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using a MBP charger on my MBA?
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Right, you won´t damage your MBA. The doc you are looking for is the USB-C specification, since this is part of that standard.
Identify your Mac power adapter - Apple Support
Learn which power adapter and cable comes with your Mac laptop and how to check the wattage of a connected power adapter or display.
Ok, this was the sentence I was seeking: “You can use a compatible higher wattage power adapter without issue, but it won't make your computer charge faster or operate differently.”
Thanks for the link!
...also interesting about the cable grade playing a role in all this!
Thanks for the link!
...also interesting about the cable grade playing a role in all this!
Actually using a higher wattage charger will allow the Macbook Air 2020 to charge faster.
I've a RavPower 61w PD charger and a ugreen 100W usb-c cable
Using coconut-batter app, I've seen it showing a charging wattage of 36W
And using a usb-c power measuring dongle I can see 47w apparently (same kind Louis Grossman uses).
This review from the Guardian also seen improved charging speeds from a higher wattage charger
www.theguardian.com
I've a RavPower 61w PD charger and a ugreen 100W usb-c cable
Using coconut-batter app, I've seen it showing a charging wattage of 36W
And using a usb-c power measuring dongle I can see 47w apparently (same kind Louis Grossman uses).
This review from the Guardian also seen improved charging speeds from a higher wattage charger
Apple MacBook Air review: 2020's near-perfect consumer laptop
Updated processors, a price drop and an excellent new keyboard only add to this fantastic traditional laptop
I've always purchased a larger model charger for my MacBooks.
I haven't done this yet for the 2020 air, as I already purchased a previous model MBA charger for my iPad Pro to get fast charge as the iPad Pro was capable of it and the standard 12w charger is borderline to even keep up with heavy use (and thus have two chargers already), but definitely you won't hurt anything.
The MacBook will regulate what it draws and won't draw more than it can handle.
USB-C power delivery is up to ~20V, 5 amps (for ~100 watts) and any USB-C compliant device (e.g. even your smartphone) will plug into and handle any USB-C power delivery device by drawing only the amps it needs.
I haven't done this yet for the 2020 air, as I already purchased a previous model MBA charger for my iPad Pro to get fast charge as the iPad Pro was capable of it and the standard 12w charger is borderline to even keep up with heavy use (and thus have two chargers already), but definitely you won't hurt anything.
The MacBook will regulate what it draws and won't draw more than it can handle.
USB-C power delivery is up to ~20V, 5 amps (for ~100 watts) and any USB-C compliant device (e.g. even your smartphone) will plug into and handle any USB-C power delivery device by drawing only the amps it needs.
This. I find higher wattage chargers far superior to the factory issued one.Actually using a higher wattage charger will allow the Macbook Air 2020 to charge faster.
I've a RavPower 61w PD charger and a ugreen 100W usb-c cable
Using coconut-batter app, I've seen it showing a charging wattage of 36W
And using a usb-c power measuring dongle I can see 47w apparently (same kind Louis Grossman uses).
This review from the Guardian also seen improved charging speeds from a higher wattage charger
Apple MacBook Air review: 2020's near-perfect consumer laptop
Updated processors, a price drop and an excellent new keyboard only add to this fantastic traditional laptop
If for no other reason that number of ports.
I use this at my desk to power my MBA as well as other stuff.
Cable Matters 72W 4-Port USB C Charger (USB C Wall Charger) with 60W Power Delivery for Laptops, Tablets, and Smartphones in Black
The Cable Matters 72W 4-Port USB Charger with 60W USB-C Power Delivery eliminates the need to carry multiple power adapters when traveling. This high-powered charger can power a laptop with USB-C or Thunderbolt 3 up to 60 watts. Three USB-A charging ports provide enough power to charge smartph...
www.amazon.com
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If for no other reason that number of ports.
I use this at my desk to power my MBA as well as other stuff.
Cable Matters 72W 4-Port USB C Charger (USB C Wall Charger) with 60W Power Delivery for Laptops, Tablets, and Smartphones in Black
The Cable Matters 72W 4-Port USB Charger with 60W USB-C Power Delivery eliminates the need to carry multiple power adapters when traveling. This high-powered charger can power a laptop with USB-C or Thunderbolt 3 up to 60 watts. Three USB-A charging ports provide enough power to charge smartph...www.amazon.com
The issue with the factory MBA charger is that there are trivial situations in which it cannot keep up with the wattage used by the machine and you end up with your battery being slowly drained.
Real life example: Zoom meeting with iPad Pro used as a second screen via USB tethered Sidecar => battery drains from 100% to 5% over 4 hours.
This never happens with the aftermarket charger rated at 61W.
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Under what circumstances have you seen a current generation MBA using more than the 30W supplies?
