MacBook users might be getting a charger from Apple that’s less of a brick. At last! The Mac-maker reportedly will start sourcing power adapters made with gallium nitride. GaN semiconductors allow these vital accessories to be significantly smaller than the old silicon ones.
That should be welcome news to Mac users, as the power adapters that come with MacBooks now are noticeably bulkier than third-party options.
The Minix Neo P1 uses gallium nitride to pack three powerful USB ports into a tiny wall charger. It can provide up to 66W to an iPhone, Mac, iPad, Apple Watch or other gear. And the power adapter is made for travel, with fold-down prongs and adapters for a wide variety of countries.
I tested the Neo P1 with a variety of devices. Here’s how it stood up.
Apple won’t include a wall charger or a pair of headphones with the upcoming iPhone 12 series. And it doesn’t stop there. The company no longer bundles these accessories with any handset ordered from the Apple Store. Even if they came in the box before.
The iPhone 12 reportedly will ship without packaged earbuds, but according to reliable Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, it might also lack another standard piece of kit in its box: a charger.
In a new note to clients sent over the weekend, TF International Securities analyst Kuo confirms as legitimate a recent photo of a 20-watt power charger for the new iPhone. However, he says it won’t come with the next-generation iPhone 12.
Traveling usually comes with anxiety over either not having access to a wall socket for all your devices, or having the wrong one for the country you’re in. Consider that problem solved with the Twist+ World Charging Station, a compact charging hub that makes sure no matter where you go, you’ve got a place to plug in all your devices. It’s a game-changer for convenience, and it’s going for just $34.99 at Cult of Mac Deals.
If I was to ask you what kind of product is the PlugBook, what would you say? If you guessed that it’s a power adapter in the shape of a book, then congratulations! You just won today’s Cult of Mac Cup Of Awesomeness, which means you can go have a drink alone in your local bar.
They don’t do it often, but when they do, Apple doesn’t like to mess around when it comes to suing other electronics companies for infringing upon their patents and intellectual properties. No, Apple lawsuits tend to end like a round of Mortal Kombat, at least figuratively. Close your eyes and you can mentally transpose Steve Jobs for Sub-Zero; as the judgment comes down, he holds aloft the fluid-spurting spinal column of a defeated opponent while screaming and staring into the sun. The internet then provides the commentary: FATALITY.
Bad news indeed, then, for Media Solutions Holdings, who must already be feeling the twinge of legal lumbar pain. Last week, Apple filed a patent infringement lawsuit against them, claiming that the company is using a host of different websites (such as laptopsforless.com, laptopacadapter.com and ereplacements.com) to sell knock-off MacBook and MacBook Pro MagSafe power adapters.
