You Can Use A MacBook Pro Power Adapter With a MacBook

41 Replies

1. PatrickQG adds this Comment:

   I’ll second that - having two power adapters (or, n+1 adapters, where n is the number of desks you typically use your machine at with obscured power points) is a must.

   Useful info too as I’m going to make the jump to a MBP or MB in the next month or so.

   May 24th, 2006 at 12:13 am

2. Seb Payne adds this Comment:

   But the question is - did you buy a Black one How does Windows run on it? Is a further write coming soon Alex?

   May 24th, 2006 at 3:08 am

3. danithew adds this Comment:

   I’d love to read the AlexKing review on the MacBook. I’ve been reading reviews that says it runs too hot. True? Not that big a deal? I’d like to hear your opinion.

   May 24th, 2006 at 6:00 am

4. Alex adds this Comment:

   I’ve got a bunch of draft “stubs” for MacBook posts. Hopefully once I recover from losing 2 days of work with the stupid new server config I’ll be able to get them posted.

   Seb - Yep, I got the black one.

   danithew - I’ll try to cover the heat issues I’ve experienced in one of the posts.

   May 24th, 2006 at 8:28 am

5. Chris Meller adds this Comment:

   You have cable trays on your desk? What kind of nerd are you? Real nerds have them draping all down the back of the desk and pooling at your feet!

   At work I solve the problem and make it much more convenient when I’m setting up a new laptop by running a power strip (through all the cable trays, if I had any) and leaving it on the back of the desk. Then I can take my power adapter with me, but it’s still easy to plug it in. When I flip open the laptop, you can’t even see the mess of cables coiled up behind it.

   May 24th, 2006 at 11:44 am

6. Jasmeet adds this Comment:

   Thanks for the info, I had been wondering if it were possible to use them interchangably.

   May 25th, 2006 at 12:00 am

7. alexking.org: Blog > MacBook Heat and Battery Life adds this Pingback:

   […] Several folks have asked for my thoughts on the heat issues and battery life of the MacBook. Here they are… […]

   June 15th, 2006 at 2:49 pm

8. Eric adds this Comment:

   Thanks alot! I really appreciate you posting this information - it DID get picked up by a search engine and I am incredibly grateful - it saves me a ton of hassle!

   October 12th, 2006 at 5:57 am

9. Nate adds this Comment:

   For those of you worried about heat issues, there is a utility called “smcFanControl” that I have installed on my Macbook. This utility also works with Macbook Pro. It changes the MINIMUM fan speed, and does NOT tinker with the automatic fan spin-up for when the processor gets hot. I set mine at about 2500rpm (instead of the default around 1000?) and have noticed barely any noise and the machine runs a LOT cooler. I’ve even got Parallels running most of the time and it’s not uncomfortable to run it on my lap.
   As for “how does windows work?” It works fine. I use Parallels although we have machines using BootCamp at my work. I was extremely surprised how fast it boots on Core Duo processors. I seriously hit “reboot” in WinXP Pro yesterday and looked at my other computer, read a paragraph (about 10 sentences) and looked back at the Macbook and it was already done booted into XP Pro SP2. Sweet.

   October 20th, 2006 at 12:17 pm

10. Eric adds this Comment:

    Lost my extra macbook adapter and I’ve been thinking about a macbook pro, so finding this post allowed me to make the decision to get a MBP adapter to keep my options open. Thanks!

    October 22nd, 2006 at 12:25 pm

11. jackson adds this Comment:

    Is this true the other way around? A lower voltage Macbook can be used with a Macbook Pro? Seems unlikely, but thought I would ask.

