paytonc

It seems that IKEA started selling USB-C chargers this year. I've been happy with the quality of mine.
40W brick for $20
5' cable for $5
https://www.ikea.com/us/en/p/lillhul...hite-20465263/

mileagehighclub

No one seems to mention it but the multi port USB-C bricks that are coming out recently are pretty solid. Aukey is a good example. I'm using their 63W Duo charger (single port = 60W, 2 ports = 15 + 45W). That's enough to power a MacBook Pro not doing anything crazy and charge my phone. If I don't need fast charging for my phone, I just leave my MBP as the main hub and charge my phone off of my laptop instead.

What would be ideal if there was a 3 port USB-C charger. Their charger gets close but oddly went with USB-A for the 3rd port. An ideal setup would look like this for me: single port = 90W or 86W or whatever MBPs use; 2 ports = 60+30W, which allows you to charge a MBP reliably and even a MacBook or MacBook Air, or one of the newer iPad Airs. 3 port usage could be 60+15+15, which allows you to reliably charge laptop + tablet + phone or laptop + 2 phones (all you business travelers know what it's like to dual wield cell phones). I find it kinda annoying Aukey went with 45W+45W for their 100W chargers. This 90W may be perfect, for me. The USB-A I won't worry about, but I also forsee it as being a wasted port in the future as I jettison more USB-A cords.

ESpen36

Recently, I've been carrying this tiny charger in my pocket for air travel:

Despite its small size, it's 65w, with three ports, and it will charge a MacBookPro if not doing graphics-intensive stuff (or while sleeping), while also charging an iPad and iPhone at the same time.

I know everyone is excited about 100w/200w chargers, and I have one of those too, BUT they are over-wattage for aircraft in-seat power, which I believe is limited to 75w or maybe 90w. If you plug in a massive charger, it will trip the circuit breaker and the crew might not be able to reset it, and you'd be out of luck. So, I recommend also having a charger in the 60-65w range for use on board.

And before everyone asks.......I'm not an engineer, but I'm pretty sure it is safe to under-power a laptop to maintain charge or slowly charge, if not doing anything too graphics-intensive or processor-intensive. If you can find a charger like the one I linked above that meets aircraft wattage limitations and also charges multiple devices simultaneously, you're all set!

deniah

Ultrabooks don't require much power, and if connected to low wattage, they might not charge while in use but will atleast sustain power, and will drip charge when suspended or off. e.g. Macbook Air will top itself with 7.5w or 10w "cell phone" charger when suspnded.

Power hungry workstation-class laptops won't though. My Dells that come with 180W or 240W factory chargers, if you present them with 90W a charger, it will give ominous warnings at boot, and won't charge when off.

exp

BTW, for those using these third-party PD chargers to recharge a full-sized MacBook Pro, are you using just any USB-C cable or are there heavier gauge cables for 65W or 100W chargers?

Do the cables get warm?

freecia

USB IF compliant cable rated for 100W and definitely not any random USB-C cable to avoid shorts and $$$$ repairs. Apple packages the MBP with a USB 2.0 100W cable. My travel charger kit has a shorter thunderbolt 3 100W cable which also supports displayport alt via USB-C. I prefer to carry the superset cable so I don't need to guess what is supported. Others prefer the thinner, longer, and less expensive USB 2.0 100W.

Neither gets noticeably warm to my touch.

exp

USB 2.0 100W cable with USB-C plugs? Has nothing to do with USB data transfer speeds?

crackjack

Power and data are separately negotiated by the host (e.g. charger) and peripheral (e.g. laptop) via the cable. 5A is confirmed for the cable via its e-marker chip, while USB 3.0 data speeds would be negotiated through the extra wires allowing communication between host & peripheral - USB 2.0 requires 4 connections, while USB 3.x requires 9.

By reducing the wiring, there is a reduction in the resulting cable thickness / rigidity, and a (somewhat) lower cost of production.

A good example is Apple’s charging cables, which will do 100W if the host and peripheral allow it but will only go up to the 480Mbps USB 2.0 maximum data speeds. See the note they made comparing it to the TB3 cable here: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208368



Yes, you can underpower a laptop (regardless if USB-C or otherwise) so long as the battery has sufficient juice to compensate for the lower power offered via the charger.

A recent example (due to poor product design) was the Surface Book 2, which at max load was notorious for having the battery drain because the stock charger did not provide enough power for the machine at full tilt (but did ok when the machine wasn’t being taxed):
https://www.engadget.com/amp/2017-11...ng-issues.html

freecia

tl;dr Yes there are heavier gauge USB cables which support 100W 5A 2.0, 3.X + 100W charger for larger MBP while on & under higher load. Finding a decently priced USB-IF certified cable for charging online isn't that hard these days. Random forget-where-this-came-from-it-feels-kinda-skinny cord, maybe leave it for charging lower power much less expensive devices and cast an occasional eye on it.

