New 12 inch MacBook charges up from your phone's power pack

Just when we thought the new 12 inches MacBook ran out of surprises, here is a fresh new discovery: mobile charging!

While Apple makes no mention of the feature, the new MacBook’s only USB Type-C connector can indeed be plugged into some of the higher-end portable power packs on the market, some as cheap as $10.

The amperage provided by these pocket-size battery packs is nowhere near what’s required to fully charge a MacBook, and charging via one of these devices can be a rather slow endeavour. Having said that, having a fully-charged battery pack handy when no wall-outlet is anywhere in sight, can be a life saver in a range of situations, especially since no special adapters are needed.

Some of the best battery packs available on the market for mobile charging, are manufactured by Monoprice, and support both iOS and Android devices. This type of battery is capable of completely charging an iPhone up to four times.

Using a MacBook while plugged into a power pack will most likely consumer power faster than the power pack is able to put in, however, charging a MacBook while in standby, or when powered down, can in most cases top off the MacBook’s battery.

A few weeks ago we talked about how Apple is planning to develop wireless charging technology that could very well apply to Mac products as well as iOS devices, and we won’t be surprised if the choice of the USB Type-C connector, did have at least something to do with Apple’s plans for charging future devices.