While its possible to charge an iPhone or iPad faster by using a higher wattage power adapter, unfortunately that trick doesn’t work with MacBooks. However, there are still a few ways to get your MacBook charged up faster than normal.
Apple notes on its support page that it’s fine to use higher wattage adapters than what comes with the various Mac notebooks, however, this won’t shorten your charging time.
Let’s take a look at what options you do have…
How to charge your MacBook faster
Depending on your preferences or what you can afford to do, there are two main ways to charge your MacBook as fast as possible.
Charge your MacBook while it’s powered off or sleeping
When possible, powering down your MacBook or putting it to sleep will give you the shortest charging times.
With my 2016 15-inch MacBook Pro, I usually see my battery go from 10% or so to full in just under 2 hours. When in use, it’s usually over 3 hours to charge up.
Adjust your settings
If you need to continue using your MacBook and charge as fast as possible, take a look at the following:
- Click on your battery icon in the menu bar to see what apps or settings are using Significant Energy
- Lower your display’s brightness
- Close any unneeded apps
- Turn off Location Services
- Turn off Wi-Fi when possible
- Disconnect any peripherals (external drives, USB flash drives, memory cards, etc.)
You can also double check your energy preferences by clicking Open Energy Save Preferences… in the menu bar. Making sure Automatic graphics switching and the other options below are enabled will help you charge up faster.
After adjusting my settings I can usually get a full charge in about 2.5 hours. Be sure to check out our how to guide for more ways to get the most out of your Apple devices.
