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Harmful to charge 2016 MBPtb 15" with 12" MB charger?
- Thread starter tengda
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I don't know if it will actually charge it. If you are risking damaging anything, it would be the charger itself because the computer wants to draw more power than it can provide. It is best to use the proper charger.
It won't, just like using a higher wattage charger on a lower wattage machine will not harm it.
The only issue, as you said, is that it will charge slower. For that matter, depending on what programs you have active on the Mac, it may simply maintain the same charge or only delay battery discharge (battery still goes down, just at a slower rate).
Edit: Sorry, I guess I should clarify that my first statement is directed towards Apple products, as they've built safety measures into their devices. It should not be taken as a blanket statement regarding all electronic devices.
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Yes you can safely use it. It's never a problem to use a lower wattage charger, it just means it will charge slower. However if you were to do the opposite and use a higher wattage charger on a device that isn't meant for it, thats when you may possibly risk doing some damage.
That used to be the case, however this is USB-C we're talking about.
USB-C chargers and laptops negotiate with each other about the exact voltage/current they're going to supply/sink. This can actually change during charging. For example the Google Pixel will first request a high-current/high-voltage and when it gets at 50%, it'll drop to a lower current to make sure the laptop doesn't overheat.