbarn said:
I typed it in wrong, what I meant was that the Anker adapter is reporting 45 available watts for charging/running the laptop. So if charging is using 20 watts, the laptop can allocate up to 25 watts of operation before stopping charging. Another way of looking at it is if you're doing something very intensive with screen at max brightness and you're consuming >45 watts, the macbook will start to dip into the battery. Not sure why Apple doesn't see that the Anker can supply 60 watts... With the Apple adapter you have 60 watts total to play with which is plenty.

Even my wife's rMB 29 watt Apple USb-C charger can charge my 2016 rMBP 15, just not at full speed.
Click to expand...
I believe it's because some of the power is reserved for the non USB PD ports, 45w is available to USB C. Your description makes sense now.
 
BlueRevere

BlueRevere

macrumors member
Original poster
Oct 25, 2016
31
13
F

fanta

macrumors regular
Jun 2, 2011
108
2
fanta said:
I have ordered the Innergie and will report back. Anybody else already using a 3rd Party Charger with this new MBP?
Click to expand...

I now have had the Innergie, which worked fined but swapped it the the Anker because the additional USB ports allow me to get rid of the clutter behind my desk and i looks nicer :) both load fine, i did not notice any much slower loading in my brief use and i did not "measure" the chargin-time by any means. Even if they load slower i dont think it will be a drastic difference.
 
J

jrbd90

macrumors newbie
Jul 1, 2009
22
1
I bought a spare 29W Apple charger and cable.
The 29W charger is almost as small as an ipad charger and fits nicely in my bag with cable.

Charging it at work (without using it) went from 40% - 100% in about two hours.
At least with these smaller batteries there is less time to charge.
 
K

konnyaku

macrumors member
Dec 4, 2016
43
44
I use the 29W Apple USB-C charger for my 15" MBP TB when I'm on the go. It works beautifully.
 
F

fperkins

macrumors newbie
Jul 28, 2008
20
5
This may sound really stupid, but part of my rationalization on getting the LG monitor was that now I would have an "extra" power adapter. :)
 
J

jpma

macrumors 6502
May 31, 2009
254
3
Will using the 15" Mbp 2016 in heavy load with a 29w charger caused the battery to slowing drop instead of just staying idle?

I mean like it uses more power than the charger can supply. Really would like to have a smaller form of charger for my 15" Tmbp too.
 
M

magbarn

macrumors 68030
Oct 25, 2008
2,957
2,253
jpma said:
Will using the 15" Mbp 2016 in heavy load with a 29w charger caused the battery to slowing drop instead of just staying idle?

I mean like it uses more power than the charger can supply. Really would like to have a smaller form of charger for my 15" Tmbp too.
Click to expand...
I assume it'll be the same as the "old days" when I would use my MacBook Air charger with my rmbp 15. If you use more than 45 watts you'll start to drain the battery. Of course the threshold is lower as the rMB charger is even weaker. It'll make a decent charger with the MacBook off as it doesn't really charge much faster than than 40 watts or so.
 
O

osmoses

macrumors newbie
Nov 10, 2016
18
15
Tensakun said:
Has anyone check out this?
http://www.newertech.com/products/nupower-usb-c-power-adapter/

At least for size & price, seems very enticing. Would be interested in hearing about how it actually works in the field.
Click to expand...

I have one. It makes a weird noise that I can hear very clearly when things are quiet. My tbMBP has been crashing nearly every night. Not sure yet if it's the NewerTech adapter, but I've quit using it, so I'll find out.

HOWEVER: I quit using it because this NewerTech adapter KILLED Nathan K's PSU, Oscilloscope and several other things while he was testing it. His assessment of this adapter BEFORE testing was that it was highly questionable. I'd imagine that he's even less sanguine about it now.

https://plus.google.com/102612254593917101378/posts/UUhZvtMfozs?sfc=false
 
Tensakun

Tensakun

macrumors 6502
Jan 21, 2008
337
29
Akashi, Japan
osmoses said:
I have one. It makes a weird noise that I can hear very clearly when things are quiet. My tbMBP has been crashing nearly every night. Not sure yet if it's the NewerTech adapter, but I've quit using it, so I'll find out.

HOWEVER: I quit using it because this NewerTech adapter KILLED Nathan K's PSU, Oscilloscope and several other things while he was testing it. His assessment of this adapter BEFORE testing was that it was highly questionable. I'd imagine that he's even less sanguine about it now.

https://plus.google.com/102612254593917101378/posts/UUhZvtMfozs?sfc=false
Click to expand...

