• Is it possible to charge a less powerful MacBook? The best external batteries for MacBook. Is it possible to charge a MacBook Pro with a regular jar?

    Apple produces high-quality and inexpensive products, and their technologies are quite different from competitors. Therefore, Apple gadgets require a slightly different approach than similar devices from other manufacturers. In this article, we will answer the most frequently asked questions regarding charging MacBook Air and MacBook Pro laptops, and also provide recommendations to help you keep your MacBook's battery in the best condition.

    How to protect and extend the life of your battery - in our new article

    The most important criteria for every portable device are battery life, battery life and charging speed. Of course, Apple products are one of the most reliable, but incorrect or careless use will shorten their service life. Let's figure out how to increase and extend battery efficiency for maximum time.

    • When you turn on your laptop for the first time, Apple recommends not unplugging it until the setup process is complete, as this process requires more energy than normal operation. The charge indicator should reach 100%.
    • For daily use, it is recommended to run the battery for a few hours and then charge your MacBook from a wall outlet.
    • If you prefer to keep your laptop connected to the network all the time, then take advantage of another expert advice: completely discharge the device once a month. This monthly cycle of discharging and charging will extend its life.

    Extending battery life

    We remember important information: on average for 1000 cycles. Maximum performance lasts for about 500–700 cycles, after which it wears out, leading to a decrease in operating time. A run-up of 200 cycles is a lot, so let’s see what needs to be done to make the gadget last as long as possible.

    • Sudden temperature changes negatively affect the properties of the battery. Try to keep your laptop at room temperature as much as possible.
    • If you do not plan to use the laptop for a while (for example, you are going on vacation), you should increase the charge level to 50% - these are optimal conditions for preserving battery capacity. You shouldn’t leave the device fully charged: this has a negative impact on the battery, and a gadget that has been turned off for a long time may not turn on at all.
    • The MacBook battery doesn't like downtime and works much more efficiently with regular use.
    • To increase your laptop's idle time, use the Energy Saver panel in System Preferences.
    • The MacBook Pro has a handy "Dim screen slightly when on battery" setting that reduces screen brightness to 75% - use it.
    • It is recommended to maintain a display brightness level that is minimally comfortable for you. The lower the constant brightness, the longer the battery will last.

    Charge MacBook without charging

    As we have already said, Apple technology differs significantly from its analogues in many respects. This also applies to laptop chargers: they have a completely different connector and power than laptops from other companies. This brings up the question: how to charge a MacBook if you don’t have a proprietary charger at hand?

    There are several ways to charge this way. Let's look at the main ones.

    Method 1. Dangerous

    Precisely because it is dangerous and will simply “kill” the battery if an inexperienced user intervenes, we will not dwell on it in detail. It consists in the fact that you need to connect the battery contacts with non-branded wires. If you are an electronics repair specialist, this method will suit you; we do not advise anyone else to carry out similar experiments. Those interested can watch a video on this topic on YouTube.

    Method 2. Safe

    For it we need a BatteryBox - a portable external rechargeable battery for Apple products with a capacity of 50 Wh. It comes with a proprietary MagSafe cord with the necessary connector. With this device you can charge your laptop without charging and even without access to an outlet.

    BatteryBox – external battery for MacBook

    BatteryBox performance:

    • MacBook Pro - 6 hours of operation,
    • MacBook Air - 12 hours of operation.

    The BatteryBox weighs 300g, looks almost like an Apple charger, charges via MicroUSB and is rated for 3000 cycles - that is, at least 3 times longer than a laptop battery. Charging time is about 9 hours.

    As you can see, charging your MacBook while preserving its batteries is easy. The main thing is to follow the manufacturer’s recommendations and use branded chargers, or, in their absence, specialized devices. If you have any other interesting information about properly charging your MacBook, welcome in the comments!

    The new MacBook Air, whose long-awaited release is due to take place soon, has caused a lot of controversy. The most criticized was Apple's decision to abandon all ports except the headphone jack and USB Type-C. The latter, due to its capabilities, should become a universal connector, responsible not only for connecting peripherals, but also external displays, as well as charging. Many were outraged, how can MagSafe be taken away from us? But let's not get excited and look at the possible solutions that Apple will use.