    April 1st, 2007 at 8:16 pm

12. 2006 in Review | alexking.org adds this Pingback:

    […] - I spend 2 weeks in Italy. The local volleyball gym re-opens. I consider upgrading my laptop and do so. A burned up CPU forces an emergency web server move. FeedLounge experiences another outage of […]

    April 18th, 2007 at 11:42 am

13. josh adds this Comment:

    I have a Macbook pro with the larger power adapter, and my wife has a regular Macbook. I charged the Macbook overnight with the Macbook Pro charger, and since then the Macbook battery no longer works. I’ve run through all the Apple Support site fixes without any luck. I don’t know if this is a fluke, or if there is a real compatibility issue (contrary to what this article is saying). I would suggest people procced with some caution when swapping these adapters - hopefully over time the compatibilty question will become clearer.

    April 23rd, 2007 at 6:42 am

14. Alex adds this Comment:

    I’ve been using them together for almost a year now, no problems. There really is no compatibility question, just make sure you check the ratings as explained here to make sure they are compatible.

    April 23rd, 2007 at 8:37 am

15. Miles adds this Comment:

    Thank you, Alex! This is just the information I was looking for. The Google search which brought me here was: “macbook using 85 watt adapter”. Thanks again!

    April 27th, 2007 at 9:38 pm

16. derek20la adds this Comment:

    i dont think it would hurt it. think of a desktop pc you build yourself. you can buy a 750 watt power supply, but if you’re just building a simple computer for your grandma with a slower processor, integrated graphics and only one hard disk it wont use the power supply to the full capacity.

    its like both a old VW Bug and a BMW can go 65 mph on the freeway, but the Bug will be working a lot harder to do the same speed as the bwm easily does. just because theres POTENTIALLY more power available doesn’t mean it has to be used. so my guess is the macbook would just draw the 60w it needs from the macbook pro adapter and nothing would get damaged.

    April 29th, 2007 at 1:33 pm

17. Ciaran adds this Comment:

    RE: Hopefully this will post get picked up by the search engines and the information will be helpful to others with the same question.
    –

    It certainly did, thanks a million for pointing this out!!

    May 21st, 2007 at 8:26 am

18. Steini adds this Comment:

    I had to fix MacBook Pro 1,1 the other day and I did not get the adapter with it …. I found MacBook 60W adapter and just pulled the battery out of the laptop to save power. Worked like charm

    laptop had only 256MBx2 ram!! I do not know how much power 1GB ram modules use and fixing OS bug dose not require much power from GPU

    I think the power peak comes from charging battery and putting load on the RadeonX1600 graphic card

    I also notched the battery pack is rated 60W so putting load on the computer while the battery is not installed should be ok

    June 7th, 2007 at 6:09 pm

19. Diego adds this Comment:

    Thanks for the info.

    My MBP’s power adapter has a frayed connector and I saw some smoke coming out of it the other day. Since I am all out of my one year warranty, the apple store won’t replace it. Given what you have explained about the variable output on the MBP’s power adapter, it would make sense to assume the MBP uses the higher power output, while the MB can use the lower one. Hence, what do you think would happen if it were to be the other way round i.e. if I were to use my friend’s Macbook Power adapter w/ my MBPro?

    July 10th, 2007 at 9:14 am

20. Dave adds this Comment:

    Good looking out. I found this on Googl and it is very helpful. For the guy with the wife whose battery is busted, looks like a coincidence. As for the Beetle/BMW analogy and ‘just because more power is available doesn’t mean it has to be used”, I think there are some flaws inthe logic. But, if you believe this to be true, you can probably get some really fast charge times if you modify the 220V line on your clothes drier to plug in your macBook Pro. The Adobe suite is expensive as hell, but if you hook up a 220 line to the computer, it comes with free Flash!

    July 25th, 2007 at 5:23 am

21. Kevin adds this Comment:

    Glad to find this discussion. I have a MB. My friend’s MBP’s power adapter has a frayed connector too and is really erratic. So in the interim she has been using my MB 60 W charger with the battery in and all (using OS X and XP). The only difference is that it charges slowly. It seems all the Apple stores are out of stock of 85W chargers since they just updated the charger and it hasn’t yet shipped to stores. Now that the MBP’s charger is the same size as the MB charger I think I would probably get the MBP charger as it can charge both MB and MBPs quickly and they both cost the same. Does anyone know if charging a MB w/ a MBP’s charger is faster?

