Why are laptop adapters so much larger than phone adapters of same power rating? - eviltoast

I always see laptops come with larger bricks that have separate mains cable which plugs into the brick. Even if the adapter has some low power rating.

Example for comparison:

On the right is a standard laptop adapter.
Same price, same connector, same protocol, same power rating, far different size.

Why is that so?

Actually, the GaN adapter on the left also advertises itself as being meant for laptops, but by default, almost all laptops will come with something like the one on the right.

Or is it simply cheaper to manufacture while being sold for the same price?

  • Ok, I guess I misinterpreted what you said. My laptop only has a DC barrel port. I want to charge it using any of the high wattage GaN chargers. To do that, I’ll need something that converts the USB-C to barrel, and does the voltage negotiations. But thanks anyway. Maybe this’ll help someone else.

    • cRazi_man@lemm.ee
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      2 months ago

      Ah, I’ve never tried to convert it that way. Laptops all seem to have had USB charging for many years now.