See my example above. I haven't verified the exact power draw in this situation. Maybe I'll do it in the future.
Your example is with an ipad pro which now comes with an 18W charger and used to come with a 12W charger.
I'm not sure that's really directly applicable to the MBA.
We wouldn't want folks rushing out to buy something they don't necessarily need.
Read it again. It's the MBA with a
I'm not sure what your point is. Mine is an example that if you supply power to an iPad Pro that is not hooked to its own power supply, for USB Sidecar tether then the the MBA charger may fall sort. Keep in mind that you cannot just tell the iPad to only pull data but not power through the USB.
Let me remind you that you're the one who recommended an afermarket charger. What I'm saying is that the charger can fail to charge your machine under not so crazy circumstances. I've never ever had this issue with any other Macbook Air or Pro.
I'm not sure what your point is. Mine is an example that if you supply power to an iPad Pro that is not hooked to its own power supply, for USB Sidecar tether then the the MBA charger may fall sort. Keep in mind that you cannot just tell the iPad to only pull data but not power through the USB.
Let me remind you that you're the one who recommended an afermarket charger. What I'm saying is that the charger can fail to charge your machine under not so crazy circumstances. I've never ever had this issue with any other Macbook Air or Pro.
As a general rule with any type of charger, the current/wattage rating on it is how much the charger is CAPABLE of supplying. The device attached to it will only draw as much power as it needs/can use.
With Macs, when I buy a charger I generally buy the highest wattage charger of a given charger type. My reason for this is that I usually have multiple models that take the same charger and I don't want to have to be picky about which I'm grabbing. Also, I've found that the higher wattage chargers often run cooler than the "correctly sized" one when used for a lower powered application. Back in the now ancient history of the Cinema and Thunderbolt displays, the built-in MagSafe charger is specced at 85W even though the displays would work with anything from an MBA all the way up to a 17" MBP.
BTW, you also generally use a lower powered charger to power a computer that calls for a higher wattage one. What you may find, though, is that if you are using the computer it may not charge while you're also using. I've seen 17" MBPs drain when connected to an old 45W MBA charger.
With Macs, when I buy a charger I generally buy the highest wattage charger of a given charger type. My reason for this is that I usually have multiple models that take the same charger and I don't want to have to be picky about which I'm grabbing. Also, I've found that the higher wattage chargers often run cooler than the "correctly sized" one when used for a lower powered application. Back in the now ancient history of the Cinema and Thunderbolt displays, the built-in MagSafe charger is specced at 85W even though the displays would work with anything from an MBA all the way up to a 17" MBP.
BTW, you also generally use a lower powered charger to power a computer that calls for a higher wattage one. What you may find, though, is that if you are using the computer it may not charge while you're also using. I've seen 17" MBPs drain when connected to an old 45W MBA charger.
FWIW there've been several reports of the 16" MBP draining when running full-tilt using its supplied power brick, eg
16" MacBook Pro Battery Draining Faster Than Charger Can Replenish.
I've been using the new 16" MacBook Pro and it is pretty good. When I've been playing World of Warcraft however, the battery drains faster than the charger can replace. I'm using the USB-C power brick and cord provided. I've never had a laptop, Mac or Windows, burn through power like this...
forums.macrumors.com
Mb pro 16” battery drain. Wait til you read this
Hey guys I need some help. Here’s my situation. I have a three month old MacBook Pro 16”, practically top of the line. 8 core i9, 32gb ram, dedicated graphics card. The 16” pros ship with apples biggest charger y at, a 96w charger I believe. I’ve been having issues where the computer actually...
forums.macrumors.com
Given this, I'm not all that suprised that the 30w MBA charger can't keep up with an MBA running VC software (Zoom is very poorly optimised for Macs, ie it runs both CPU & GPU at full tilt, all the time) whilst simultaneously casting to a 2nd screen / iPad that isn't itself connected to AC.
I think its no coincidence that we're seeing these issues arise along with the advent of the USB-C / TB3 / PD one-port-does-it-all. The PD spec places an absolute limit on how much power can be supplied (100w), and yet these same ports are being used to power ever more demanding connected devices and high bandwidth data streams eg 4k video.
It's convenient having an open standard like PD, but it seems that manufacturers have not yet fully grasped its limitations when thinking through how these ports are being used. Hence some of the weird kludges like Lenovo Pxx workstations docks that need to be run using 2 separate USB-C power bricks, etc.
As @deeddawg said above, at least the low TDP requirements of the MBA mean that a standard 60+W charger will see it cope with pretty much any scenario.
Even if it CAN keep up, sometimes you want to charge and use the machine at the same time.
If your usage pushes the charger to its limit or close to it while your battery is low, it takes FOR EVER to charge.
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Yeah be careful with USB-C cables.
