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The next generation of wall chargers

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Re: The next generation of wall chargers

#61

Post by joecool1029 »

stefan_ wrote: post #4

Ironically, the best USB-C charger for something like a phone (laptops come with chargers, anyway) I've found is simply the Raspberry Pi 4 USB-C charger - very cheap ($10), small, plenty power (15W), fixed cable and no fucking blue Anker LED that can illuminate your bedroom.

You know, I thought that until I started to test it.

I have a Kill-A-Watt for rough measurements and the pi4 charger is slower than my GPD Pocket or ipad pro charger. It does pull 14W or so sometimes, but there's a big limiting factor, it's only 5V. The ipad charger does 5V/9V on USB-PD and the pocket does 5V/9V/12V. So if the cable wears at all, you won't be getting the full rated power due to voltage drop. It's like trying to use a plastic mixer straw to drink a beverage vs a regular one.

I already have a portapow meter for measuring USB-A stuff including watching quickcharge 2.0 stuff boost the voltage on the line. Proper USB-C meter/tester comes this week, then I intend to writeup findings on cables/chargers.

Re: The next generation of wall chargers

#62

Post by jacquesm »

Nasrudith wrote: post #48
kens wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's no need to ponder the toxicity of gallium nitride and worry about your "sneaking suspicion" that it's toxic. It's in the "may cause skin irritation" level of toxicity, so really not worth worrying about. https://www.ltschem.com/msds/GaN.pdf

That is good to hear. I remembered the mercury resemblance and recalled it as a "mercury lite" toxic. Turns out even pure gallium is pretty mild.

> Turns out even pure gallium is pretty mild

It's pretty mild unless it contacts something made of aluminum. Then it's fairly impressively destructive.

Re: The next generation of wall chargers

#64

Post by dmd »

huslage wrote: post #60
ksec wrote: post #36

I asked a year ago When could we expect GaN to be more widely available and it seems the answer is still true as of today. GaN mosfet costs 10x more [1] than a silicon one of similar power rating. And the multiples gets wider at 15x for 1K units. I doubt we will see Apple include a GaN charger as default for quite some time. [1]: IPAW60R380CEXKSA1 (silicon) costs $1.26, IGT60R190D1SATMA1 (GaN) costs $13.

I just got a new 16" MacBook Pro and the power brick is 96W, but the same size as the 60W from a few years ago. I'd say this is likely a GaN unit, but I don't have any proof of that.

Lots of people have opened them up already; it's not GaN.

Re: The next generation of wall chargers

#65

Post by lorenzhs »

technofiend wrote: post #54
floatboth wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Schuko/Europlug is a very good system.

>Schuko/Europlug is a very good system. Perhaps it isn't common, but my experience with the sockets in Belgium was scary to me because there were two outlets embedded in a recess quite close to each other. Close enough I was afraid I'd shock myself trying to get a good grip on my plug and pull it out.

The exposed metal part of a Schuko socket is ground. You can touch it. The live contacts aren’t exposed at any stage of plugging/unplugging/... ever.

Re: The next generation of wall chargers

#66

Post by dzhiurgis »

javagram wrote: post #55
dzhiurgis wrote: post #52

> It’s not perfect yet: Anker’s 30W Atom PD 1 struggles to power something as large as a 13-inch MacBook Pro Umm wot, maybe older MacBooks, maybe when gaming or rendering. For writing code and browsing on a 15incher I'm averaging 20watts. Cheap 12v cigarette lighter one that does 24w is enough (but barely) to keep things running for me. If I turn off most of apps I get as low 6watts on a hexacore device. I use iStat…

Apple’s recommended charger for a 13inch MBP is a 61W adapter, for the 15 inch is an 87W and for the 16 inch is a 96W. Although you can use an under-specced adapter it probably won’t be enough to power and charge the system while fully using the CPU, GPU, and screen.

Basically you just repeated what I just said...

I am actually considering buying 30W one for it's portability.

But then again I am not a YouTube influencer that occasionally games and cuts videos (you know, the person that Apple designs it's computers nowadays for).

Re: The next generation of wall chargers

#68

Post by _Microft »

technofiend wrote: post #54
floatboth wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Schuko/Europlug is a very good system.

>Schuko/Europlug is a very good system. Perhaps it isn't common, but my experience with the sockets in Belgium was scary to me because there were two outlets embedded in a recess quite close to each other. Close enough I was afraid I'd shock myself trying to get a good grip on my plug and pull it out.

That's odd. Could you describe it better since there is basically no way one would be under risk of getting a shock on a Schuko or Europlug without inserting a needle or something similar into the holes of the outlet.
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