Wondering whether or not that 100W USB-C charger will damage your MacBook Air in any way? Let me answer that for you.
Using a 100W or Faster Charger Won’t Damage Your MacBook Air in Any Way, But Do Keep a Couple of Things in Mind
Someone asked me the other day if it’s okay to charge a 13-inch M2 MacBook Air using a 100W USB-C charger. So, instead of just answering that particular person, I decided to do an entire post on it.
The quickest and shortest answer to the question is: it’s perfectly safe to charge your MacBook Air using a 100W or faster USB-C charger.
Whether it’s the older Intel model MacBook Air, or one of the latest ones with Apple silicon, it’s perfectly fine if you decide to charge it using a 100W or faster charger.
The reason behind this is simple: the MacBook Air relies on the USB Power Delivery protocol (thanks to USB-C) to charge up, which means it will smartly draw the exact amount of power needed to charge up as fast as possible.
If you have an M1 or earlier MacBook Air, it will charge at up to 30W speed no matter how fast your charger is. If you have a M2 MacBook Air or something more recent, it will draw up to 70W of power since these notebooks support even faster charging.
In fact, the same rule applies to the iPhone as well. Use any fast USB-C charger all you want, it won’t damage your iPhone in any way.
However, do keep one thing in mind: it’s highly recommended that you use a charger from a high quality and reputable source. If possible, just grab one from Apple, which is the safest bet in the sea of options available.
The same goes for the cable as well.
It literally takes a few minutes to check out reviews online and see whether or not the charger and cable you are about to buy come from a reputable company. A cheap and shoddy cable has the potential to completely ruin your MacBook Air and your day.
These days, I carry a 100W multi-port USB-C charger with me to keep my devices charged up. It’s the only charger I use to charge up my M3 MacBook Air whenever I’m out and about.
I use the same charger to charge up my iPhone and iPad as well. It’s perfectly safe, and you shouldn’t worry about using a fast charger with your Apple devices at all.
All of your devices will draw the amount of power needed, nothing extra.
