Just purchased a used 2021 MacBook Pro M1 Max laptop and wish to get an Apple USB-C to MagSafe 3 Charging Cable to ensure fast charging.
What are my chances of getting a genuine one off of eBay?
Anything in particular I can look for to try to ensure a real one?
No idea if there are used ones on the market, but Apple will sell you a new one for $49 in the US,
I would bite the bullet and buy one from Apple.
There are far too many low quality knock-off and counterfeit Apple products on eBay, Amazon and most other “marketplace” style web sites. If you see a good price for an Apple-branded product, it’s probably either broken or a scam.
I performed an Amazon search for “magsafe 3 cable” and found thousands of hits. But they’re almost entirely from no-name random Chinese brands with names that look like a cat walked over a keyboard (e.g. “Tciogrxp”), which are fly-by-night dumping grounds for slipshod manufacturers. I wouldn’t buy from any of them, no matter what the published specs are, assuming that it’s all a lie.
Sadly, my favorite aftermarket cable brand, Anker, doesn’t make a MagSafe cable.
But do you need MagSafe? If it’s because you want the magnetic breakaway capability (as I do), then the answer is yes. But if it’s just for faster charging, you should note that in the time since MagSafe 3 was invented, companies have started selling high power USB-C charge cables.
For example, an Anker 240W USB-C charge cable ($20 MSRP). Not magnetic, and only support USB2 data-transfer (which doesn’t matter if it’s going to be plugged into a power brick), but should charge your Mac at the maximum speed it and your charger supports.
Or if you want to use the cable for data as well, you can get USB4/TB cables that support 240W charging. For example, Anker 515 TB cable ($26 MSRP). Still not magnetic, but support high speed charging and high speed data (USB4/TB3).
I thought I read that only the official Apple MagSafe 3 charging cable allowed for high-speed charging of the MacBook Pro with any charging block that supported the higher wattage. For example, a third party cable with the Apple 140W charging block would not charge at high speed, but an official cable would charge at high speed with any charging block that supported the higher power.
Have I mis-understood?
Yes, they said that, but it should no longer be applicable.
USB charge cables have a digital ID specifying their maximum current capacity (cables without these chips will charge at much lower capacities), and nothing at the time supported more than 100W. So if you wanted to use a higher power charger, you needed to use MagSafe 3,
But today there are cables that support up to 240W. If you use such a cable, then you should be able to deliver full power to a USB-C port.
You are correct for older 16" MBPs. For the 14" MBP there are options.
Essentially, it boils down to being careful about what you mean by “fast charging”:
On the 14" MBP, there is no charging above 100 W (not even over MagSafe) and hence regular USB-C PD (at 20 V) along with a regular 100-W cable is just fine. Chargers or cables rated for >100W render no benefit.
On the 16" 2023 M3 MBP and later, there is support for 140-W charging, not just over MagSafe, but also over USB-C so that does require a beefier USB cable.
Bottom line, if you’re on a 14" MBP or you have a 16" with M1 ort M2, the fastest you can do over USB-C is 100-W charging which means any 100-W brick along with a simple 100-W cable (like this $4 cable, or this 2 for $10 deal) will suffice. If you’re on an older 16", you would need MagSafe to exploit 140-W charging.
Ahh, I see that by offering incomplete information, I have erred.The laptop I have just purchased is a 16" 2021 MacBook Pro M1 Max.
From the Apple Support article posted above, I see the option: “140W USB-C Power Adapter + 240W USB-C Charge Cable for MacBook Pro (16-inch, Nov 2023) or later”. So it would appear that the 2021 laptop I just purchased doesn’t qualify.
Checking out the Anker USB-C to USB-C Cable (3 ft / 6 ft, 240W mentioned above, I see in the fine print “Limited Charging Speed for 16” MacBook Pro (2021 / 2022)", so I unsure of any definition of “high speed charging” there. Can anyone tell me WHAT the charging speed would be?
The “Anker 515 USB-C to USB-C Cable (Thunderbolt 4 Compatible)” cable lists many MacBooks as compatible, but specifically does NOT list 2021 16" MacBook Pro M1 Max", so I don’t see that being appropriate either.
If rapid charging is important, looks like I need to go the official MagSafe route. Am I interpreting this correctly?
That is correct. If you want to charge at 140 W using that 140-W brick, you’d need to go MagSafe on the 16" M1 Max.
Frankly, unless you need to charge quickly while the MBP is doing heavy work so you really need to make sure to squeeze out every last watt, there’s probably no strong reason to spend lots of money on a MagSafe cable (not that MagSafe isn’t convenient or offers other benefits).
If you do end up settling for USB-C charging, any 100-W rated cable will do. And these days a 2-m/6.6-ft cable can be had for just $4 (link above). There’s no benefit from spending extra to get higher power-rated cables for use with that MBP. If OTOH you’d also want to use that cable for other Macs or other purposes, including data (perhaps even TB4), then by all means get 40 Gbps and 240 W since these days that’s as cheap as $11 for 1 m or $20 for 2 m.
Thanks for all the replies and the advice.
OWC has Magsafe 3 on sale today.
I was going to mention that as well. Just checked and they have a used one for less than$25, new for about $10 more. Limited stock.
My lovely bride would not be considered a power user and with her new-to-us laptop mostly sitting on here desk, we’re using a USB-C cable to charge it. Having said that, I DID purchase one of the used ones from OWC just to have one as I suspect they will be increasing difficult to find in the future.