Upgrade the charging brick? Or no?

[rmadsen3]

Hey, readers. Not long from now I'm going to place order for laptop. It'll be MBP not MBA but I make the post in this subforum because it seems to me there's more eyeballs here than in the MBP subforum. 😁

I know nothing about electricity. Nonetheless, I'm tempted to upgrade the charging brick -- from 67W to 96W. Is this a good idea? A bad idea? Is 'faster charging' the only benefit? Is 'shortened lifespan' the only drawback?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Technerd108]

Hey, readers. Not long from now I'm going to place order for laptop. It'll be MBP not MBA but I make the post in this subforum because it seems to me there's more eyeballs here than in the MBP subforum. 😁

I know nothing about electricity. Nonetheless, I'm tempted to upgrade the charging brick -- from 67W to 96W. Is this a good idea? A bad idea? Is 'faster charging' the only benefit? Is 'shortened lifespan' the only drawback?

Thanks in advance!

I will always get the faster charger.

I don’t think there are any drawbacks really with modern lithium ion batteries.

The most important thing is how you charge the batteries in your laptop.

You want to cycle the batteries not leaving them plugged in all the time. You want to charge to about 80% and let them drain in normal use to about 20%.

Keeping a battery at 100% all the time degrades the lifespan as will draining to zero all the time.

I would use the optimized charging setting in the system preferences under battery.

The only caveat with fast charging is in a very hot environment fast charging could cause damage because the batteries get warm while fast charging and would have no way to dissipate the heat.

 

[Isamilis]

Hey, readers. Not long from now I'm going to place order for laptop. It'll be MBP not MBA but I make the post in this subforum because it seems to me there's more eyeballs here than in the MBP subforum. 😁

I know nothing about electricity. Nonetheless, I'm tempted to upgrade the charging brick -- from 67W to 96W. Is this a good idea? A bad idea? Is 'faster charging' the only benefit? Is 'shortened lifespan' the only drawback?

Thanks in advance!

Not answering your question. But, the new MBA has 15-18 hrs battery life in single charge, which in practice, you may need to charge it once every 2-3 days only; if so, why bothered with faster charging?

 

[Misheemee]

Hey, readers. Not long from now I'm going to place order for laptop. It'll be MBP not MBA but I make the post in this subforum because it seems to me there's more eyeballs here than in the MBP subforum. 😁

I know nothing about electricity. Nonetheless, I'm tempted to upgrade the charging brick -- from 67W to 96W. Is this a good idea? A bad idea? Is 'faster charging' the only benefit? Is 'shortened lifespan' the only drawback?

Thanks in advance!

I have both chargers for my MBP 14 and my M1 MBA, and I usually reach for the 96W. It's also a lifesaver for charging my iPhone when I want to get out the door quickly

 

[ignatius345]

Not answering your question. But, the new MBA has 15-18 hrs battery life in single charge, which in practice, you may need to charge it once every 2-3 days only; if so, why bothered with faster charging?

I find I'm charging my M1 Air so much less frequently than I did my last Intel Air that I can charge it more when it's convenient for me -- overnight or during longer periods when I'm not using it. Since charging is so much less often an emergency it doesn't matter as much to me how long it takes.