Apple’s New 140W MacBook Pro Charger USB-C Power Delivery 3.1 Compliant

Apple has confirmed that the new 140W charger that comes with the new 16-inch MacBook Pro (2021) features gallium nitride technology and supports USB-C PD 3.1.

Apple boasted about how efficient its new MacBook Pro laptops are during their debut yesterday, but it takes Apple’s most power-hungry laptop charger, a beefy 140-watt brick, to top up the biggest of the new laptops.

Apple’s previous 16-inch MacBook Pros, which use the Intel processors Apple is kicking out of its Mac family, came with a 96-watt charger. The 140-watt charger, which ships only with the 16-inch MacBook Pro, can deliver power into either the laptop’s USB-C ports or its resurrected MagSafe charging port depending on which cable you attach to the charger’s USB-C port.

The charger is Apple’s first to employ gallium nitride, or GaN, the Cupertino company confirmed to The Verge. GaN is a material that allows for higher voltage capacity and reduced energy loss due to heat.

As the report notes, the hefty new charger will work across a range of devices that support the USB-C PD 3.1 standard, not just your MacBook. Because the standard works both ways it also means you’ll be able to use third-party charging accessories to charge your new MacBook.

Alongside the awesome new M1 Pro and M1 Max Apple silicon and a new 120Hz mini-LED display, the new MacBook Pro gets big battery life improvements on the old 16-inch Intel Pro. The 14-inch device can do 17 hours of video playback, whilst the 16-inch is good for up to 21 hours. Apple also says the performance won’t drop off when the MacBook isn’t plugged in.