A small 130 W USB-C adapter powers the Dell 16 Premium with Core Ultra H and RTX 5070 graphics

One of the best things to come out of the USB-C connector is the universal USB-C AC adapter. These adapters have been slowly replacing the proprietary barrel-type AC adapters that are prevalent on older laptops. While most early USB-C adapters were limited to 80 W or less, Many newer ones are reaching much higher outputs of 130 W or more to power more powerful systems.

The Dell 16 Premium is a notable example of a performance-oriented laptop powered by a relatively small (~12.8 x 5.5 x 2.3 cm) 130 W USB-C AC adapter. Most other laptops with similar Core Ultra H and GeForce RTX GPU configurations typically ship with larger barrel-type AC adapters such as those from MSI. Lenovo's closest competitor to the Dell 16 Premium is the Yoga Pro 9i 16 which ships with a larger but more capable 170 W USB-C AC adapter to squeeze more performance from similar Core Ultra H and GeForce RTX configurations.

The largest USB-C AC adapter we've seen thus far is the 280 W adapter (~16.2 x 7.5 x 2.3 cm) that ships with the Dell Pro Max 18 Plus. This professional workstation includes very demanding Core Ultra HX and RTX Pro 5000 hardware all powered by the familiar USB-C cable. Hopefully more gaming laptops adopt the universal USB-C standard sooner rather later as the vast majority of models from Alienware, Razer, MSI, and others still ship with bulky barrel-type adapters when high-power USB-C solutions are already available.