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Comment by scarface74 | Hacker News Reader

I can't speak for laptops but I can speak for the utility of having a thin phone and a battery pack that makes it thicker and heavier than it would be if Apple just included a bigger battery:

I've only used my battery pack four or five times in the year and a half I've had my 6s. Most of the time I'm not far away from a plug - either at home, in my car, at work, etc.

But when I travel, a slightly bigger battery wouldn't be enough. I would want twice the battery life - something I can get by using a battery pack - but I probably wouldn't get from a slightly larger iPhone.

If you have to optimize, why optimize for the edge cases instead of the most popular case and give options for those times people need it.

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Now that the MacBook Pro has USB-C is there any reason Apple couldn't implement some type of fast-charging technology like you find in smartphones? The OnePlus 3/3T in particular are amazingly fast. [1][2]

Since getting my Pixel XL I have a noticed I rely on external battery packs less as I often have access to a power socket for at least an hour or two when I travel.

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbELsT1hfnA

[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0SU0Me4Fds

The new MacBook Pro charges very, very quickly, 10 to 80% in 20-30 minutes by my estimation.

I can count on running off the battery all day as long as I can get it plugged in while I fetch a sandwich for lunch.

Do you know if it will slow charge from a low power usb power source?

If I plug mine into a 2 amp usb A charger it says that it is not charging, but does that mean it is drawing zero watts, or only that it is only drawing 10 watts? It would be nice to charge it overnight if only a phone charger happens to be around, or even just slow down the discharge rate while using the laptop.

It does slow charge, i use my external Anker Powercore Plus battery pack with it, while its not able to charge it while running because the MBP draws more Power than the Anker Battery can output it EXTENDS its battery lifetime very noticeably.

While that'd work, I'd advise against it as I feel like that'd needlessly heat the battery and reduce its life.

If that were true, wouldn't it be the job of the computer's battery management system to make sure it didn't happen?

Forcing user to learn all kinds of magic rules for how to "treat their battery" seems very old-fashioned and strange.

No, when providing supplemental power the battery current is lower and therefore has less heating. This will extend the life of the battery.

It does -- I travel with a 12" Macbook and the Google 15W USB-C charger. Take about 3 hours to charge from <10% to full.

Where would one buy this charger? Would be great as a travel charger if it works well, I currently use my iPad charger but a 50% power boost would come greatly appreciated.

18w version is here https://store.google.com/product/usb_type_c_18w_power_adapte...

I've charged my 15" Touchbar MBP with a 2 amp charger and a USB-A -> USB-C charger. Both used it for overnight charing and while plugged in (when using it plugged in it wouldn't draw battery but it wouldn't charge it either, maybe even drawing battery very slowly).

The reason why USB-C (with Power Delivery) is connected to fast charging with phones is that it allows more power to be transferred via cable than previous USB charging standards. For Notebooks this is not necessarily true, as there was no limitation for power delivered to the notebook before.

What you have to consider with fast charging is that it degrades the batteries faster and produces more heat.

iPad Pros fast charge from the USB-C adaptors.

Or just have an external battery pack that powers any of your USB devices. As you say, this represents maybe 5% of my usage. Most of the time I don't worry about battery, but sure enjoy having a slim phone.

Honest question what do you enjoy about the super slim phone? In the last years have you seen any phone thats too thick to hold or hard to put in pocket or just about don't fit in any place? Why slimmer, I honestly don't understand since it only makes it more slippery, harder to grip, more fragile. I don't see any use for further slimming than making a fashion statement or a notch for the marketing team.

I can understand if someone says they want even lighter.

Lighter is always my main concern, I never really hear other people complain but I often support the bottom of my phone with my pinky when using with one hand (bad habit) - and I definitely feel every extra gram ...

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