    Perhaps the new MacBook Air will have battery life like an iPad

    iPads have never had MagSafe, but hardly anyone complains about it. A tablet is a more mobile device with a longer battery life that is usually not used while charging. Following this logic, we can assume that the mobility of the new MacBook Air will be sufficient to change the usage scenario as in the iPad. The differences between MacBook and iPad lie in the form factor, as well as their use for different tasks and in different conditions. We hold the iPad in our hands while using it, so MagSafe is not necessary. Not so with the MacBook Air, and even assuming phenomenal battery life, you'll still need to charge it sometimes, which is where MagSafe would come in handy.

    Additionally, the iPad's Lightning cable is significantly shorter than the MagSafe cable. If the new MacBook doesn't come with MagSafe, then perhaps Apple will provide it with a shorter cable, like the iPad, which in itself will reduce the possibility of tripping over it while charging.

    Perhaps Apple will put MagSafe on the cable

    If MagSafe doesn't fit in the case, what's stopping it from being placed somewhere on the cable, on the USB Type-C adapter, or on the charger itself? The adapter is not a very elegant solution, and it is also easy to lose. MagSafe at the charging connection point is also unlikely, so most likely it will take its place somewhere on the cable, closer to the laptop body.

    Perhaps the new MacBook Air will be equipped with inductive charging like in Watch

    A great idea that will appeal to most users, but there is one catch - there is no inductive technology yet that can provide enough current to charge a laptop. If any company could deliver something like this this year, it would be Apple. But there is another difficulty here - it is difficult to imagine the location of such a charger. If you place it at the bottom, the notebook will stand at an angle, the sides are too thin for this, and placement in the lid behind the display, for example, in the logo, would be ridiculous.

    Fair, not overpriced and not underestimated. There should be prices on the Service website. Necessarily! without asterisks, clear and detailed, where technically possible - as accurate and concise as possible.

    If spare parts are available, up to 85% of complex repairs can be completed in 1-2 days. Modular repairs require much less time. The website shows the approximate duration of any repair.

    Warranty and responsibility

    A guarantee must be given for any repairs. Everything is described on the website and in the documents. The guarantee is self-confidence and respect for you. A 3-6 month warranty is good and sufficient. It is needed to check quality and hidden defects that cannot be detected immediately. You see honest and realistic terms (not 3 years), you can be sure that they will help you.

    Half the success in Apple repair is the quality and reliability of spare parts, so a good service works directly with suppliers, there are always several reliable channels and your own warehouse with proven spare parts for current models, so you don’t have to waste extra time.

    Free diagnostics

    This is very important and has already become a rule of good manners for the service center. Diagnostics is the most difficult and important part of the repair, but you don't have to pay a penny for it, even if you don't repair the device based on its results.

    Service repairs and delivery

    A good service values ​​your time, so it offers free delivery. And for the same reason, repairs are carried out only in the workshop of a service center: correctly and according to technology can only be done in a prepared place.

    Convenient schedule

    If the Service works for you, and not for itself, then it is always open! absolutely. The schedule should be convenient to fit in before and after work. Good service works on weekends and holidays. We are waiting for you and working on your devices every day: 9:00 - 21:00

    The reputation of professionals consists of several points

    Company age and experience

    Reliable and experienced service has been known for a long time.
    If a company has been on the market for many years and has managed to establish itself as an expert, people turn to it, write about it, and recommend it. We know what we are talking about, since 98% of incoming devices in the service center are restored.
    Other service centers trust us and refer complex cases to us.

    How many masters in areas

    If there are always several engineers waiting for you for each type of equipment, you can be sure:
    1. there will be no queue (or it will be minimal) - your device will be taken care of right away.
    2. you give your Macbook for repair to an expert in the field of Mac repairs. He knows all the secrets of these devices

    Technical literacy

    If you ask a question, a specialist should answer it as accurately as possible.
    So that you can imagine what exactly you need.
    They will try to solve the problem. In most cases, from the description you can understand what happened and how to fix the problem.