    August 2nd, 2007 at 1:36 pm

22. John Kavanagh adds this Comment:

    I’ve been using a MB 60w charger on my MB pro for some time and I’ve noticed some interesting changes - The battery does take longer to charge, BUT it lasts much, much longer. And after charging with the 60w, the fans don’t turn on and the whole unit runs cooler. The whole system seems more stable in fact. Strange but true. Anyone else noticed this?

    September 3rd, 2007 at 9:29 pm

23. emily adds this Comment:

    i have been charging my MBP with my MB adapter for about a week (i didn’t realize they were different) and it has been crashing a lot. is this just a coincidence?
    also, is it possible to get one of the old 85w chargers? i really need one and the new ones are not in stock anywhere!

    September 9th, 2007 at 8:31 am

24. Raj adds this Comment:

    Hey, thanks a lot for the info. It was the first page google popped up.

    October 9th, 2007 at 1:13 pm

25. Sam adds this Comment:

    Thanks for the info. I have an MBP and my girlfriend has a MacBook. About a minute ago, she plugged my power adapter into her MacBook, and I just had to google to make sure.

    So thanks a lot. You’ve done good.

    October 13th, 2007 at 11:10 pm

26. matt adds this Comment:

    I am currently typing from my macbook….with my flatmate’s macbook pro adapter….my worries have gone away. Thanks Alex! Hello from Rome, Italy!

    November 1st, 2007 at 11:22 am

27. Netnemo adds this Comment:

    Hi to everybody, thanks for the info. I have the same doubts of you. My MBP adapter reports 16.5-18.5V 4.6A Max so I think it works at a Maximum output. Maybe the MB cannot change the input levels so it could be damaged by the too high input. Maybe the battery can be overpowered and will break. But if they are not compatible, why Apple didn’t change the MagSafe plug in order to avoid confusion?
    Viceversa, MB Adapter has too low output for the MBP to charge and work at the same time at it could crash. Maybe it is ok just to charge the battery before working on it.
    Mumble mumble…

    December 12th, 2007 at 8:12 am

28. Tom adds this Comment:

    Netnemo: I just bought one of the 16.5-18.5V 4.6A Max 85W MBP adapters. The box says “compatible only with MacBook Pro and MacBook computers.” I trust Apple’s labeling and would have no reservation using it with a MacBook.

    December 14th, 2007 at 8:54 pm

29. Nerd adds this Comment:

    Thanks, that’s what I was ‘googling’ for.

    February 5th, 2008 at 1:34 pm

30. Luke Gedeon adds this Comment:

    I am a big advocate of standardizing things so that people do not have to constantly wonder, “Will this work with that?”

    Right now I am trying to get a consensus on what the standard power supply should be. Would love to get your opinion on this.
    http://luke.gedeon.n[...]-choice.html

    February 15th, 2008 at 8:20 pm

31. Rex adds this Comment:

    I have an MBP & bought a macbook off of ebay the other day. When it arrived I eyeballed the magsafe connector and plugged it into the mbp power adapter laying there on my desk. Green light, no smoke, happy guy. Later I noticed a black “x” in the macbook battery icon. Couldn’t make it go away. ‘Book won’t read the battery no matter what I do. No charge indicator lights will light up on the bottom of the battery case. Ebayer swears it was working fine when shipped & I believe them. Machine is near new, original owner, credible seller. It’s under warranty so I’ll call apple and play dumb: “It just doesn’t work. I dunno why.” Nothing on this site would let me tell Apple that I did it because they said it was OK. Will try to remember to post follow-up. My opinion at this point is that I would not, given an option, plug a MBP adapter into my MB.

