The M1 MBP uses so little energy that it can be charged with an 18W iPhone wall charger while it's being used

[mossme89]

Just a small little anecdote on how efficient the M1 MacBook Pro is. Yesterday I used an 18W USB-C wall charger to charge my MacBook Pro while I was using it. In 2 hours of charging with a charger meant for iPhones, I went from 22% to 45%.

My usage level was moderate. I was web browsing and watching YouTube videos and also had Shadow Play active, running via Rosetta 2. Shadow is a cloud gaming app. But the client is much heavier than standard Remote Desktop and quite resource hungry. On my Intel MBP, this level of usage would drain my battery quickly and ramp the fans to 100%. It would also quickly make my laptop too hot for it to sit on exposed skin.

Side note, I've tried to get the M1 MBP's fans to ramp to 100% as a stress test. I've played Universe Sandbox 2, which is a CPU and GPU intensive sandbox game. Even after prolonged use with it running through Rosetta 2, the fans don't ramp past 25-50%. It's nuts.

 

[Merkava_4]

The M1 MacBook Pro runs very cool; which is why I was hoping for a 16-inch version.

 

[EuroChilli]

The M1 MacBook Air runs even cooler ....so, what's cooler than being cool?....

I found this thread while searching for whether or not I can use a Ugreen 18w cigarette usb-c car charger from Amazon to charge my MBA. From what I read, I'm guessing yes. Thing is, when on the road, by the time I need to charge it I will have probably found another mains outlet.

 

[gnasher729]

Just a small little anecdote on how efficient the M1 MacBook Pro is. Yesterday I used an 18W USB-C wall charger to charge my MacBook Pro while I was using it. In 2 hours of charging with a charger meant for iPhones, I went from 22% to 45%.

My usage level was moderate. I was web browsing and watching YouTube videos and also had Shadow Play active, running via Rosetta 2. Shadow is a cloud gaming app. But the client is much heavier than standard Remote Desktop and quite resource hungry. On my Intel MBP, this level of usage would drain my battery quickly and ramp the fans to 100%. It would also quickly make my laptop too hot for it to sit on exposed skin.

Side note, I've tried to get the M1 MBP's fans to ramp to 100% as a stress test. I've played Universe Sandbox 2, which is a CPU and GPU intensive sandbox game. Even after prolonged use with it running through Rosetta 2, the fans don't ramp past 25-50%. It's nuts.

Even if you were not able to charge with 18W, it would mean that if you forget your MBP charger at home and only have your iPhone charger with you, you would be able to use your MBA for a very, very long time.