How much power do USB-C ports on MacBook Pro provide?

Question

How much power do USB-C ports on MacBook Pro provide?

I have the 2023 M4 MBP and I use it to work in VR with my Quest 3. I plug my Quest into one of the USB-C ports on the left side of the MBP because the app I use requires a wired connection for best performance. The connection is great, but my headset slowly dies while I'm using it.

I know my headset draws about 20W to operate without the battery dropping. Do one of the USB-C ports provide more power than the others? The only other thing plugged into my laptop is the magsafe charger and a 100W third party power brick that I bought. I still have the apple brick, but I switched to the other brick because it also has more ports to charge the headset, if I so choose.

The only thing connected to the brick is usually my iphone.

[Re-Titled by Moderator]

MacBook Pro 14″, macOS 15.3

Posted on Mar 17, 2025 11:54 AM

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Answer 1

MartinR

Level 7

25,510 points

Mar 17, 2025 1:10 PM in response to Read_Delicious

Different literature says different things about TB/USB-C port power delivery.

The USB ports are rated to deliver 900mA max, so you would expect only about 4-5w; but recent models seem to have the ability to juice that a bit.

The TB/USB-C ports are supposed to deliver up to 15w to the first port used and up to 7.5w to second/additional ports.

In either case, that's less than the 20w you said your headset demands. You should fully charge the Q3 with its own power adapter before use but it will still run down as you use it.

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