    If you find that your Macbook Pro's battery can no longer be charged from the original adapter, do not rush to poke it with a soldering iron. As stupid as it may sound, the first thing to do is:

    1. make sure the contact in the socket is reliable (do not use a broken one);

    2. make sure that there is power in the outlet (plug another, known working device into it);

    3. check that the laptop’s power socket is not filled with foreign objects (usually food crumbs, compressed dust balls and other insects get there);

    4. Carefully inspect the yellow contacts of the connector. They should not be burnt, blackened, or oxidized. When you try to push them in, the pins should come back without jamming. It is advisable not to scratch the gold-plated coating again;

    5. make sure that the cord from the adapter to the connector has no mechanical damage, no kinks, no bare wires sticking out from under the insulation, no office chair running over it, etc. You can easily replace a damaged wire with your own hands with any other appropriate cross-section. In MacBooks, there are only two wires from the power supply to the Magsafe 2 connector:

    If you are a very lucky person, simply unplugging the adapter for a few minutes can save you. It happens that, due to a power surge in the network, the charger goes into protection and needs time to think about the blocking being reset.

    Sometimes, when you connect the adapter to a Macbook, the charging indicator does not light up, but in fact it is charging. The fact is that the required indicator (orange or green) is lit upon command from the SMC system management controller located in the MacBook. Sometimes, due to accumulated errors, the SMC begins to fail and then resetting the controller helps.

    To do this, you need to connect the adapter to a completely switched off (not sleeping, namely switched off) MacBook, press the key combination Shift+Control+Option and, without releasing them, press Power. Then, simultaneously releasing all the buttons, turn on the laptop with the controller reset.

    If all else fails, you will have to make a friend with exactly the same MacBook and quietly swap chargers with him and try to connect to his charger. It is not necessary that your friend has exactly the same adapter - a more powerful one will also work. The main thing here is that the connectors match. [Comment : According to one of the comments to this article, a less powerful power supply will also be suitable for testing]

    If your MacBook battery does not charge with your charger, but when you connect someone else’s charger everything starts working as it should, then your charger is broken. Your cap. The bravest ones can tell their wife that the purchase of a mink coat is canceled again, since the MacBook is more important. The rest will have to repair the adapter themselves.

    I happened to have a faulty power supply with a MagSafe 2 connector and a power of 60 W, so the following will mostly be true for this adapter. This charger was included with 13-inch MacBook Pro models with Retina display:

    • MD212, MD213 (late 2012)
    • MD212, ME662 (early 2013)
    • ME864, ME865, ME866 (late 2013)
    • MGX72, MGX82, MGX92 (mid 2014)
    • MF839, MF840, MF841, MF843 (early 2015);

    Macbook Pro charging repair

    Before you dig into the internals, it's useful to know how the charging process is initiated. You may be surprised, but Apple engineers managed to integrate microprocessor control even into such a simple device as a charger. Here are the key points:

    1. operating voltage is 16.5 Volts. However, as long as the adapter is not connected to a load, its output has an open circuit voltage (about 3V) with a current limit of ~0.1 mA;
    2. After connecting the connector to the MacBook, the adapter output is loaded with a calibrated resistive load, due to which the open circuit voltage drops to a level of ~1.7V. The 16-bit microcontroller in the charger detects this fact and after 1 second commands the output switches to output full voltage. Such difficulties allow you to avoid sparking and burning of the connector contacts when connecting the charger to the laptop;
    3. when connecting too much load, as well as in the presence of a short circuit, the open circuit voltage will drop significantly below 1.7V and the turn-on command will not follow;
    4. The Macbook Pro power connector contains a DS2413 microchip, which immediately after connecting to the MacBook begins exchanging information with the SMC controller via the 1-Wire protocol. The exchange takes place over a single-wire bus (middle contact of the connector). The charger tells the laptop information about itself, including its power and serial number. The laptop, if everything suits it, connects its internal circuits to the adapter and tells it the current operating mode, based on which one of the two LEDs in the connector lights up. The entire exchange of pleasantries takes less than 100 milliseconds;

    Considering the above, it is unlikely that you will be able to charge your MacBook without its original charger. It's also not possible to check the power supply without a MacBook.

    Theoretically, for testing, you can connect a 39.41 kOhm resistor to the two extreme contacts of the Magsafe connector (which is not so easy to do, given the design of the connector). After a second, a voltage of 16.5 Volts should appear on the resistor. In this case, the indicator on the connector will not light up.

    For those who don't know, the Apple Magsafe 2 power supply connector has the following pinout:

    This clever design of the charging socket allows you to connect your Macbook without worrying about polarity.

    Despite the fact that the original adapter has all kinds of foolproof protection built into it, you should not treat it with disdain. The power of this power supply is enough to burn you with flames at the first opportunity, splash you with molten metal and scare the crap out of you... hiccups.

