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What are minimum power requirements that will work with the MacBook Pro 16. This device has inputs for the mag-safe and for the USB-C ports. Apple does not provide sufficient information to select a minimum wattage output to keep the machine running and not discharge the battery or discharge the battery at a lower rate than an unpowered machine.

Obviously, excess power supply is better than an undersupply. In supply limited situations, how low can you go and still run the Pro for extended periods? Is 33W sufficient? 45? Do you need 100W? Will 33W even be used by the Pro?

Why is this important? I do a lot of work on the road in transit. My car 110V outlet is limited to 100W. I am assuming there are conversion losses in the 110VAC to 5V USB-c regulated supply, so probably a safe upper limit is ~90W.

The practical question is: Will 90W provide adequate USB-C or magsafe power for an M2 Pro 16" doing reasonable work without draining the battery?

Greentips
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  • What wattage adapter did you get with the MBP? (System Information | Power | AC Charger Info..) Surely that's your answer... – Andy Griffiths Sep 28 '23 at 17:31
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    All the M2 16" models come with 140W adapters. I would assume they've been sized accordingly. Smaller models get lower wattage bricks. – Andy Griffiths Sep 28 '23 at 17:38
  • The Apple power supply is 140W. This is designed for the maximum power consumption of the MBP under full load conditions with a small reserve for charging the battery or "fast charging." Unless I am doing a complex, extended monte-carlo computation or matrix transformation or made a programming error, the extreme case is unlikely and not for extended periods. With a fully charged battery or non-charging battery, 140W is not necessary in most uses. The 140W charger will attempt to draw more power than is available and trip a breaker. – Greentips Sep 28 '23 at 17:38
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    So, Monte Carlo Or Bust eh... ;-) – Andy Griffiths Sep 28 '23 at 17:41
  • No, it does not and it does not answer the OP's question: What is the minimum power I can supply via either USB-C or magsafe to keep the machine operational? I attempted to re-ask the question in there but a moderator killed it. I am attempting to buy a USB-C PD unit that will provide sufficient power for extended use. Apple's USB-C power ports are limited to 100W input, the magsafe 3.1 levels are higher. Rather than guess that a 45W USB-C/PD will do the job I want, I thought I'd ask for data which I can't find from Apple. – Greentips Sep 28 '23 at 17:58
  • You posted a question in the space reserved for answers, please take the tour to understand how this site works. – nohillside Sep 28 '23 at 18:34
  • Also, asking the same question again because the existing one doesn't have good answers won't help. I've bumped the original question now so it's visible on the main page (for a while). – nohillside Sep 28 '23 at 18:36
  • The "answer" space I responded in was the only mechanism I could see to clarify that the answers given were not responsive to the OP's post. They gave stock, readily available information which did not answer the question. This response here has the tag "add comment." This would probably be the correct mechanism for pointing out that the original OP's question was not answered. The system would not allow me to make a comment because I am not a heavy poster/commenter. – Greentips Sep 29 '23 at 13:23
  • I see that the answer I was looking for was posted following this exchange. Thank you. I suggest that the site provide a mechanism for pertinent input on pertinent questions. In this post I explained exactly what was needed to answer the other question after you directed me to post a new question, then bombed me because it was substantially similar to the one where no mechanism to get clarity on what was asked. You need a better mechanism for accepting critique. – Greentips Sep 29 '23 at 13:31

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