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MacBook (Early 2015)

by Apple

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Apple MacBook Going the Distance with USB Type-C

As smartphones become thinner and more fashion forward, there became less and less space for smartphone designers to stick holes that you could plug into.  Soon, the only hole that became available on all non-Apple phones was a USB port that you could use for charging and data transfer. Now notebooks are following the same trend and not look too out of placed compared to their trendier cousins, the tablet.  As Apple overhauled their eponymous MacBook in early 2015, they saw a chance to come up with a super sleek notebook, the first of its kind that similar to smart phones, only has one interface, a USB port. Only, this is no ordinary USB port.  Forged by giants like Intel, Apple, and Google, the USB Type-C port enables insanely fast file transfer speeds, multi interface technology support, and enough juice to power or charge mobile class devices up to 100 Watts. That means with just a single USB Type-C port, you can power your MacBook, use your MacBook to charge your iPhone, add a USB drive, or attach your monitor.

Apple Store Westfield Valley Fair Mail Santa Clara California-2

I purchased the MacBook at the Apple Store in Westfield Valley Fair Mall in Santa Clara, California.

Apple MacBook Type C at Apple Store Westfield Valley Fair Mail Santa Clara California unboxing-0

Apple MacBook Type C at Apple Store Westfield Valley Fair Mail Santa Clara California unboxing-half

Inside the MacBook box, the main accessory is a USB Type-C Power Charger and Type-C cable.  Gone are the thick and heavy power adapters and power cords lightening your load even more.

Apple Macbook box contents

The new MacBook doesn't have the rainbow of colors like in the past but the "beyond silver" options looks stylish and great.

Apple MacBook Type C at Apple Store Westfield Valley Fair Mail Santa Clara California unboxing-1

Apple MacBook Type C at Apple Store Westfield Valley Fair Mail Santa Clara California unboxing-2

One of the things that sets Apple product apart from others are the wide range of accessories available.

Apple Accessories at Apple Store Westfield Valley Fair Mail Santa Clara California

For USB Type-C, Apple initially released 3 products.  The USB-C to USB Adapter allows you to connect any USB device like USB flash Drive or attach a USB cable to do an emergency charge of your iPhone.  The USB-C Digital AV Multiport Adapter lets you connect to any HDMI TV or display.  The USB-C VGA Multiport Adapter acts like a mini docking station, where you can connect to legacy VGA displays and projectors, USB drives, and other USB Type-C devices.

Apple Type C Adapters at Apple Store Westfield Valley Fair Mail Santa Clara California

With USB Type-C, the MacBook (Early 2015) has been able to push the edge of thinness and cool, creating an elegant design suitable perhaps not for the corporate power user that needs many ports (buy the MacBook Pro for that) but perfect for those looking for an extremely portable, looks great in your Coach handbag type of notebook.

For a closer look on the Mac's power profile, we ran the following tests for the MacBook (Early 2015) using the USB Power Test App from Granite River Labs with the Granite River Labs USB Power Delivery Compliance C2 Tester.

The USB Power Test App first negotiates a power contract emulating the Source to determine the Power Delivery Sink capabilities of the MacBook (Early 2015). The USB Power Test App then reports out the voltage and current supported by the Mac for each of the Source PDO's advertised to the Mac.

Sink Cap.Voltage (V)Current (A)
5V5.092.02
6V5.070.02
7V5.060.02
8V5.091.53
9V5.071.31
10V5.080.02
11V5.071.08
12V12.080.94
13V13.050.95
14V14.070.82
15V15.091.18
16V16.111.01
17V17.070.83
18V18.071.13
19V19.080.8
20V20.080.89

The USB Power Test App from Granite River Labs also produces a voltage, current trace plot which graphically shows the voltage and current requested by the MacBook (Early 2015) for each advertised Source PDO throughout the power negotiation.

Port1 Plot

Using the USB Power Delivery Compliance C2 Tester from Granite River Labs to run just a subset of the full USB Power Delivery compliance test suite, compliance failures were observed entirely for all tests performed for the MacBook (Early 2015).

USB-IF High Level Mapping Summary

Sl No

Test Category

Test Group Description

Test Result

2

PHY_PRIMARY_RX

BMC Physical Layer Receiver

FAIL

3

PHY_PRIMARY_MISC

BMC Physical Layer Miscellaneous

FAIL

4

PROT_PRIMARY

Protocol Specific Primary

FAIL

5

POWER_PRIMARY

Power Source/Sink Primary

FAIL

Result Summary

Sl No

Test ID

Test Name

Test Result

3

TDA.2.1.2.2

TDA.2.1.2.2 BMC PHY RX INT REJ

FAIL

4

TDA.2.1.2.1

TDA.2.1.2.1 BMC PHY RX BUSIDL

FAIL

5

TDA.2.1.3.1

TDA.2.1.3.1 BMC PHY TERM

FAIL

6

TDA.2.1.3.2

TDA.2.1.3.2 BMC PHY MSG

FAIL

7

TDA.2.2.1

TDA.2.2.1 BMC PROT SEQ GETCAPS

FAIL

12

TDA.2.2.7

TDA.2.2.7 BMC PROT BIST NOT 5V SRC

FAIL

14

TDA.2.2.9

TDA.2.2.9 BMC PROT GSC REC

FAIL

15

TDA.2.2.10

TDA.2.2.10 BMC PROT IGN PPS

FAIL

17

TDA.2.3.1.2

TDA.2.3.1.2 POW SRC LOAD CP ACC

FAIL

18

TDA.2.3.2.1

TDA.2.3.2.1 POW SRC TRANS P PC

FAIL

19

TDA.2.3.2.2

TDA.2.3.2.2 POW SRC TRANS CP ACC

FAIL

20

TDA.2.3.3.1

TDA.2.3.3.1 POW SNK TRANS C CP

FAIL

21

TDA.2.3.3.2

TDA.2.3.3.2 POW SNK TRANS PC

FAIL

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