Anker 735 vs Prime 100W for a MacBook and phone

June wanted her bag back

The trimming tool was in the side pocket. The charger was in the bottom of June’s canvas bag, where Tessa had left it after Friday’s recording session. June tipped it onto the workbench and started repacking for her ceramics class.

Tessa had borrowed the bag because her own was still full of recording gear. The shared Anker charger had gone with her. By Monday, June was searching the room for one thing while unknowingly carrying the other.

They could stop moving chargers around. Tessa would pack the original Apple adapter with her recording equipment. A charger left at the workbench could serve her MacBook and June’s phone, with an occasional older accessory in the USB-A socket. June could then take the bag without taking half the charging arrangement with her.

Another little Anker 735 looked like the obvious choice. Tessa’s 13-inch M1 MacBook Pro had come with a 61W adapter. The Nano II said 65W. Before adding it to their list, she checked what happened when the phone joined it.

The second cable changes the numbers

The everyday laptop-and-phone row was 45W plus 20W. On the A2667 Nano II, the upper USB-C socket, C1, has a 45W ceiling when C2 is also occupied. The 65W ceiling applies to a USB-C port used alone.

That is the combination to check for a laptop and a USB-C phone. June still had her iPhone 13. A USB-C-to-Lightning cable would let her use the same charger sockets without replacing the phone. The USB-C part describes the charger end of her cable.

Her existing USB-A-to-Lightning cable gave them another row to consider. With the laptop on C1 and the phone on USB-A, the laptop maximum was 40W. With the laptop on C2 beside USB-A, it fell to 12W. Filling all three sockets gave C1 40W, C2 12W and USB-A 12W.

Tessa could see why reading only the front of the charger had been too quick. Apple permits USB-C adapters above or below the recommended wattage, so her MacBook could still charge from a lower-rated supply. The original 61W rating gave her a clear comparison for the purchase.

She wanted at least that much power available to the laptop while June’s phone was plugged in. The port figures told her which charger offered it. They could not tell her how much battery she would gain during an editing session or how long a charge would take.

One charger stays home

The Prime 100W, model A2688, gave Tessa a more useful row. With a laptop on C1 and a phone on C2, Anker specifies 65W plus 35W. Add a third device at USB-A and C1 still has a 65W maximum. C2 and USB-A then share 24W. The three-port total is 89W.

That made A2688 their choice for the shared workbench. The laptop would use the upper socket. The lower two could serve smaller devices within their shared allowance. If those devices also needed substantial power, this would be the wrong plan for them.

Tessa wrote down the exact A2688 model and the cables they would need. Charging cables come separately. Their list included a suitably rated USB-C laptop cable and a USB-C-to-Lightning cable for June’s phone.

The A2688, when they bought it, would stay by the workbench. Tessa put the Apple adapter into her own recording bag. June repacked the trimming tool and left for class with the canvas bag she had been trying to reclaim.

When the charger you have is enough

If the laptop normally charges alone, the A2667 already offers a 65W USB-C ceiling. Its shared 45W limit matters when you need more power available at the laptop port while the phone is connected.

Keep an existing charger that serves your routine. Suitable separate adapters and convenient wall sockets can also make a new shared charger unnecessary.