    March 2nd, 2008 at 6:23 am

32. Jen adds this Comment:

    Hi, came back from being out today to find my mbp down and without power. I plugged in my adaptor in and it did not charge or turn on.. I just checked and realised I was using my husbands mbooks adaptor.. I have just swapped it around for the correct adaptor and bingo the battery looks like its charging. I havent tried to switch it on yet, fingers crossed it works. I will keep you all posted. My advice.. use the correct adaptor for the mac you buy. Thanks

    March 26th, 2008 at 3:46 pm

33. Alex adds this Comment:

    Or you could learn about these things and discover that you can use a more powerful adapter for a machine that ships with a less powerful adapter, but not vice versa.

    MacBook Air = 45w
    MacBook = 65w
    MacBook Pro = 85w

    March 26th, 2008 at 4:07 pm

34. Jen adds this Comment:

    UPDATE: My MBP booted up, but first went to a washed out gray page.?? Then booted up as normal.. and the battery started to charge in the menu bar. I’m just glad its booted up and seems ok….Yes good advice Alex, you are exactly right! I have learned from this, I hope others do too. Glad I found this blog, its great. Cheers

    March 26th, 2008 at 5:00 pm

35. Chillpilgrim | Fantastic News! 85 Watts Power Adapter on a Macbook adds this Pingback:

    […] this post by Alex King allayed my fears. It seems that the 85W Magsafe Adapter reads output levels of both […]

    April 4th, 2008 at 12:44 am

36. Gregg adds this Comment:

    Is it OK, then, to use the MacBook Pro 85w Power Adapter on a MacBook Air (whose adaptor is usually 45w)?

    April 28th, 2008 at 12:35 pm

37. Apple Employee adds this Comment:

    Hello all. I know I am not a very credible source, but I work for Apple. At the Genius Bar we use 85w adaptors across the board. We have never had a problem whatsoever using the 85w with the normal Macbooks (all generations).

    If you have a problem with this, definitely call AppleCare…

    1-800-APL-CARE

    May 22nd, 2008 at 3:00 pm

38. ScaryHouse adds this Comment:

    Hi,
    I have a Macbook Pro, and wanted to get some extra cords.
    I know it seems silly, but I’ve been messing with this one cord for much too long - over a year.

    Every morning I fish it out of the tangle of cord behind my desk at home, wind it up, take it to work, unwind it and plug it in behind my desk. And then, I do it again at the end of the work day. Plus, if I take it to a cafe, or a friends house, I have to do it again.

    My plan is to have a cord at home, a cord at work, and a cord in my backpack. Then I’m covered.

    Anyway, I saw several cords; 60w, 85w and was figuring out which one was what I needed and saw this blog.

    Thanks for the info.

    “Scary” Dan
    a.k.a. ScaryHouse

    June 17th, 2008 at 11:17 am

39. coocooforcocoapuffs adds this Comment:

    Thanks for this! I happen to have an TWO EXTRA 85watt chargers now because the MBP crashed and burned, and is useless now, and since I had TWO 85watts replaced under warranty I decided to buy a backup just in case it happened again (I had to wait a week for each replacement).

    Alex, are u going to investigate the MBP Nvidea snafu where hundreds of MBPs are failing as Nvidea stock plummits? Cheers,
    CooCoo

    July 22nd, 2008 at 1:28 pm

40. Josh adds this Comment:

    I just called Apple Care to get an official answer. I asked specifically about use the 85 watt adapter with the Macbook Air. Of course, they said that it’s not recommended, and that it would however probably work, but the wattage difference could be too much for the Air to handle. They also said that any damage that might occur would not be covered under the hardware warranty, so to be careful.

    For reference the CE label on the 45w Air Adapter says: Input: AC 100-240V 1.0A, Output: DC 14.5V 3.1A

    I think that for the Air, the power supply from an MBP is too much, and might overload the circuits.

    July 30th, 2008 at 8:31 am

41. lars adds this Comment:

    it got picked up by google and just helped me a lot! thank you!

    August 11th, 2008 at 2:01 am

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