GAN CHARGERS

We compare the new breed of powerful and portable chargers for all your Apple devices

- HOLLIN JONES

MANY PEOPLE NOW own several mobile devices, often some combination of laptop, smartphone, and tablet. So charging is more important than ever, but many of us are stuck with one higher powered charger that came with a MacBook, and other, lower–powered models for our phones.

GaN chargers are smaller and more power–efficient than traditional silicon–based models. Gallium nitride is able to conduct far higher voltages than silicon while generating much less heat. This means that GaN chargers can be smaller, since fewer components like heat sinks are required. They are also relatively inexpensive, especially compared to Apple’s own chargers.

As our devices move inexorably towards all–USB–C ports, a GaN charger can be a more portable and efficient way of powering all your gear. Many also feature the Power Delivery (PD) protocol, required for faster charging. It’s also worth noting that none of these chargers ship with a USB–C cable, so you need to add your own, preferably a PD–compatible one, for maximum power transfer.

How we tested

Using two devices, a 16–inch MacBook Pro and an iPhone 12, for each charger we measured the time charging from empty to full battery. Where a charger had more than one port we also tested charging both devices at the same time, using a USB–C–to– Lightning cable for the iPhone 12. As the phone would always recharge first, the laptop would speed up after the phone reached 100% when using chargers featuring dynamic power balancing, which reallocated power back to the laptop.

Things to consider…

>>> Number of ports