Charging MacBooks - PD vs non-PD chargers. Eaton says M2 MBAs are not compatible with 15 W non-PD chargers. Some tests inside (but not with MBA).

[EugW]

We built a new kitchen, and part of the renovation included a little nook for a computer and iPads, etc. I specified that the electrical receptacle support USB-C x 2, but the brand (Eaton) that my electrician wanted to use does not support Power Delivery. So, it maxes out at 15 Watts, at 5 volts 3 amps for a single port.

When I plug a single iPhone 12 Pro Max into it, it charges at around 10-12 Watts. And iPad 9 charges at a little over 12 Watts. A 2017 MacBook charges at a little over 14 Watts. As mentioned, the only voltage supported is 5 V.

Do the Apple Silicon M1/M2/M3 MacBook Airs support USB-C 5 V 3 A for 15 Watt charging? I know it would be slow, but I was looking for confirmation it actually works at the full 15 Watts. I read online that some people have only been able to get 5 Watts out of some third party 12 Watt chargers with the M1 MacBook Air.

EDIT:

Eaton is now selling Power Delivery USB-C outlets. It says that their non-PD outlet is not compatible with the M2 MacBook Air. See my post below for details:

Charging MacBooks - PD vs non-PD chargers. Eaton says M2 MBAs are not compatible with 15 W chargers

That 15 W (5 V x 3 A) Eaton USB-C outlet can maintain the charge on my 12" MacBook for the most part, but during usage it won't increase charge. A 30 Watt Leviton USB-C outlet with Power Delivery works much, much better. I've tested a bunch of different products now, with different chargers...

forums.macrumors.com

 

[StoneJack]

yes it charges from anything

 

[FreakinEurekan]

"Probably" it'll be fine. And of course it's simple enough to replace if you end up needing more power.

 

[EugW]

yes it charges from anything

"Probably" it'll be fine. And of course it's simple enough to replace if you end up needing more power.

Hope you are right. The reports of 12 watt (5 volts) chargers only charging at 5 watts was concerning. It seemed the MacBook Air wouldn't draw more than 1 amp at 5 volts with these chargers.

I wonder how much power the MacBook Airs need just to maintain the charge during usage. If it actually works at 5 V 3 A and 15 Watts is enough, then that would be OK, since in that nook it would be plugged in much of the time anyway.

 

[EugW]

According to this post, the M1 MacBook Air can only charge at 5 V 1.4 A from a 5 V 2.1 A (10.5 W) charger tested. That works out to only 7 Watts. Ouch.

"Yes, I can confirm it works for MBA 2020 M1. From regular 10W (5V@2.1A) USB port it takes 1.4A. It's enough to very slowly charge it while watching FullHD video. Even with 5W port MacBook takes 0.9A and a battery is discharging just 0.2W while watching YouTube over WiFi with two steps from minimum brightness."

I don't know which charger that was though, but it sounds like it could be the old iPad 10 Watt charger.

 

[StoneJack]

According to this post, the M1 MacBook Air can only charge at 5 V 1.4 A from a 5 V 2.1 A (10.5 W) charger tested. That works out to only 7 Watts. Ouch.

"Yes, I can confirm it works for MBA 2020 M1. From regular 10W (5V@2.1A) USB port it takes 1.4A. It's enough to very slowly charge it while watching FullHD video. Even with 5W port MacBook takes 0.9A and a battery is discharging just 0.2W while watching YouTube over WiFi with two steps from minimum brightness."

I don't know which charger that was though, but it sounds like it could be the old iPad 10 Watt charger.

yes it will charge even from that one. I tried successfully GaN 67, 100W chargers, all is fine (and of course original Apple chargers, some for iPads mini or Air5). It can charge from a powerbank too.

 

[FreakinEurekan]

There are two ways to look at it.

1. Will anything be damaged? No, it’s perfectly safe.
2. Will it charge fast enough or maintain battery level with your normal usage? That’s not as clear, and it’s a bit of a subjective metric. Try it & see. Worst case, you led to replace the outlet which takes about 10 minutes.

 

[EugW]

There are two ways to look at it.

1. Will anything be damaged? No, it’s perfectly safe.
2. Will it charge fast enough or maintain battery level with your normal usage? That’s not as clear, and it’s a bit of a subjective metric. Try it & see. Worst case, you led to replace the outlet which takes about 10 minutes.

That 15 W (5 V x 3 A) Eaton USB-C outlet can maintain the charge on my 12" MacBook for the most part, but during usage it won't increase charge. A 30 Watt Leviton USB-C outlet with Power Delivery works much, much better.

I've tested a bunch of different products now, with different chargers:

The charge level in the table is the percentage charged when I started the test. I didn't do charge time measurements, just volts, amps, watts. I wanted to make sure the charging was below 80% since some products may want to reduce the charging speed / wattage when over 80% charged.

Leviton T5835 - Dual USB-C with up to 30 W, single or dual port shared. PD supported.
Eaton TRUSBC15 - Dual USB-C with up to 15 W single port or 15+10 W dual port. PD not supported.
Anker Powerport III - 20 W single USB-C charger. PD supported. Of the two I bought, one died in a couple of years with minimal usage.
Apple A1540 - 29 W single USB-C charger. PD supported. (It has been discontinued.)
Apple A2305 - 20 W single USB-C charger. PD supported.

The three iPads were all tested with an OEM Apple USB-C to Lightning cable.
The MacBook is native USB-C with a Spigen Thunderbolt 4 / USB4 cable, but the Apple USB-C charging cable gave similar results.

The most interesting result for me was the Apple A2305 charger with my 12" MacBook. It only charged at 12 Watts. I believe it's because the charger only supports 5 V and 9 V, whereas that old MacBook only supports 5 V and 14.5-15 V.

BTW, back when I was looking at these USB-C outlets, none of the Eaton ones supported Power Delivery. The Leviton ones did, but the 60 W version was not compatible with the Apple HomePod. My electrician preferred Eaton, so we got the non-PD Eaton TRUSBC15. However, he was unable to source the Eaton TRUSBC20 for our 20 A kitchen circuits so we switched to the Leviton T5835 30 W Power Delivery model, and these are better for MacBooks.

I've also noticed that now Eaton has just released PD models this year, which start (and end) at 60 W. None of my local retailers and electrical supply store actually carry them, but I called Eaton and they said they have limited stock of it now so they can now be ordered through some electrical supply stores. I don't actually need one right now, but I'm tempted to pick up a TRUSBPDC (dual USB-C) for testing.

Interestingly they specifically indicate in their brochure the non-PD 15 W (5 V 3 A) version is not compatible with the M2 MacBook Air. I suspect it is indeed compatible, but just way, way too slow.

 

[EugW]

That 15 W (5 V x 3 A) Eaton USB-C outlet can maintain the charge on my 12" MacBook for the most part, but during usage it won't increase charge. A 30 Watt Leviton USB-C outlet with Power Delivery works much, much better.

It depends on what I'm doing though. If I'm just surfing MacNN and occasionally looking at Photos, it will charge at approx. 1% every 5 mins or so.