240W GaN: a power strip that fits in one socket.

The top of the standard

PD 3.1 Extended Power Range tops out at a 48V fixed rail carrying 5A. Nothing in USB-C goes higher, so 240W is a genuine end of the road rather than a step on a ladder. It is worth being blunt about what that means in practice: no laptop currently asks for 240W over USB-C. The 16″ MacBook Pro asks for 140W. Large gaming laptops that exceed 140W generally still use barrel connectors. The 48V rail exists mostly for future hardware and for the headroom it gives a multi-port design.

Deeper background: the 240W USB-C guide and Power Delivery explained.

What the budget is actually for

A 240W four-port GaN unit is a desk consolidator. A realistic simultaneous load looks like this: a 16″ MacBook Pro at 140W, a second laptop or tablet at 65W, a phone at 25W, and earbuds on the last port — roughly 240W drawn at once, all four devices at full negotiated speed, from one outlet. That is the entire argument. Compare it with a 100W four-port unit, where the same four devices would be sharing and throttling constantly.

Efficiency matters more here than anywhere else. At 94%, a 240W supply dissipates about 15.3W of waste heat at full load; at a silicon-typical 89% it would dissipate about 29.7W. Thirty watts of heat inside a wall-plug enclosure is not a product — it is a fire-safety problem. GaN is the only reason this tier exists in a hand-sized package at all, which the GaN explainer covers in more depth.

Picks at 240W

• 240W

  SmallRig 240W 4-Port PD

  Desk-class GaN with PD 3.1 on the primary port — 140W for a laptop and 100W-class headroom for the rest.

  Output

  240W total

  Ports

  3× USB-C, 1× USB-A

  Standard

  PD 3.1

  Tech

  GaN

  Check price on Amazon
• 245W

  HyperJuice 245W GaN

  Four-port desktop unit above the 240W line, aimed at a laptop-plus-everything workstation setup.

  Output

  245W total

  Ports

  Multiple USB-C

  Standard

  PD 3.1

  Tech

  GaN

  Check price on Amazon
• 300W

  UGREEN Nexode 300W Desktop

  Above the tier, for people who want 140W plus 100W simultaneously with no arbitration at all.

  Output

  300W class

  Ports

  4+ USB-C

  Standard

  PD 3.1

  Tech

  GaN

  Check price on Amazon
• Cable

  240W EPR USB-C Cable

  Mandatory for any EPR voltage. Rated 48V/5A, so it authorises 140W and 240W alike.

  Rating

  240W EPR

  Current

  5A e-marked

  Use

  Required above 100W

  Check price on Amazon

Also see 140W GaN, 100W GaN, multi-port adapters, and GaN vs silicon. Hub: GaN chargers.

FAQ