At CES 2022, Anker announced a new addition to its Nano II USB-C charger lineup, a more powerful version featuring two USB-C ports capable of outputting up to 100W, as well as an older USB-C A Charging port.The $79 Anker Nano II 100W (also known as the Anker 736 Charger) is now available on Amazon (via Mike Rumors), although it has shown sold out.
The Nano II charger uses the company’s second-generation gallium nitride components, replacing the silicon components of older chargers, delivering more power with less heat in a smaller package. According to Anker, the Nano II 100W is 34 percent smaller than Apple’s 96W charger, has similar features, and two extra ports to help you reduce the number of items you need to keep all your devices powered. Another plus is that its fast charging is compatible with various devices, supports USB Power Delivery 3.0 PPS (Programmable Power Standard) and Quick Charge 3.0 support.
Image: Anker
The caveat with this charger is that its USB-C port is capable of delivering up to 100W of power—but only when you plug a device into one of them. Many laptops and other devices require far less power than charging or even fast charging, but this is something to consider if you have a larger MacBook Pro. Using both USB-C ports simultaneously reduces the maximum output to 60W for the first slot and 40W for the second — Anker has a chart that breaks it down further.
Anker 736 Charging GuideImage: Anker
Anker isn’t the only company using gallium nitride (GaN) for smaller, more powerful chargers — Apple’s first brick to feature the technology was the 140W power supply that came with the 16-inch MacBook Pro — but it’s been since It has been leading the way since 2018, when it showed off its first GaN power adapter.
in an interview edge EiC Nilay Patel on decoder In a podcast last fall, Anker CEO Steven Yang explained why his company is rolling out GaN so quickly and iterating on it.
Gallium nitride was a key enabling technology that hit the market about three years ago, but you’re already talking about the third generation. Is gallium nitride a technology that requires engineering resources? Is there a supplier pipeline or materials science pipeline? How do you manage this investment?
Anker was actually the first company to bring gallium nitride to consumer electronics charging. The way we’ve been able to do this is by partnering with leading-edge chipset manufacturers developing gallium nitride charging chips. We are almost their main customer. So when a chip was originally developed, there were many hoops to jump through to turn it into a product. This requires not only material science knowledge, but also application knowledge, system architecture knowledge, and thermal management knowledge. It’s pretty much the job of the system. We’ve built up knowledge in this area and combined it with gallium nitride chips and manufacturers to build them into products.
This year you will see GaN2 in 65W and 30W form factors. We’ve been working with Power Innovations for almost a year. GaN2 is a brand new next-generation chip that we launched in the middle of this year. GaN2’s 65-watt size is a fraction of the competition.
The reason we are able to do this is based on the latest generation of GaN2 from Power Innovations. We’ve been the only partner for almost a year, and because PI and Anker are working separately, you won’t see similar products from other brands for at least three to six months.
So Anker and PI have an exclusive partnership to develop the next-generation GaN chipset, and then that window opens in three to six months so others can buy the chipset.
yes.
Tyler Mallery, head of US media relations at Anker, confirmed edge In fact, the chargers do fire up, and Anker is waiting for more stock to arrive. The 736 charger is in short supply and isn’t even listed on Anker’s website, but if this is the charger you’ve been waiting for, keep an eye on the Amazon page to see when it returns.
