Did Apple stop selling A1947 USB-C power adapters?

TidBITS Talk
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I need another one since the third party brands, even Anker, don’t work like the original Apple’s A1947 USB-C power adapter that came with the 2020 13" Intel MBP. If Apple stopped selling it, then do they have another one similar to it?

Thank you for reading and hopefully answering soon. :)

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The A1947 is a 61W adapter. I don’t see it on Apple’s store page for Mac chargers, but I see these larger USB-C adapters that should work just as well:

Using a charger with a higher capacity than you need won’t hurt. And if you want to use it on something else in the future (e.g. a newer laptop), it won’t have any problem keeping up.

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Thanks David. I don’t want to get higher since they are bigger and heavier. That Anker one was heavy enough!

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I’d check with retailers. For example, I found a long discontinued Apple adapter that I needed at Microcenter.

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The 70W adapter is smaller and lighter than the 61W A1947 adapter.

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How much smaller and lighter? What about the more powerful models like 140 watts?

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http://www.original-phoneaccessories.com/usb-pd-charger-with-more-details/
The 61W A1947 is 74mm x 29mm x 74mm. Its weight is around 209g.

https://www.chargerlab.com/review-of-new-apple-70w-gan-usb-c-charger-a2743/
The 70W A2743 is 65mm x 29mm x 65mm. Its weight is about 165g.

https://www.chargerlab.com/teardown-of-brand-new-apple-140w-usb-c-gan-charger/
The 140W A2452 is 96mm x 29mm x 75mm. Its weight is about 277g.

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Thanks. I guess 61W for traveling.

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For many years chargers have used “switch mode power supplies” to convert the AC mains power to the DC output. Newer power supplies, from Apple and many other manufacturers, are more efficient and require less iron in their voltage step-down transformers because they operate at a higher switching frequency than older switch mode power supplies, enabled by newly developed Gallium Nitride (GaN) transistors.

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Depending on how heavily you use your laptop, you might want to try going extremely small and light. On my last trip, I brought an Anker 47W USB C Charger (Nano 3). It’s only 1.36" x 1.36" x 2.05" and 2.86oz.

I wasn’t going to be using my computer all day, and 47W was plenty to get back to 100% overnight. Staying plugged in while using the computer slowed the battery’s decline. The charger has two USB-C ports, so I’m also able to charge my watch, iPhone and iPad mini.

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Well, I still want to use MBP during recharge too. Original recharger was 61 watts. Anker’s and other third party brands weren’t always charging. :(

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The USB-C Power Delivery spec allows power supplies to output 5, 9, 15 or 20 volts. They default to 5v, and can switch to higher voltages after negotiating capabilities with a connected load (like a computer).

As I understand it, a Mac laptop must charge at 20v. It will not charge at a lower voltage.

Which means that a “generic” USB-C power brick that isn’t designed for laptops may not be able to output 20v, no matter how many watts it is designed to output. (The PD spec does say that 20v is the only supported voltage for loads greater than 60W, however.)

So, do you know what model Anker charger you were using? If it was designed (for example) for fast-charging phones and tablets, it might only be outputting 9v or 15v. But a laptop won’t request anything other than 20v, and will only get 5v if the power supply only supports other voltages - which will definitely not charge anything.

If it was designed to output 20v for laptop charging, then it should have worked.

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Anker PowerPort III 3-port 65W Pod.

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Thanks. That helps a lot. I was able to find a link to its user’s guide.

According to the manual, there are three ports, but the three are not interchangeable:

  • A type-A port
  • A 20W type-C port
  • A 45W type-C port

Only the 45W port is capable of outputting 20v, and even then, only if you’re not trying to use all three ports at once. According to the specs on pages 12 and 13:

  • If one or two ports are used, the 45W port can output 20v at up to 2.25A (45W)
  • But if all three ports are used at the same time, that 45W port will only go up to 15v - the 20v mode isn’t available.

There are similar restrictions for the 20W port - it won’t support 9v if the type-A port is also in use.

So, if you want to try it again, you need to make sure of two things:

  • Your cable is connected to the 45W port (the one furthest from the type-A port)
  • You are not trying to use all three ports at once.

If you have it and want to give it a try, let us know if this helps at all.

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Is using that 45W port not enough for this Intel MBP when using (not idling)? I wonder if this charger is too weak.

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I don’t know what the actual power draw of that computer is. It may be that 45W can’t keep up with it during normal operation.

Does it charge when the computer is idle or asleep? If it does, then it’s working fine, but you need more power to keep up with the system load. If not, then there’s some other problem.

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I am retrying Anker again. It seems to be charging when using it. We’ll see how long this will last.

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