Clicky

How Many Watts Does A Macbook Air Use

How Many Watts Does A Macbook Air Use

The M1 MBP has an average power usage under load of roughly 30 watts and a maximum power consumption of about 50 watts, according to notebookcheck. The M1 MBP has an average power usage under load of roughly 30 watts and a maximum power consumption of about 50 watts, according to notebookcheck.

To find a suitable Macbook charger, the market has three types of power rated Macbook power adapters, 45 Watt, 60 Watt, or 85 Watt. It is completely safe to use the power adapter of the MacBook Pro (Retina) with lower-wattage models, like MacBook Air, provided that your charging ports are compatible. A lower-wattage adapter cannot supply sufficient power for both running a laptop and charging it, but in a pinch, the lower-wattage adapter can be used for both temporary power and charging of a laptops battery. If you were to use a lower-wattage adapter to charge the high-wattage laptops battery, the battery would be charged slower than it would be if you used a suitable, higher-wattage, power adapter.

You may be able to use a high-wattage, compatible adapter without a problem, but that does not cause the computer to charge more quickly or work any differently. A 60W adapter might charge your computer more slowly, and during periods of heavy power usage, might fail to recharge your laptops batteries. The 60W adapter is also not strong enough to charge a 16-inch MacBook Pro when you are using a MacBook Pro; for this, you will need to have a charger with a minimum power output of 87W. The 60W adapter is usable for the MacBook Pro, but may not provide sufficient power to allow simultaneous charging and use.

The 85W adapter would deliver plenty of power for both the 13-inch MacBook Pro, which is new with M1, and the 13-inch MacBook Air, which despite its higher-than-necessary wattage, would not harm the latter. While compatible with any USB-C-enabled device, Apple recommends pairing it with a Retina-display 13-inch MacBook Air for the best charging experience. Much like the 30W USB-C power adapter, you can use this charger with most devices, but Apple recommends that this adapter is used for the MacBook Air. You can also use the 30-watt USB-C Power Adapter with certain models of the iPhone and iPad Pro to benefit from its faster charging features.

Learn What happens when you use a low-watt charger on Macbook Pro

We recommend using the Apple 12-W USB power adapter for charging the iPad, iPhone, Apple Watch, and other Apple accessories, such as AirPods and Siri Remote. The dual USB-C port adapter will allow you to charge an iPhone or an Apple Watch simultaneously. Yes, you can charge your MacBook Pro using USB-C. You will need the USB-C charging cable, as well as the USB-C power adapter, or the USB-C display, or the Thunderbolt Display, which provides the power. For the best charging experience, you should use a power adapter or display that provides at least as muchwattage as the power adapter included with your MacBook Pro.

Given these levels of power draw, we can clearly see the benefit of using a 50W USB-PD power source, as opposed to the Apples 30-watt USB-C Power Adapter, when using power-hungry apps or when needing to charge your battery rapidly. To completely charge the laptop in as little time as it takes for a phone, you will want to get a charger that chucks a whole lot more juice. Let us say that the charger that Macs are using is 87 watts, but you are seeing a good deal less than that going to a Mac laptop. If you connect a MacBook to its charger, it is going to draw all of the 87 Watts.

If you use a charger that is lower than what is required, then chances are, your MacBook is simply not going to get charged. A higher-wattage charger may cause the MacBooks battery to die early. It is possible to get away with using the 45W MagSafe 2 charger (the kind included in the MacBook Air) without issue. A 45W MagSafe 2 adapter will not give you enough juice to charge a MacBook Pro when it is in use.

Based on our tests, the 60W adapter was able to deliver sufficient power to charge a 15 MacBook Pro (late 2016) with MacBook Pros complete USB Power Delivery specifications of 87W. The 96W adapter would deliver the necessary power to charge a MacBook 13 as quickly as possible. If you plug a device with this type of Thunderbolt 3 self-powering interface into the computer, if no other power sources are available, then if the MacBook Pro is charging a trickle charge, that is fine, but not nearly enough to completely charge your laptop. It will charge newer 13-inch MacBook Pros with M1 far slower than an included 61W adapter, and if you are using the device while it is charging, you may notice that battery will be gradually depleting.

Apple also ships its latest iPhones with 5-watt chargers, but they will quickly charge using ones that deliver at least 18W, provided you have the USB-C to Lightning cable. I have read elsewhere on the Internet that if other chargers are used, its voltage should be close to that of the one that Apple provides. Do not worry: using a higher-voltage charger does not kill the phones battery, because the phone controls how much power it draws, not the charger. The higher a chargers overall wattage, the faster a charger can recharge your device.

For instance, an OnePlus phone will recharge with any USB-C charger, but it will recharge considerably faster if you use an OnePlus charger that supports OnePlus proprietary standard, the WarpCharge 30. That is, just because a charger supports USB PD, does not necessarily mean that it will be able to charge a laptop. If you plug your Mac into the pass-through charging port, you may find that you are not getting the expected Wattage. Previous-model Macs offered USB 3 ports only, limiting the power available to 4.5W standard, although one port on some Macs may provide as much as 5.5W.

Newer models–MacBook (12-inch, 2015, and newer)–use either 29-watt or 30-watt USB-C power adapters (for which the cable serial numbers are C4M or FL4). The 12-inch MacBook (first introduced March 2015) initially used the 29W USB-C adapter, until Apple released a 30W USB-C adapter in 2018. For example, the MacBook Pro 13-inch uses a 60W MagSafe, but you can use the 85W MagSafe for charging or powering it (though it does not charge faster). Using the higher-wattage adapter will work fine with the lower-power-requirement laptop.

How many watts do I need to charge my MacBook Air?

You can quickly charge a MacBook Air using the following wires and power supply configurations: USB-C to MagSafe 3 cable or a USB-C charging cable plus a 140W USB-C power adapter 96W USB-C power adapter with either a USB-C charging cable or a USB-C to MagSafe 3 cable.

Can I use a 60 watt charger on my MacBook Air?

You may employ it. “There are 45W, 60W, and 85W power adapters available for Apple notebooks. Use a power adapter with the right wattage for your Apple laptop. Although it won’t cause any trouble, using a higher wattage adapter won’t change how your computer works or cause it to charge more quickly.

Scroll to Top
Skip to content