    How to painlessly disassemble the adapter

    To disassemble the Macbook charger you will have to use brute force, since the halves of the case are glued to each other. The most painless option is to use pliers as shown in this video:

    I was able to disassemble the power supply from my Macbook Pro in 2-3 minutes (most of the time was spent finding a convenient stop for the pliers). After this, light traces of an autopsy still remain:

    After the case is opened, you need to carefully inspect the printed circuit board to identify burnt tracks, charred resistors, swollen or leaking electrolytes and other anomalies.

    The board will most likely be filled with some kind of compound; it needs to be carefully removed. And it would be nice not to tear off anything unnecessary.

    It wouldn't hurt to immediately ring the 3.15A fuse. Here it is, in a brown case:

    If the fuse is faulty, then this usually indicates a breakdown of either the diode bridge, or the power MOSFET, or both. These elements burn most often, since they bear the main load. They are very easy to find - they are located on a common radiator.

    If the field-effect transistor is knocked out, it makes sense to check the low-resistance resistor in the source circuit and the entire snubber circuit (R5, R6, C3, C4, D2, two chokes FB1, FB2 and capacitor C7):

    When repairing a Macbook power supply, it is strongly recommended to connect it to a 220V network through a 60-watt light bulb. This will prevent devastating consequences in the event of a short circuit in the circuit.

    Be extremely careful! A high-voltage capacitor can maintain life-threatening voltage for a long time. I got caught once and it was extremely unpleasant.

    If after replacing the faulty elements the power supply does not start, then, alas, further repair of the Apple Magsafe 2 charger is impossible without an electrical circuit diagram.

    By the way, the most reliable way to find out whether the circuit is working or not is to measure the voltage at the output electrolytes. On the working adapter there should be 16.5V:

    Magsafe 2 adapter circuit (60 Watt)

    It was not possible to find a schematic diagram of the Macbook power supply, so there was nothing left to do but copy it from the printed circuit board. Here is the most interesting fragment:

    As can be seen from the diagram, the charger is assembled according to the classic circuit of a single-cycle switching power supply. The heart of the converter is the DAP013F chip - a modern quasi-resonant controller that allows you to achieve high efficiency, low noise levels, and also implement protection against overload, overvoltage and overheating.

    At the initial moment of time, after connecting the adapter to the socket, there is no voltage on winding turns 1-2; accordingly, the voltage at the gate of transistor Q33 is zero, and it is closed. At its drain, the voltage is equal to the operating voltage of the zener diode ZD34, which is supplied there from a full-wave rectifier formed by diodes D32, D34 and part of the power diode bridge BD1, through a chain of resistors R33, R42.

    Transistor Q32 is open and capacitor C39 begins to charge from the same diode rectifier (via the circuit: R44 - ZD36 - Q32). The voltage from this capacitor is supplied to the 14th leg of the IC34 microcircuit, which, through its internal switch, is connected to pin 10 and, accordingly, to a 22 µF electrolytic capacitor C (we could not find its designation on the board). The initial charging current of this capacitor is limited to 300 μA, then, when the voltage across it reaches 0.7 V, the current increases to 3-6 mA.

    When capacitor C reaches the startup voltage of the microcircuit (about 9V), the internal oscillator starts, pulses from the 9th pin of the microcircuit are sent to gate Q1, and the entire circuit comes to life.

    From this moment, the voltage of the IC34 microcircuit is supplied from capacitor C, the voltage on which is generated from winding 1-2 of the transformer through the rectifier diode D31. In this case, the internal switch of the microcircuit breaks the connection between the 14th and 10th pins.

    Protection against excessive increase in output power is implemented using elements ZD31 - R41 - R55. When the voltage at the output of winding 1-2 increases above the breakdown voltage of the zener diode, a negative potential appears at the 1st pin of the microcircuit, which leads to a proportional decrease in the amplitude of the pulses at the 9th pin.

    Overheating protection is implemented using an NTC31 thermistor connected to the 2nd pin of the microcircuit.

    The 4th pin of the microcircuit is used to determine the moment of switching of the output switch at the points of minimum current.

    The 6th pin of the microcircuit is designed to stabilize the output voltage of the adapter. The feedback circuit includes an optocoupler IC131, which provides galvanic isolation of the high-voltage and low-voltage parts of the adapter. If the voltage on the 6th leg drops below 0.8V, the converter switches to reduced power mode (25% of the rated power). For correct operation in this mode, a capacitor C36 is required. To return to normal operation, the voltage on the 6th leg must rise above 1.4V.

