Tested: Anker’s Prime 240W USB-C charger should be a day-one buy for M3 MacBook owners

Apple is fully embracing USB-C with just about all of its latest devices and accessories, and Anker’s new Prime 240W charger has been the perfect power station to ease the transition. With dynamic power allocation and a dedicated 140W USB-C port, this is perfect for the new M3 MacBooks, iPhone 15, and any other gear you can throw at it.

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Anker recently refreshed the most capable end of its charger spectrum with its new Prime series. At the tip top of those new debuts is the Prime 240W USB-C Charger, which looks to solve all of your power woes – especially anyone eyeing one of those shiny new M3 MacBooks.

Backed by Anker’s ActiveShield 2.0 and PowerIQ 4 charging tech, the new Prime 240W charger is not just its most capable but also the company’s smartest release so far – offering the ability to dynamically adjust how your four plugged-in devices receive power. It’s also one of the more well-made gadgets from Anker, with a design that can only be described as being an absolute tank that is paired with an external metal stand for holding it upright on your desk.

Here’s a closer look at the spec sheet:

• With one USB-C port providing up to 140W and the other three ports sharing 100W, one can charge up to 4 devices simultaneously with a maximum output of 240W. 
• Power two laptops at the same time, with the USB-C 1 port delivering 140W and the USB-C 2 port providing 100W. 
• Provides real-time safety by monitoring temperature around the clock, performing 3 million checks every day to ensure optimal charging performance. 
• The charger’s compact design with a detachable base ensures a clutter-free workspace while delivering efficient charging.

gadgetnewsonline’ Take

I’ve been using the new Anker Prime 240W USB-C Charger for the past several weeks, and the whole experience has been an absolute delight. These high-capacity multidevice chargers as a product category are already some of my favorite types of releases, and Anker’s latest crack has delivered just about everything I could want out of the form factor. It is one of the most reliable offerings yet and has fully lived up to its promise of streamlining my charging setup.

Now, after last night’s Apple Scary Fast event, all I can think about is how this will be the perfect M3 MacBook Pro charger. I’ve been mainly using it with my 14-inch M2 Max MacBook Pro, and it has been an absolute tank handling keeping that laptop charged up, as well as the other gear on my nightstand and desk.

The real star of the show is its ability to dynamically adjust power output based on what gear you have plugged in. What good is 240W of power if you have to be extremely specific with how you use it, right? The one limitation is that you’re always going to want to have your MacBook plugged into the labeled USB-C port on the top, but the rest of the slots can be used pretty dynamically.

The top port is reserved with 140W of power that will have no issues charging up even Apple’s most capable 16-inch M3 Max machine. The other four slots are a bit more flexible for how the other 100W is used. The USB-A slot that bookends the outputs really isn’t going to be handling anything all too intensive, but it’s those middle two USB-C ports that can really shine.

You could plug a second laptop into one slot and an iPad into the other, and it’ll dynamically allocate power to make sure that both devices charge as fast as they can. So if one of them needs a little more juice to get back to 100% and the other just needs a quick power nap, Anker’s Prime 240W USB-C Charger will be able to take care of adjusting its power out.

The actual capabilities are reason alone to recommend Anker’s most capable power station, but the price tag is just the cherry on top. The Anker Prime 240W USB-C Charger normally sells for $200, which is a pretty reasonable MSRP in its own right. But the fact that it is on sale for $150 right now makes it hands down the multidevice charger to recommend.

Other multidevice power stations to consider:

Nomad launches new 130W 3-port USB-C charger with adaptive GaN power

Satechi’s new 200W USB-C charger packs enough juice for your Apple kit

UGREEN debuts new 300W Nexode 5-port USB-C GaN Charger [Deal]

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