Thanks for the heads-up. Would be interested in hearing whether crashes have stopped or continued after switching back to the stock Apple adapter. But are you sure Nathan K was referring to this product? He seemed to take pains on that page to hide its identity for now.

Wonder why producing a safe, effective and svelte 3rd-party power supply is so problematic. New MBP's electronics are too fickle? Apple implements Thunderbolt in a peculiar way?
 
J

jrs2090

macrumors newbie
Jul 20, 2005
22
1
I've been personally thinking about picking up Apple's 29W (http://d.pr/GLPf) or Google's 22.5W with dual USB-C (http://d.pr/Igr1) as my portable charger. I don't need a 87W brick with and the 60W from Apple isn't worth the investment.

That said I've also been looking at Anker's USB-C + 4 USB-A for my at home office. Maybe that's the best solution out there. http://d.pr/1aPTk

Curious what people are doing for the following:
  • Road Warrior / AV Geek – Perhaps a battery... or a cheap charger than can take a beating
  • Home Office – Functionality matters most here!
  • Coffee Shop – Weight is key focus... enough charge to keep you running!
 
O

osmoses

macrumors newbie
Nov 10, 2016
18
15
Tensakun said:
Thanks for the heads-up. Would be interested in hearing whether crashes have stopped or continued after switching back to the stock Apple adapter. But are you sure Nathan K was referring to this product? He seemed to take pains on that page to hide its identity for now.

Wonder why producing a safe, effective and svelte 3rd-party power supply is so problematic. New MBP's electronics are too fickle? Apple implements Thunderbolt in a peculiar way?
Click to expand...

Pretty sure. If you look at the comments on the post I linked to, there's a photo of the NewerTech adapter, and then a comment by Nathan K saying "This was a first-party name brand peripheral. It is even cited by a Senior Editor at MacWorld. That's why I am trying to be absolutely darn sure I know what exactly how it happened before I name it. But its become clear it is too dangerous to even investigate. It's messing up my test equipment at this point."

He's doing exactly the right thing by making certain of all his facts before making a definitive statement.

But this incident, combined with his initial apprehension about this adapter, makes me very leery. I'd avoid it entirely until something definitive emerges.
 
O

osmoses

macrumors newbie
Nov 10, 2016
18
15
Tensakun said:
Thanks for the heads-up. Would be interested in hearing whether crashes have stopped or continued after switching back to the stock Apple adapter. But are you sure Nathan K was referring to this product? He seemed to take pains on that page to hide its identity for now.

Wonder why producing a safe, effective and svelte 3rd-party power supply is so problematic. New MBP's electronics are too fickle? Apple implements Thunderbolt in a peculiar way?
Click to expand...

It's still too early to be definitive, but after 2 days back on the stock adapter, I've not had crashes overnight, and instances of beach balling are gone. Things are generally better behaved. Here's hoping this continues.

Don't think the problems with smaller high quality adapters are on Apple. I think it's that USB-C power delivery is actually a pretty complex -- and FRAGILE -- spec, and seems to have linked requirements/dependencies on the adapter, the device, and the cable. Combine that with the fact that few entities are implementing it correctly, and here we are.

The other thing at work is that the power circuitry can only get so small before you reach practical limits, either of the circuitry, or of thermal management/heat dispersion.
 
O

osmoses

macrumors newbie
Nov 10, 2016
18
15
Just another follow up. Still no more crashing, and no beach balling on a stock Apple power adapter.

Another thing I noticed with the NewerTech power adapter was that, while plugged in, I would find that I was running on battery, not on AC power. Unplugging and replugging the USB cable would fix it for a while. This was a regular occurrence.

I'm not seeing any recurrence of that issue either.

Still more anecdote than data, but it seems that there's something problematic about the NewerTech adapter.
 
BeyondtheTech

BeyondtheTech

macrumors 68020
Jun 20, 2007
2,146
715
This is not new. I purchased knockoff adapters for my previous MacBooks on Amazon and eBay, and while I first thought I was smart for saving $20-40, it would periodically do odd things like skip to the next track in the middle of a song in iTunes, or the trackpad would act all wonky. The System Profiler will show that it's not a genuine Apple adapter (serial number is a string zeroes), so Apple probably believes it has the right not to act properly.
 
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