Some less than honest vendors are selling type-C cables that are not capable of USB-C power delivery (like 15 watts or so instead of 100) and aren't capable of USB 3.x speeds.
They've got a type C plug on them, but that's it; they're USB2 cables in every other way.
If a type C cable looks cheap - be sure to look for the fine print as to WHY.
As others have said: it'll work fine as long as you use all Apple devices it can essentially be any combination at all.
Even a 15W charger can power a laptop that ships with a 60W charger just fine. As long as the laptop is not using more than 15W it'll even (slowly) charge the laptop as well, if the laptop uses more it'll (slowly) drain the battery.
And the reverse is just as true: a laptop, tablet or even phone needing just a few watts will be fully happy on a 100W charger.
Modern Apple adapters and Apple computers all use USB Power Delivery (USB PD) protocols. In essence the computer and adapter are smart enough to communicate with one another to pick voltage and amperage both are happy with. They will also take into consideration what cable is used between them and avoid overloading the cable.
Just make sure you use high quality cables - there are terribly bad ones that can damage your gear (and probably overload themselves as well) - Genuine Apple power cables should all be fine.
USB-PD References:
- USB-PD https://www.usb.org/usb-charger-pd (that should be the source of it all, but you'll have a hard time finding anything with them directly)
- Might be simpler explained here: https://www.androidauthority.com/usb-power-delivery-806266/
- One might find the primary references they used on wikipedia as well: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USB_hardware#PD
Bad cable reference:
Even a 15W charger can power a laptop that ships with a 60W charger just fine. As long as the laptop is not using more than 15W it'll even (slowly) charge the laptop as well, if the laptop uses more it'll (slowly) drain the battery.
And the reverse is just as true: a laptop, tablet or even phone needing just a few watts will be fully happy on a 100W charger.
Modern Apple adapters and Apple computers all use USB Power Delivery (USB PD) protocols. In essence the computer and adapter are smart enough to communicate with one another to pick voltage and amperage both are happy with. They will also take into consideration what cable is used between them and avoid overloading the cable.
Just make sure you use high quality cables - there are terribly bad ones that can damage your gear (and probably overload themselves as well) - Genuine Apple power cables should all be fine.
USB-PD References:
- USB-PD https://www.usb.org/usb-charger-pd (that should be the source of it all, but you'll have a hard time finding anything with them directly)
- Might be simpler explained here: https://www.androidauthority.com/usb-power-delivery-806266/
- One might find the primary references they used on wikipedia as well: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USB_hardware#PD
Bad cable reference:
(Update: anatomy of a disaster) What can happen when your USB cable is bad
What’s the worst that can happen if you get a bad cable? You might be thinking about crummy data transfer speeds or slow battery charging. Think worse.
www.androidauthority.com
... and this has actually happened to you with your MBA? Or is this just another hypothetical from some other device like a MBP?
I'm not saying there's no value in having a higher capacity charger since the MBA can take advantage of 60W
... but let's not inadvertently scare readers into buying something they don't necessarily need.
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Estimated charge time creeping up to 5-7 hours happens all the time with the MBA.
I wasn't referring specifically to an MBA. I was referring to why I always buy bigger chargers.
But...
If the MBA is using 15 watts on a 30 watt charger it leaves only 15 for charging.
If you have a 65 watt charger you will get it charged faster while working.
This is the way every other MacBook I have had has worked.
Maybe "forever" was hyperbole, but I feel that 5+ hours to charge while I am working (which is typical even when I plug in at say 55-65%) is pretty damn slow. Fortunately the MBA battery life is pretty good and I don't need 100% charge very often.
My point though is that Apple is super stingy with the chargers they ship with ALL of their devices, and have been for at least a decade. They ship chargers that will barely keep up with the maximum power draw of the device. So if you are using and charging at the same time it sucks. This is the case with everything they make.
I'm not trying to "scare people". The stock charger will work of course. I'm merely stating my experience.
If you plan to buy a second charger, it is worth spending like $10 more and get a larger one which will give you better charge times when you're using the thing.
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Yup. And you don't even need to be fully depleted to see that sort of charge time if you're actually using the thing to do more than basic web stuff.
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From my experience using 85W MagSafe 1 charger on a 13 inch unibody MacBook caused the battery status go to "Service Battery". Not sure if it can be considered a "damage" but I guess when Apple says to use the correct charger, they do it for a reason.
If it went to 'Service Battery' when you used a higher rated charger, it was coincidental. All MB chargers of a given generation / type are the same voltage / polarity; all that differs is the maximum wattage the charger can supply, and this wattage is requested by the device not the charger. Your MB will not have requested a wattage that could damage its battery.
You make a good point however the users above say that they are getting faster chargers with a higher rated chargers. Faster chargers - more heat generated - not good for the battery. So it is not as straightforward as it seems at first.