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16-inch MacBook Pro rumored to have a 96W USB-C charger

Alex Blake
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Despite not making an appearance at Apple’s iPhone 11 launch event, a steady stream of rumors about the 16-inch MacBook Pro has continued to flow forth. The latest to be added to the pile concerns the rumored device’s charger: It will supposedly come with a monster 96W USB-C wall adapter.

No other MacBook uses a charger this powerful. In fact, the next closest is the MacBook Pro 15, which uses an 87W charger — still some way off the power of the reputed 16-inch MacBook Pro’s plug.

96W USB-C charger packaging
The leaked image supposedly depicting the 96W USB-C charger’s packaging. Credit: Chongdiantou Image used with permission by copyright holder

This latest rumor comes from the Chinese website Chongdiantou (via 9to5Mac), which has shared a blurry photo purportedly depicting the packaging of the charger. “96W USB-C Power Adapter” can be faintly observed in the picture, above the usual “Designed by Apple in California” text that adorns all of Apple’s packaging.

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According to 9to5Mac, Chongdiantou has been reliable in the past, leaking info regarding the iPhone 11 Pro and Pro Max’s 18W fast charger. But that’s not the only clue to this rumor’s veracity.

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In addition to this apparent leak, our suspicions were raised quite some time ago — when the Pro Display XDR was announced back in June 2019, in fact. On the specs page for Apple’s high-end display, it is noted that there is “One upstream port for Mac Pro or other Thunderbolt 3 host (96W host charging).” Given that no other Apple device actually needs 96W of charging power, this made us wonder: does Apple have something else in the works?

Apple Pro Display XDR 96W
Apple’s Pro Display XDR specs page apparently gives a hint about a potential 96W device Image used with permission by copyright holder

That question has now apparently been answered. If the rumors about the 16-inch MacBook Pro are true — that it’ll have an edge-to-edge display, high-end processors and an all-new keyboard design — then it’ll likely need a very powerful charger. After all, we believe it’ll be Apple’s attempt to go all out on a “generational” device, much like it did with the iPhone X back in 2017.

We’ll likely find out whether there’s any truth to this rumor this October. That’s when Apple is expected to host an event where it launches the 16-inch MacBook Pro, as well as new iPad Pro models, the Mac Pro, AirPods 3, plus much more. We’ll be on hand to give you all the latest news as it happens.

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Alex Blake
Alex Blake
Computing Writer
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