Magsafe & Magsafe 2 - Retina MBP

[wct097]

When I purchased my Retina MBP back in 2012, I had a spare Magsafe adapter from my previous generation 15" (2011) MBP. I ordered one of the adapters along with my RMBP and have been using that older adapter with it ever since. Aside from the cable fraying a bit, the old adapter has been working fine, I think.

Would that old power adapter be a 60W or an 85W? I haven't had any issues with it charging, to my knowledge.

I'm ordering a replacement Magsafe 2 cord to fix a frayed cord on my newer adapter and was thinking I could do the same with the old adapter since it's frayed as well. Any reason to think I couldn't replace the old Magsafe cord with a newer Magsafe 2 cord on the old adapter?

 

[snaky69]

When I purchased my Retina MBP back in 2012, I had a spare Magsafe adapter from my previous generation 15" (2011) MBP. I ordered one of the adapters along with my RMBP and have been using that older adapter with it ever since. Aside from the cable fraying a bit, the old adapter has been working fine, I think.

Would that old power adapter be a 60W or an 85W? I haven't had any issues with it charging, to my knowledge.

I'm ordering a replacement Magsafe 2 cord to fix a frayed cord on my newer adapter and was thinking I could do the same with the old adapter since it's frayed as well. Any reason to think I couldn't replace the old Magsafe cord with a newer Magsafe 2 cord on the old adapter?

That old power adapter has the power rating written on it unless it rubbed off. You CAN use any power adapter with a Mac, regardless of wattage, going lower will simply make it charge slower, and going higher will have no effect.

 

[yjchua95]

When I purchased my Retina MBP back in 2012, I had a spare Magsafe adapter from my previous generation 15" (2011) MBP. I ordered one of the adapters along with my RMBP and have been using that older adapter with it ever since. Aside from the cable fraying a bit, the old adapter has been working fine, I think.

Would that old power adapter be a 60W or an 85W? I haven't had any issues with it charging, to my knowledge.

I'm ordering a replacement Magsafe 2 cord to fix a frayed cord on my newer adapter and was thinking I could do the same with the old adapter since it's frayed as well. Any reason to think I couldn't replace the old Magsafe cord with a newer Magsafe 2 cord on the old adapter?

The 2011 15" and 17" variants use an 85W MagSafe charger. You can buy a MagSafe-MagSafe 2 adapter for it.

That's what I did. It's still my main charger for my 15" 2011 and late-2013 15" rMBP, while the brand-new MagSafe 2 that came with my rMBP is still sitting in the box.

 

[Rizvi1]

The 2011 15" and 17" variants use an 85W MagSafe charger. You can buy a MagSafe-MagSafe 2 adapter for it.

That's what I did. It's still my main charger for my 15" 2011 and late-2013 15" rMBP, while the brand-new MagSafe 2 that came with my rMBP is still sitting in the box.

I've read mixed things about the adapter. Like it can get stuck or lost easily. I wanted to get it at first but I just ended up buying a used Magsafe 2 power adapter off of Amazon for $50 w/ shipping.

 

[Anitramane]

That old power adapter has the power rating written on it unless it rubbed off. You CAN use any power adapter with a Mac, regardless of wattage, going lower will simply make it charge slower, and going higher will have no effect.

Going lower while using a lot of system power will have the battery drain.

 

[snaky69]

Going lower while using a lot of system power will have the battery drain.

Which doesn't damage anything, it's merely an annoyance.

 

[Anitramane]

Which doesn't damage anything, it's merely an annoyance.

I would describe it more like Apple being Apple

 

[MacInTO]

I bought the $10 adapter. It works well and it's cheaper than buying a new power adapter. I don't want to give Apple any more money than I have to!

It hasn't gotten stuck, but because the old cord plugs into this new one, it sticks out a little bit further from the computer. There seems to be more leverage on it and it comes out easier. But this isn't necessarily a bad thing.

The magnet is pretty strong between the old connector and the adapter so I'm not afraid of it coming loose there, but I keep this one in my office and travel with the newer Magsafe 2 power adapter.