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Unlike the iPhone, Apple ships a USB-C power adapter with all its MacBooks: Air and Pro. Unless your laptop stays in the same place all of the time, having a spare or a specific travel MacBook charger is a useful addition. You can buy a second Apple charger or check out more versatile, cheaper and smaller MacBook chargers to suit your needs and budget.

It’s important to note that there are risks with buying a cheap charger and we don’t recommend you choose on price alone. That bargain MacBook charger might just fry your laptop or get dangerously hot. However, there are some great premium chargers from trusted brands that sell for less than Apple pricey chargers.



What to look for in a MacBook charger PD charging What you need is a Power Delivery (PD) charger that can connect to your MacBook via USB-C. PD chargers can support up to 240W of power, although the most common congregate around the standard laptop power requirements: 30W, 45W, 65W and 100W. All the USB-C chargers we have tested here are PD chargers.

All the chargers tested here can also fast-charge an iPhone. PD version 3.0 supports up to 100W.

PD 3.1 can charge at 140W, which is what you need to fast-charge a 16-inch MacBook Pro. Note that the Thunderbolt/USB-C ports are all rated at PD 3.

0—only the MagSafe port is PD 3.1 so you must use Apple’s USB-C to MagSafe 3 Cable, rather than a USB-C cable, to fast-charge the 140W 16-inch MacBook Pro. You can still power the laptop via USB-C or Thunderbolt cable but 100W is the maximum power via that method.

Wattage The amount of power a charger can give your MacBook is, safety aside, the most important feature to look for when choosing a laptop charger. A laptop is designed to draw up to a certain amount of watts when running at full power; that is when you are stretching it by using lots of apps or pushing the graphics and video rendering functions—not when you’re just browsing the web. This level of max power is what the manufacturer considers when it decides on the wattage of the charger it includes with the laptop.

When the laptop is idle or doing mundane jobs, it will draw only a small amount of power from the charger. Fast Charging Apple supports silicon fast charging on its latest MacBook models . When connected with the right charger and cable, you can charge a MacBook battery up to 50 per cent in 30 minutes.

The M2 MacBook Air can be fast charged using a 65W or higher power adapter and either the MagSafe or a USB-C charging cable; see our M2 MacBook Air fast-charging tests . The M3 Air requires a 70W charger, which effectively pushes you to 100W for a non-Apple charger. On the 14-inch MacBook Pro, you can fast-charge with a 96W or higher USB-C charger and USB-C to MagSafe 3 Cable or USB-C charge cable.

On the 16-inch MacBook Pro, you can fast-charge only with an 140W USB-C Power Adapter paired with the USB-C to MagSafe 3 Cable because the Thunderbolt ports are still 100W PD 3.0. Several companies now make a power adapter that supports the latest PD 3.

1 standard that supports power output to up to 240W; other USB chargers have a practical maximum of 100W. It is fine to charge a laptop with a higher-wattage power adapter than it needs. It won’t charge it any quicker (unless you follow the fast-charge rules above), but rest assured that a premium charger such as the ones reviewed here won’t overcharge the MacBook battery and may have extra ports to change iPhones and other devices.

If the charger has more wattage than it needs, it can use the spare power to charge other devices at the same time as the laptop. Ports More ports on a charger make more sense as we all have more than one device that needs charging. Look for the total power output if you want to charge more than one device at the same time.

When you’re using your MacBook at full power, your charger might not have enough spare power for charging other devices unless you buy a charger with a higher wattage where the excess power can be channeled to your iPhone or AirPods at the same time as you power your laptop. Portability Apple’s silicon-based power adapters are mostly larger than third-party chargers that are built using Gallium nitride (GaN) technology. GaN is a material that produces less heat—and less heat means components can be closer together.

This means GaN chargers can be smaller than previously possible. Some of today’s GaN chargers are so small they can slip in your pocket, although you’ll still need to coil that USB-C cable somewhere too. Apple is late to the GaN party, but its recent GaN power adapters are certainly smaller than its older models.

Due to their ultra-safe, sturdy three-pin Type G plug, the U.K. models are usually wider than their U.

S. Type A and B plug counterparts. Fewer feature handy folding plug pins (see above) that can be found on most U.

S. wall chargers, but they are becoming more standard on non-Apple-made chargers. Dimensions given in our reviews are for the U.

