I’ve used them all and I have found the perfect power bank for the Apple ecosystem, and I want to share my findings and feelings with you.
The Anker Prime 12,000mAh Power Bank is a Sleeper Product that Worked Wonders for Me and Keeps my Apple Ecosystem Charged up
Note: Before I begin, I should make it clear what you’re going to read is highly subjective. This power bank worked for me, doesn’t mean it would for you. It’s recommended that you further research on this product before ultimately making the purchase decision. And yes, I purchased this power bank using my own money, no one sent it over.
Believe it or not, I’ve gone through so many power banks, it feels embarrassing to share the number. But, I do want to share that I have finally found the one that deserves a place in my backpack and pocket. The power bank is the Anker Prime 12,000mAh Power Bank (130W). This particular model is not even liked by a lot of people due to its smaller capacity and apparently abysmal power output and input.
First of all, this power bank has two USB-C ports which are capable of pushing 65W of power. Not a total power of 65W shared between two ports. This is 65W of power per port. If you connect two devices that can accept 65W of power, both of them will get 65W of power. That is a grand total of 130W.
This power bank does not have a USB-A port. Do I wish it did? Not at all. There’s nothing in my backpack that needs that ancient port for charging stuff.
Secondly, this thing is extremely portable. The moment I unboxed it, it was love at first sight. The small 12,000mAh capacity went right out the window given how useful this thing is overall. And I’m not going to lie, it has saved my MacBook Air, iPhone and iPad a lot of times at this point. Do I wish I had a bigger capacity power bank? If it’s even slightly bigger than this, I don’t want it.
The Anker Prime is made of metal and it gives you the confidence to use it more often. It’s not cheaply made in any way. This thing does not want to sit inside a bag all the time. Anker wants you to use this thing as often as possible.
There’s also a built-in display on this power bank. It shows you the current percentage level, the amount of power going in and out through those USB-C ports, battery health, charge cycles, temperature and more. Anker didn’t have to do this, they went overboard, and I love it all. It’s a geek’s product.
Having that display is extremely handy, too. It easily lets you identify cables that are not capable of fast charging. You’d be surprised to know a lot of cables just max out at 60W and only some of them will go beyond. Basically, you can use this power bank as a testing tool as well.
For me, this power bank is perfect. I don’t need a full charge on my devices and I’m happily sacrificing capacity for portability here. If a product works as an aid to get you till the end of the day, it has done its job.
Since I have a 65W USB-C car charger, I can top this power bank up while driving. A full charge takes around 45 minutes, which is crazy fast and makes sense given the lower capacity.
Last but not the least, you can buy the optional Anker Charging Base, though not necessary. It gives you the luxury of charging the power bank wirelessly at a full speed of 65W. But, at the same time, you get two USB-C ports and a USB-A port on the side of the base. The base has a total output of 100W so expect things to slow down when you start using those ports up.
There’s absolutely nothing in my arsenal of Apple devices this power bank can’t charge. Whether it’s my 11-inch iPad Pro, 12.9-inch iPad Pro, MacBook Air, iPhone 15 Pro Max, AirPods, it charges everything and does it at the fastest speeds.
There’s one thing I would love to change about this power bank. That’s the giant glossy plastic at the front where the LCD is. It attracts fingerprints way too much. I rather have metal all around than full length of glossy plastic. I wouldn’t change anything else about this, unless I wanted to ruin it.
It’s very hard for me to trade in portability for extra power. Just buying a bigger product introduces a whole new host of problems. For example, you have to make a special place to carry something as big as the Anker 737 PowerCore 24K. Don’t get me wrong, that is the internet’s favorite power bank, but it’s big. You won’t find me carrying it around. The Anker Prime 12,000mAh has all the sauce in the smallest package I’ve seen. If there’s a successor to it, I’ll buy it again.
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