Magsafe Charger Won't Work

[S600MBUSA]

Without warning or any event which would seem to lead to a problem, my charger stopped working. The little LED went out, and my Macbook Pro shows that it is disconnected from the charger, even though the charger is plugged in.

I have just yesterday passed out of the one year original warranty, but I have purchased and activated the AppleCare warranty, so the computer is covered under that.

Is the charger covered under AppleCare, and can I simply return the charger to the Apple Store (without bringing in my whole computer) in exchange for a new one?

 

[WildCowboy]

Well, it's not clear whether the problem is with your charger or with your computer's DC-in board. Either way it should be covered under AppleCare.

Do you have access to another charger to see if that works with your computer? That should at least confirm whether it's the charger or the computer.

Any repair/replacement is going to have to through Apple's service folks, either at the Genius Bar at an Apple Store or via AppleCare's telephone system.

It sounds like you have decent access to an Apple Store, so you'd probably want to take it there in order to get an in-person preliminary diagnosis. If you can confirm prior to going that it is in fact the charger, you might be able to get away with just taking the charger in and demonstrating that it doesn't work by connecting it to one of the store's laptops, but I'd play it safe and take both the computer and the charger.

I don't know for sure how they'll handle the issue. If it's the computer that's the problem, they'll want to take that for repair, so be sure to have your data backed up. If it's the charger, they may want to try to repair it, or they may just replace it. I'd hope that they can just exchange chargers right there, but I don't know for sure if they'll do that or if they'll need to order one as a replacement part for you.