S. models, which are also pictured for each product, but U.K.

models are mostly also available. We have tested and reviewed wall chargers that ship with interchangeable plugs for international travel, as well as wall chargers that double up as travel adapters with all the plugs you should need wherever you are in the world plus USB ports and a spare power socket. If you need true portability away from a power socket, look for a laptop power bank.

We tested a 25000mAh power bank that can fully recharge a 14-inch MacBook Pro. See our tests of the best portable power banks for MacBook . Wall, desktop or strip chargers Most of the PD chargers we review here are wall chargers that plug straight into the power socket.

You could also consider a desktop charger, which differs from a straight-to-socket wall charger by connecting to power via a longer plugged cable, so offering greater range. This is sometimes a neater and more versatile desk solution, but isn’t as pocketable for travel as a wall charger that requires just the charger-to-device cable. Another option is a power strip or extender.

The best we’ve seen is from Ugreen. Its 100W 7-in-1 power strip features two 100W PD USB-C ports, one 22.5W USB-C and one 22.

5W USB-A port, plus an extension plug socket on its top. Baseus has a more compact 100W PowerCombo strip with four USB ports. Both are reviewed below.

Cable You need to connect the charger to your MacBook using a USB-C to USB-C charging cable or USB-C to MagSafe cable. If your Mac has a MagSafe 3 port (MacBook Air introduced in 2022; 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro introduced in 2021), you can use Apple’s own USB-C to MagSafe 3 Cable (PD 3.1-supporting 240W maximum).

As well as freeing up one of the MacBook’s Thunderbolt ports, this can protect from accidental cable pulls and is required for MacBook fast-charging on the 16in, but it is expensive at $49 / £49 compared to a quality USB-C cable. Apple’s USB-C to USB-C charging cables (100W maximum) cost $19/£19 but you can find quality USB-C charging cables cheaper, for example from Ugreen ( direct U.S.

/ Amazon.com / Amazon U.K.

). Few of the chargers reviewed here come with a USB-C cable. Of course, you can use the cable that shipped with your MacBook, but having a spare is always useful.

We’ve rounded up the best USB-C and Thunderbolt cables . Here are our reviews of our favorite MacBook chargers. Later, we give more specific tips on buying the right charger for your model of MacBook Air or MacBook Pro.

Best charger for M1, M2 or M3 MacBook Air The MacBook Air ships with either a 30W or 35W Power Adapter, but we recommend at least a 45W charger for the MacBook Air (Intel-based as well as M1/M2/M3 models). For a 45W charger with just one port, the ultra-compact Anker 713 Nano II 45W Charger ( U.S.

/ U.K. ) is a great option, and about 40% smaller than Apple’s 30W charger.

It’s more powerful than Apple’s 35W Power Adapter and less expensive. It does have just the one port, but the amount of spare charge you’d get using a 35W charger with a MacBook Air isn’t likely to offer much if you are also trying to charge even your AirPods unless the laptop was sitting doing not much at all at the time. Going for a 65W or even 100W multiport charger makes more sense.

Anker’s three-port Anker Prime 67W GaN Wall Charger ( U.S. / U.

K. ) can charge a laptop at 45W and an iPhone or iPad at 20W. It has two USB-C ports (both capable of PD charging at 65W, although not at the same time) and a 22.

5W USB-A port. You could even charge a MacBook Air at 40W (still higher than Apple’s supplied charger), an iPhone at 12W and a set of AirPods at 5W. Or fast-charge an M2 MacBook Air.

Ugreen’s 3-port Nexode Pro 65W USB-C Charger ( U.S. / U.

K. ) is similar, although a smidge larger. Using all three ports, you could charge a laptop at 45W and two smaller devices at 15W shared.

Best charger for 13-inch or 14-inch MacBook Pro The 13-inch MacBook Pro ships with a 67W Power Adapter, so you can look to a 65W charger to save on money and size. Your choice of charger for the 14-inch MacBook Pro depends on the model. The M3 14-inch MacBook Pro ships with a 70W adapter while the M3 Pro and M3 Max model ships with a 96W charger.

A 65W charger will suffice, but you won’t get fast-charging like you will with a 100W model. Anker has the most affordable single-port charger, the 715 Nano II 65W ( U.S.

/ U.K. ).

For a multiport 100W charger we rate Ugreen’s 4-port Nexode 100W USB-C Wall Charger ( U.S. / U.

