Powering laptop on a swinging mooring.

[eddystone]

Once my boat is back in the water I’m planning to stay aboard for extended periods on her (river) mooring. I only have one 12v socket and various plug in adapters including USB. House batteries are 2 x 85ah with 2x20 solar panels. In order to carry on normal life AFAP I plan to get a MacBook and run off iPhone’s 4G as Wi-fi hotspot. Has to be Mac as my various photo editing software is Mac only. I’m not sure if it will power off a a USB lead or I need an inverter? My existing one is a Sterling 150w modified sine wave. I maybe looking at a refurbished intel Mac as I’m not sure if my software will run on new M1 versions although they may have lower power requirements.

 

[LadyInBed]

Look at spec for pc mains power adapter, if it's in the o/p range 12-14v be then you can run it straight off the boat battery.
If the pc mains power adapter is usb then you will also be ok.
If its more than 14v then look for a dc to dc converter that supplies the correct voltage.

 

[gregcope]

If your Mac is recent and has USB-C charging you can get cigy socket 12V USB-C adaptors that will work.

 

[eddystone]

If your Mac is recent and has USB-C charging you can get cigy socket 12V USB-C adaptors that will work.

That would be ideal

 

[jwfrary]

I use my macbook 12 inch with an anker 12v cigarette type adapter. Works well.

You might want to up you solar if you don't want to run your engine. A movable panel might work well