    The 7th leg of the microcircuit is connected to the current sensor R9 and if a certain threshold is exceeded, the operation of the converter is blocked. Capacitor C34 sets the time interval for the auto-recovery system after an overcurrent.

    Pin 12 of the microcircuit is designed to protect the circuit from overvoltage. As soon as the voltage on this leg exceeds 3V, the microcircuit goes into blocking and will remain in this state until the voltage on capacitor C drops below the controller reset level (5V). To do this, you need to unplug the adapter from the network and wait a while.

    It seems that this adapter does not use the overvoltage protection functionality built into the chip (in any case, I was not able to trace where resistor R53 is connected to). Apparently this role is assigned to transistor Q34, connected to the feedback circuit in parallel with optocoupler IC131. The transistor is controlled by voltage from winding 1-2 through a resistive divider R51-R50-R43 and in the event of, for example, an optocoupler malfunction, it will not allow the microcircuit to increase the converter voltage uncontrollably.

    Thus, this 60-watt power adapter implements three-fold protection against exceeding the output voltage of permissible limits: an optocoupler in the feedback circuit, a Q34 transistor in the same circuit, and a ZD31 zener diode connected to the 1st leg of the microcircuit. Add here also protection against overheating and overcurrent (short circuit). It turns out to be a very reliable and safe charger for a MacBook.

    In Chinese chargers, most of the protection systems are thrown away, and, in the interests of economy, there are no circuits for filtering RF interference and eliminating static electricity. And although these crafts are quite functional, you have to pay for their cheapness with a higher level of interference and an increased risk of failure of the laptop power board.

    Now, having the diagram in front of your eyes and imagining how it should work, it will not be difficult to find and fix any malfunction.

    In my case, the malfunction of the adapter was caused by an internal break in resistor R33, which is why transistor Q32 was always locked, voltage did not flow to the 14th leg of the controller, and accordingly, the voltage on the capacitor WITH could not reach the chip's turn-on level.

    After soldering resistor R33, the microcircuit's trigger circuit was restored and the circuit started working. I hope this article will help you fix the charger on your MacBook Pro.

    To help you identify completely burnt-out elements, I am attaching an archive with high-resolution photographs of the board (37 photos, 122 MB).

    And people dissected exactly the same charger, only with a power of 85 W. Interesting too.


    Battery life is one of the main indicators that users pay attention to when purchasing. It is mobility that makes a laptop so popular, and without proper charging it loses this opportunity. Today we will tell you how to charge a MacBook without a charger.

    In what situations is this necessary?

    First of all, it’s worth understanding why you need to charge your MacBook without charging.

    Firstly, this is necessary for long trips when users do not have the opportunity to charge the device. This can also come in handy when there is no electricity in the house and the laptop is almost dead.

    In general, there can be many options, so the ability to charge a MacBook without connecting to electricity is really important.

    Separately, we tell you how or.

    Using disassembly

    There are a large number of videos on the Internet where people show how to increase the charge performance by disassembling the device. In this method, the consumer is required to disassemble the MacBook, remove the battery, disassemble it and do various manipulations with the wires.

    This is not a very good method, since an inexperienced user can easily break the charger. But this is not the worst thing, you can get an electric shock, so we do not recommend doing this.

    Battery box

    If you want to charge your MacBook without access to electricity, then you need to find out how to charge a macbook via usb.

    This is the simplest method that does not require difficult steps. The user just needs to purchase a special box for the battery. This gadget acts as a power bank, only for a laptop. Simply charge the battery box and it will last for about 5 hours of charging.

    It is noteworthy that to fully charge the MacBook, it will take approximately 9 hours of charging. In 6 hours you can achieve a figure of 70-80%.

    It is important that such boxes are from well-known brands. This is necessary so that they actually charge the MacBook and do not harm it. Chinese counterfeits may produce too much voltage, which can easily damage the battery, charging port, and other components. In addition, counterfeits will not have enough capacity to charge the laptop even slightly.

    As you probably already understood, you should charge your MacBook only through special mobile chargers, or through regular charging. Doing any manipulations inside the components is strictly prohibited, as this is dangerous and can lead to breakdowns.

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