Charge & cable gauge:
100 W 5A USB-C cables come in both USB 2.0 and 3.X. 2.0 cables are usually thinner gauge than 3.X and thunderbolt but all can be rated for 100W. There are some 60W or 3A USB 2.0 cables floating about, too, which I wouldn't personally bother pairing with a 100W charger as it won't charge full throttle as it lacks the eMarker https://people.kernel.org/bleung/how...bles-are-there

If you're only using them for charging then it doesn't really matter if it is 2.0, 3.X, passive thunderbolt as long as it is rated for 100W 5A if you want to use it with a 100W charger to power a 15/16" MBP while it is under high load*. https://learn.adafruit.com/understan...-more?view=all

You could use a 60W/100W cable if you have a 60W charger. I think others have reported here that 60W mostly keeps up with a larger MBP under middling load.

Data speeds:
If you do use the same cable for data transfer such as moving videos between MBP to an external drive then USB 2.0 is slower than 3.0. I've gradually been buying more usb-c peripherals & accessories like headphones, hard drives, monitors (DP alt), ethernet dongle so I just find it easier to keep a short passive thunderbolt cable in my kit so I don't need to worry about gadget compatibility. This is totally personal preference. I'm sure a lot of people on this thread like traveling with less expensive, thinner, and more flexible USB 2.0 100W or 60W cables.

USB-C is more of a plug shape & wiring chart while specs for the cable can be really different. I've seen USB-C plug USB 2.0 3A cables included with mid range phones, chargers, and non-compliant usb-c female to usb-a male adapters included with hard drives. So yes, I do tend to label & store those cables in a drawer or relegate them to lower wattage chargers & tuck away non-compliant adapters out of regular sight. People tend to assume that if the plug looks like it fits, it will be safe AND "work". Unfortunately this isn't true for usb-c.

* My MBP battery recently stopped charging (stuck at 1%) and that's the one time when a high enough wattage PD charger did matter. I could still turn it on with the oem 87W charger and use it while plugged in. It didn't turn on with my 1 port 61W RavPower charger. There's been some good 100W PD chargers released so I'll probably upgrade when needed.

crackjack

That’s odd... the charger should have worked, albeit with a drain of the MBP was doing something intensive, but definitely while the MBP was off. This was confirmed by others: https://9to5mac.com/2018/09/25/60w-u...-macbooks/amp/

Perhaps some compatibility issue with your RavPower?

freecia

The RavPower normally works to charge the battery. My MBP is having battery/controller issues. I'll run a few tests again with various chargers.

The battery still isn't charging, MBP on or off, so it and/or a chip on the logic controller might have died. More likely the battery since the laptop still can turn on & keeps running off the accompanying charger. The battery hasn't been heavily used since I often sit at fixed locations with chargers. The power button won't turn the laptop on either, only plugging in the power cord and it doesn't make the "bing" power adapter plugged in noise. All four plugs still work for data & power. I doubt the battery failure was caused by the usb-c PD enabled display power either as MBP can handle multiple chargers plugged in to it and should only use one power source. I would disassemble it to visually inspect the chips and replace the battery but it is a corporate laptop (they have their own policies).

It is odd for sure.

crackjack

Apologies freecia, seems I misunderstood your earlier post. Sorry to hear about the charging issues.

Yes, it makes sense that the laptop wouldn’t start up with a less powerful adapter, if the battery is at a critical level. The built-in protections are likely designed to remove the possibility of a scenario where the laptop gets pushed to its maximum power level while using an underpowered adapter, as that would likely result in at least a hard shutdown if not worse.

I remember one of my work laptops (a Dell) used to squak if it was connected to the 30W travel adapter when trying to power up and the battery had been fully run down / was pulled out, but would run fine with the main AC adapter.

(And yes, I did once have the power plug come loose when the battery wasn’t in... wasn’t my best day.)

exp

This is where if you go to Apple they may lecture you that you shouldn't be using 3rd-party chargers instead of the one that came with the MBP.

freecia

CALDigit has a thunderbolt 4 hub up for pre-order - 3 C Downstream, 1 C Upstream, 4 A

• Works with USB-C adapters like USB-C ethernet and DP adapter at 4k60 Hz (see linked page for compatibility chart)
• Detachable passive thunderbolt 4 0.8m cable included
• 150W power supply, highest USB-C PD single output is 60W. It does charge the usb ports without having a computer plugged in.
• US Pre-order price is $139

https://www.caldigit.com/thunderbolt-4-element-hub/

Razer's version 3 C Downstream, 1 C Upstream, 4 A, 1 GB eth, 1 UHS II sd card reader. PD charge up to 90W. Most ports along one side so larger than above CalDigit unit.
MSRP $329
https://www.reddit.com/r/UsbCHardwar...4_dock_chroma/

Anker's version has 1 upstream PD 85W, 3 Downstream, 1 A
Estimated release Feb 18 for $199
https://www.reddit.com/r/UsbCHardwar...t_4_mini_dock/

diburning

Beware of compatibility issues with the CalDigit dock (and most docks in general) with Apple computers as Apple's unique implementation of thunderbolt and USB 3 on the same port does not play well with the dock and with the most recent operating system MacOS 11 Big Sur.

I have the Apple 16" Macbook Pro that also has this issue. When running at full capability (with the discrete GPU running at full power), the computer draws more than 100W. Since this computer charges with USB-C, with full adherence to the spec, 100W is the maximum amount of power the computer can draw from a charger (the included charger is 96W, and only third party chargers will be any closer to 100W)