If you recently bought Apple’s new MacBook Neo, you probably noticed it ships with a 20W USB-C power adapter, which is much smaller than the chargers included with most Mac laptops.
That raises an obvious question: would a higher-wattage charger make the MacBook Neo charge faster?
A new test from Macworld suggests the answer is yes… but only to a point.
Testing a 96W charger on the MacBook Neo
To see what would happen, Macworld tested the MacBook Neo with a 96W USB-C charger, the same power adapter Apple sells for larger MacBook Pro models.
The test started with the battery at 20% and measured how much charge the laptop gained after 30 minutes.
Here were the results:
| Charger | Battery gain after 30 minutes |
|---|---|
| 20W USB-C Power Adapter | +15% |
| 96W USB-C Power Adapter | +30% |
In simple terms, the higher-wattage charger nearly doubled the charging speed during the test period.
RELATED: MacBook Neo Battery Lifespan: How Long Before It Wears Out?
Why it’s not considered “fast charging”
Even though the laptop charged faster with a bigger adapter, the MacBook Neo still doesn’t officially support Apple’s fast-charging feature.
Apple defines fast charging on MacBooks as reaching around 50% battery in roughly 30 minutes. That capability is currently available on models like the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro.
WORTH CHECKING OUT: Apple Quietly Changed MacBook Keyboards With New Symbol Keys
The Neo’s results fall well short of that threshold, which likely explains why Apple doesn’t advertise fast charging support for the device.
The MacBook Neo appears to have a charging cap
Macworld also investigated the charging behavior using the Battery Health 2 monitoring app.
The data suggested that the laptop’s charging rate appears to be capped at roughly 20W, even when connected to a much larger power adapter.
However, the system still seems able to draw power more efficiently from higher-wattage chargers, which explains why the battery percentage increased faster during the test.
In other words:
- the charging speed improves
- but the hardware still enforces a power limit
MORE ON THE MACBOOK NEO:
MacBook Neo’s USB-C Setup Has a Catch Most Buyers Won’t Notice
MacBook Neo Starts With 8GB RAM, and That Is the Only Option
MacBook Neo Tip: What Happens If You Plug a Monitor Into the Wrong USB-C Port
Apple Explains Why Its New $599 Laptop Is Called MacBook Neo
So should you use a bigger charger?
The results suggest that using a higher-wattage charger with the MacBook Neo can reduce charging time, even if the improvement isn’t dramatic.
Many users will likely do this anyway. The included 20W adapter has only one port, and many people already own multi-port USB-C chargers or higher-wattage adapters from other devices.
While the Neo may not officially support fast charging, the Macworld test indicates that a more powerful charger can still make a noticeable difference.
