Do M1 MacBook Air's only charge with included apple cable?

[Wordsmithmac]

Hello,

My M1 MacBook only charges with the included charging cable and mini brick, I tried another usb-c cable and it won't charge, tried a different brick and cable same thing, my desk at work has an integrated usb-c slot and again it won't charge with anything but the included cable and brick. The apple cable is kind of short the new ones I have are longer and seem stronger. I like leaving a cable at work and don't want to carry the included cable and mini brick everywhere.
Are there any third party options or is there something I can change in settings?

 

[chrfr]

Hello,

My M1 MacBook only charges with the included charging cable and mini brick, I tried another usb-c cable and it won't charge, tried a different brick and cable same thing, my desk at work has an integrated usb-c slot and again it won't charge with anything but the included cable and brick. The apple cable is kind of short the new ones I have are longer and seem stronger. I like leaving a cable at work and don't want to carry the included cable and mini brick everywhere.
Are there any third party options or is there something I can change in settings?

You can use all kinds of cables to charge, but they need to support charging. Unfortunately the USB-C cable situation is an unmitigated disaster. If you get a cable from a company like Anker, that'll work fine, as would another of the Apple cables.
Apple's cables are 2m long; how long of a cable are you using?

 

[Wordsmithmac]

You can use all kinds of cables to charge, but they need to support charging. Unfortunately the USB-C cable situation is an unmitigated disaster. If you get a cable from a company like Anker, that'll work fine, as would another of the Apple cables.
Apple's cables are 2m long; how long of a cable are you using?

Thank you for the reply.

I was using the apple one but I found a longer cable so I can move around a bit more when charging but also using a dock with more ports data transfer worked but charging never did. However, I found a solution to the charging issue just now found a third party usb-c brick that works with the longer cable I have so I don't need to travel with the apple branded ones or not use my dock like I wanted but still confused why it won't charge with my work desk usb-c slot.
I think I solved the problem outside of the work desk issue but if need be I'll use the third party solution.

 

[darngooddesign]

You can use this extension cord with the Apple bricks. No reason to pay full price, they have been around for a very long time, just grab one off eBay.

 

[wyrdness]

I haven't had any issues charging my M1 Air with any USB cable or charger. It's fine with the official Apple one, or with USB power banks, or from usb-c external monitors. It even charged (slowly) with from USB-3, using a USB-3 to USB-C cable.

 

[darngooddesign]

I can even use the USB-C charger that my work Thinkpad uses.

 

[w5jck]

As long as the USB-C cable and hubs/docks (if used) support PD (power delivery), then it should work. The key is to have a USB-C cable that supports PD. I use an Anker 555 USB-C hub which passes PD to my MacBook Air M1, and that works fine.

 

[Y_B_S]

Any USB-C will work.

 

[tmoerel]

Any USB-C will work.

Sorry this is wrong!! There are many many different types of USB-C cables. They might all look the same but internally they can be very different.
To properly charge a mac via USB-C make sure to get a cable of a reputable brand which is rated for USB fast charging (PD standard) and can deliver at least 100W. These cables are rated to deliver this power and have the right electronics inside.
There are many Chinese made cheap unbranded (or even worse, fake branded) cables that take shortcuts and do not have the right hardware for the rated power. These cables either will not charge, charge too slowly, or even worse, catch fire!!
Please do not save a few dollars on a power cable. Your life might literally depend on it!