Apple's 67W Power Adapter Unable to Fast Charge 14-Inch MacBook Pro

[Spectrum]

I would like to know too

Heck, I wonder if something like the Anker Nano II 45-watt USB-C charger will cut it for the lower-end 14" MBP...

I don't see why not - but it could depend on your usage. In general, it should just charge a bit more slowly. I think it is unlikely that the machine uses >45 Watts during normal usage. These chips are meant to be more efficient than the outgoing Intel machines.
For comparison, my 2020 quad core intel i7 13 inch uses <10 Watts doing simple stuff, and maxes out ~40W under full load:
3.47A * 11.8V = 41 Watts. And this is an extreme, sustained workload. Few users will be doing this kind of high CPU task for long periods of time.

 

[hasansaleem]

Is the 96W adapter compatible with M1 Pro base model?

 

[SFjohn]

Is the 96W adapter compatible with M1 Pro base model?

Seriously doubt it will fast charge, the 14” can’t take as much heat as the 16”. Will it power the 14”, yes, definitely.

 

[anthonyd]

Is the 96W adapter compatible with M1 Pro base model?

Yes - aside from the a build to order option, you can use any higher power charger. It doesn't mean you'll get 96W or 140w, as the laptop will only draw what it needs.

Think of like this, you can connect 2000w heater or a 5w USB charger to the same 120v/240v wall mains outlet. The connected item only pulls the power it needs.

 

[hasansaleem]

T

Yes - aside from the a build to order option, you can use any higher power charger. It doesn't mean you'll get 96W or 140w, as the laptop will only draw what it needs.

Think of like this, you can connect 2000w heater or a 5w USB charger to the same 120v/240v wall mains outlet. The connected item only pulls the power it needs.

Thank you but will it fast charge?

 

[SFjohn]

T


Thank you but will it fast charge?

No. Why would you want to do that to your battery, even if you could?

 

[hasansaleem]

No. Why would you want to do that to your battery, even if you could?

What do you mean? Is fast charging bad for the battery?

 

[SFjohn]

What do you mean? Is fast charging bad for the battery?

When fast charging a battery you’re pumping a lot more energy into a battery, which creates heat in the battery & the computer you’re doing this with. The 14” MBP is not able to dissipate this heat as well as the 16” MBP. I remember reading that Apple did not enable fast charging on the 14” MBP for this reason. If you have a 16” MBP it’s fine as it’s designed to be be able to dissipate all that heat energy.

 

[anthonyd]

14" MBP supports fast charging (I've used it) with an appropriate charger (e.g. 96w or 140w Apple chargers). Theory says it's not great for battery life as it requires careful balancing between cells. Remember fast charging stops when battery charge hits 80%. It's that last 20% where fast charging does most damage, and cells are hardest to equalise.

 

[anshuvorty]

14" MBP supports fast charging (I've used it) with an appropriate charger (e.g. 96w or 140w Apple chargers). Theory says it's not great for battery life as it requires careful balancing between cells. Remember fast charging stops when battery charge hits 80%. It's that last 20% where fast charging does most damage, and cells are hardest to equalise.

So, do you recommend that if you have a 14-inch MBP, that you should just stick to orthodox charging to maintain battery health?

 

[hasansaleem]

When fast charging a battery you’re pumping a lot more energy into a battery, which creates heat in the battery & the computer you’re doing this with. The 14” MBP is not able to dissipate this heat as well as the 16” MBP. I remember reading that Apple did not enable fast charging on the 14” MBP for this reason. If you have a 16” MBP it’s fine as it’s designed to be be able to dissipate all that heat energy.

That was very helpful. Thank you!

 

[flynz4]

My new 14" MBP came with a 96W power adapter. I also have 67W power adapters from previous purchases that charge on both my home and work office setups. I am assuming that the 67W chargers will work OK if I don't care about fast charging (which I don't).

Am I correct? My old 67W USB-C chargers (from my previous MBP) will work fine to slow charge my new 14" M1 Pro MBP which came with a 96W charger.

/Jim

 

[SFjohn]

My new 14" MBP came with a 96W power adapter. I also have 67W power adapters from previous purchases that charge on both my home and work office setups. I am assuming that the 67W chargers will work OK if I don't care about fast charging (which I don't).

Am I correct? My old 67W USB-C chargers (from my previous MBP) will work fine to slow charge my new 14" M1 Pro MBP which came with a 96W charger.

/Jim

Should be perfectly fine, give it a try.

 

[flynz4]

Should be perfectly fine, give it a try.

Thanks… that is my assumption. I just turned on my new MBP this afternoon for the first time, and I am setting it up now. I primarily use the laptop connected to external monitors, keyboards, trackpads, mice etc... and those locations already have the 67W chargers in place. My backpack also has a 67W charger in it for use while traveling. I’m not even sure that I will use the 96W charger if the 67W is sufficient.

I’ll probably set up my MBP for the 80% charging since that will be sufficient for my general use and it will improve long term battery health. I might charge to 100% occasionally such as when I’m on a long international flight… although those have not happened since the pandemic.

After I am all set up with this new machine, I’ll try connecting it to my home office setup. I’ll still be using my old laptop until I configure this new machine to work on my corporate network… so that will be next week sometime.

 

[PinkyMacGodess]

My new 14" MBP came with a 96W power adapter. I also have 67W power adapters from previous purchases that charge on both my home and work office setups. I am assuming that the 67W chargers will work OK if I don't care about fast charging (which I don't).

Am I correct? My old 67W USB-C chargers (from my previous MBP) will work fine to slow charge my new 14" M1 Pro MBP which came with a 96W charger.

/Jim

You may find that the charger is not able to charge the system while it's being used, depending on load. I was using a newer MBP with an older brick, and it was not able to 'charge' while being used, meaning keeping ahead of the usage rate. I think it made it a little warm, but didn't hurt anything. Original air plane charging was also very anemic, and people constantly complained about not being able to charge their devices while they were being used. YMMV.

 

[Roadster Lewis]

I am glad that I did not pay the extra for the upgraded charger. I don't think I have actually used it at all, as just plug into my monitor day to day. And away from my desk the battery seems to last forever.

 

[PinkyMacGodess]

I am glad that I did not pay the extra for the upgraded charger. I don't think I have actually used it at all, as just plug into my monitor day to day. And away from my desk the battery seems to last forever.

I have one I jokingly call the 'Super Brick' that will charge everything I can throw at it. It's a high watt brick, and there are times when, like my iPad Pro goes dead, or my MBP, and I need them for something. I'll plug that bad boy in and get a great charge rate and be back in business in no time, and it has no problem charging while they are being used. So, my bottom line is have at least one 'big brick'. They come in handy some times...

(Random rant: My iPad Mini sure seems to have a short battery life. I was hoping this last ipadOS update might address some of that. I know...)

 

[SactoGuy18]

I have one I jokingly call the 'Super Brick' that will charge everything I can throw at it. It's a high watt brick, and there are times when, like my iPad Pro goes dead, or my MBP, and I need them for something.

So who manufactured that "bad boy"? ?

 

[flynz4]

I am glad that I did not pay the extra for the upgraded charger. I don't think I have actually used it at all, as just plug into my monitor day to day. And away from my desk the battery seems to last forever.

Like You I’ve been using my monitors in my home and work offices to do most of the charging. I have an LG 5K at each place. At home, I have a 2nd older Apple Thunderbolt monitor as well.

My new MBP came with the larger 96W charger, but I haven’t used it yet. For travel (on my first trip now) I have been using my smaller 67W chargers successfully.