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This technology is cool. My only problem with it is that it's going to incentivize even more power-hungry devices.
I came across this post by the framework company a few days ago. They were boasting about their new 240W adapter. My question was: do we really want 240W laptops? Shouldn't we make them smaller and more efficient instead?
My thought is faster charging is a better reason for high wattage adapters. If your adapter can put out 240w and your laptop requires 70w to run then your battery would charge at 170w.
IMO It's relative
My current laptop (edit: used for for studio apps, 3D modeling and rendering, and AI stuff) draws 240W but I'd say it's an improvement over the 500W+ I would be drawing from a desktop that would have been in it's place. The performance isn't that competitive with desktop parts but the Perf/Watt definitely better.
Most people are just going to be using their phones and tablets to browse the web and watch videos anyway, with the odd Ultrabook here and there which are still pretty good in a Perf/Watt sense.
Jevons paradox does come to mind though.
There's a difference between consuming power to do stuff, and consuming power to charge. More power to charge = faster charging.
Well, certainly on phones those ultra-high charging rates are not doing the batteries much good - I keep mine on slow charge. But laptops do max out the USB-C on many chargers (if you have the right cables) and I've felt my USB-C charger get pretty hot.
Some people use laptops for doing mobile work, and in some cases that work requires computing power and possibly external peripherals which might require power from the computer. And, of course, games are power hungry.
Higher wattage chargers can also charge the battery faster. Lithium batteries, regardless of their size, can be charged to full in one hour (but it's recommended for full charge to take about 1.5 to 2 hours to not wear down the battery). The bigger the battery the more wattage you need to charge it that fast. Especially if you are using the computer at the same time.
That’s why Apple’s push towards ARM is a great step forward
They ship their MBP 16" with 140w power supplies, way higher than framework standard 60w charger. But I would guess it's to be able to push full power and still charge the battery as fast as possible
I have a 45W one since i dont have any USB-C devices that have fast charging. The only device that i own that can use its whole capacity is a chromebook. However it charges super slow when plugged in and powered on. I figure the computer is pulling most or all the power for operation