K. ) or the Anker 737 GaNPrime 120W Charger ( U.S.

/ U.K. ), which is smaller and has a higher total power output but features one less port.

Very similar to the Ugreen 100W Charger is the Anker Prime 100W GaN Wall Charger ( U.S. / U.

K. ), which both U.S.

and U.K. users will appreciate for its foldable plug prongs.

As well as fast-charging a 14in Pro using the 100W port, you can charge at full 65W power and have spare to charge another device at up to 30W, or charge the laptop a little slower and charge three other devices, say your iPhone, iPad and AirPods. Best charger for 15-inch MacBook Pro While it shipped with an 87W Apple Power Adapter, we recommend a 100W charger for the 15-inch MacBook Pro. We prefer a charger that can power multiple devices at the same time, so we like Ugreen’s 4-port Nexode 100W USB-C Wall Charger ( U.

S. / U.K.

). For a budget one-port 100W wall charger, the Nekteck 100W USB-C Charger ( U.S.

) will save you some cash and has a neat foldable U.S. plug.

It also comes with its own 2m (6.5ft) USB-C cable but doesn’t work with Apple’s MagSafe 3 charger. The most versatile and affordable desktop charger we’ve tested is the 200W 6-port Anker Prime Charger ( U.

S. / U.K.

), which boasts a whopping six ports (4x USB-C, and 2x USB-A). Best charger for 16-inch MacBook Pro Until recently Apple made this recommendation easy. Its 140W Power Adapter ( U.

S. / U.K.

) will fast-charge the 16-inch MacBook Pro (2021 and later models) from 0-50 percent charge in 30 minutes as it supports the most up-to-date PD 3.1 charing. Apple recommends pairing its 140W Power Adapter with a 16‐inch MacBook Pro (2021) using its USB-C to MagSafe 3 as the only way to fast-charge—the Tunderbolt ports are PD 3.

0 rated rather than 3.1. It’s not cheap, but for pure power this is the combination you want with Apple’s largest MacBook.

Anker, Ugreen and Plugable have now released their own PD 3.1 fast-charging USB-C 140W chargers—the Anker 717 Charger ( U.S.

) is the same price and limited to the same one port. It is, however, 40% smaller than Apple’s super-tall 140W charger. The Ugreen Nexode Pro 160W Charger ( U.

S. / U.K.

) is much smaller than the Apple 140W charger and boasts four charging ports. Fast-charge the 16-inch MacBook using the top USB-C port, and luxuriate with 100W and 30W ports below, and a 22.5W USB-A port at the top—although remember that the maximum total output is 160W.

As the most able PD 3.1 charger, we recommend this as a portable second charger for 16in MacBook Pro owners if they travel with their laptop a lot. If you can live without the fast charging, a 100W charger should be ample for most situations, and here there are more options with multi-charging opportunities.

Ugreen’s Nexode 100W USB-C Wall Charger ( U.S. / U.

K. ) has four charging ports, but for a budget one-port 100W wall charger it’s hard to beat the Nekteck 100W USB-C Charger ( U.S ), which comes with its own 2m (6.

5ft) USB-C cable. And, again, Ugreen’s powerful Nexode 200W USB-C Desktop Charger ( U.S.

/ U.K. ) is a great, if less portable, option.

Which charger does each MacBook need? Here are the power specs of the batteries and power adapters that Apple ships with each of its MacBooks: M1 MacBook Air : 30W Power Adapter M2 MacBook Air : 30W or 35W Power Adapter depending on 8-or-10-core GPU (Graphics Processing Unit); fast-charge capable with 70W charger or higher M3 MacBook Air : 30W or 35W Power Adapter depending on 8-or-10-core GPU (Graphics Processing Unit); fast-charge capable with 70W charger or higher 15-inch M3 MacBook Air : 35W Power Adapter; fast-charge capable with 70W charger or higher 13-inch M1 MacBook Pro : 61W Power Adapter 13-inch M2 MacBook Pro : 67W Power Adapter 14-inch M2 Pro/Max MacBook Pro : 67W or 96W Power Adapter depending on 10-or-12-core GPU; fast-charge capable with 96W charger or higher 14-inch M3 Pro/Max MacBook Pro : 70W or 96W Power Adapter depending on 14-or-16-core GPU; fast-charge capable with 96W charger or higher 15-inch MacBook Pro : 87W Power Adapter 16-inch MacBook Pro : 140W Power Adapter fast-charger.

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