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Only one power adapter can deliver full 15W power to the MagSafe Charger

By Cookie Monster - on 27 Oct 2020, 8:11am

Only one power adapter can deliver full 15W power to the MagSafe Charger

Screenshot taken from zollotech's YouTube video "Apple MagSafe - Which Charger is Fastest - Speed Test".

Apple's MagSafe charger can deliver full 15W charging speeds when used with only one particular power adapter. 

Zollotech did a test of several power adapters including Apple's 20W USB-C power adapter to see the actual power output. It seems that only the 20W power adapter from Apple can deliver the full 15W charging speeds while other third-party options max out at 10W.

Even higher-powered options such as Apple's 96W MacBook Pro power adapter and Aukey's 65W power adapter are not able to exceed 10W when used with the MagSafe charger. Below is the list of power adapters used in the test and their respective charging speeds: 

  • Apple's 20W Power Adapter - 15W
  • Apple's 18W Power Adapter - 13W
  • Apple's 96W MacBook Pro Power Adapter - 10W
  • Anker 30W PowerPort Atom PD 1 = 7.5W to 10W
  • Aukey 65W Power Adapter - 8W to 9W
  • Pixel 4/5 Charger - 7.5W to 9W
  • Note 20 Ultra Charger - 6W to 7W

This strange requirement was actually hinted in Apple's support document last week; it specifically mentioned "20W or greater Apple USB-C power adapter". Based on Zollotech's findings, it appears that the new 20W USB-C power adapter from Apple uses a different power profile from its older chargers. This also means that third-party accessory makers have to design new chargers with this power profile to deliver the full 15W charging speeds of the MagSafe Charger. 

Source: zollotech via MacRumours

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