Home

Apple MagSafe Airline Adapter

Adapter use

Written by GM from Lake Forest

20/02/2008

Great adapter! Users should be able to leave with all the parts they stated with, It's not Apples fault they forget part of it in the Power-Port. If it were welded together then I'm sure there would be like reviews griping about how it wasn't good for EmPower ports and they had to buy two. Proper techniques and responsibility go a long way to user satisfaction. If it were bullet proof, with every conceivable reinforcement, it would weigh a ton and cost 3 times the amount. It's great for what it is in the limitations of airlines power supply restrictions (they can't supply every seat with 500 watts of power). It's simple and takes up little room. Good job apple.

576 of 859 people found this useful

Apple MagSafe Airline Adapter

Works.

Written by RW from Berkley

7/02/2008

Does exactly as it says. It isn't Apple's fault if you don't check if you pulled the adapter out of the wall.

647 of 1046 people found this useful

Apple MagSafe Airline Adapter

Help making your decision... From a Mac Guru

Written by MP from Brooklyn

10/03/2009

Airlines provide 75w power in their seats. So.... If you have a:

MACBOOK PRO: it's 85 watts power. Seats have 75 watts. You're ABOVE the minimum rating. Removing your battery MAY help as the additional power drain for charging your battery will not be present. Certain settings help like a vastly dimmer screen, adjusting processor settings in Energy Saver control panel, "to lower" MAY work too.

Also remember running disc intensive applications [video editing] or DVD drive for watching movies, as well as stuff like playing high res video games, chews up a LOT of power. Your power demand exceeds the airline output. That may be why so many people say their computer quits so fast.

MACBOOK Owners: It's rated at 65 watts. Seats have 75 watts. You MAY get a small charge but you should be able to run most options. It's best to follow the above advice and trim your energy settings, etc..

Airlines may have broken or faulty connectors since the whole world is jamming plugs in and out of the seats each day. Check to see of the green light is on or intermittent from a "loose" seat connection.

HINTS:

Just remember REMOVE YOUR BATTERY to prevent drainage, so your laptop can use the full amount of energy from the seat to run.

Limit your processor speed in energy saver [check spin down drive setting when necessary too].

DIM YOUR SCREEN. It chews up a LOT of power and you'll be surprised to see how long your laptop can go on a dimmer screen. Takes a few minutes but you'll get used to the dimmer screen just fine.

LIMIT YOUR USB items in flight. Do you really need to xfer those pix from your digital camera while running Photoshop? Do you REALLY need to run your USB MP3 player or mini USB reading light?

If you recharge you iPhone, or iPod, don't do it while watching your dvd with a fully bright screen or while playing a video game at the same time. Drain, Drain, Drain.

Also if you are not sure if your airline supports this power adaptor check out SeatGuru.com and they have charts and what specific seats in any class, for power, on almost any kind of airline that flies. They also tell you what kind of adaptor each type of aircraft has [747, airbus, 767, 777, etc]

Hope this helps !

144 of 160 people found this useful

Apple MagSafe Airline Adapter

On battery life and the Apple MagSafe Airline Adapter

Written by MG from Williamstown

23/03/2009

The Apple MagSafe Airline Adapter's inability to charge batteries -- as noted in the product description above -- is intentional. As indicated earlier, airline seat power ports max out at 75W, meaning an adaptor capable of running at 85W could pop a circuit breaker as it approached peak load.
Moreover, MBs and MBPros do not need anything like 85W to run. Indeed, the earlier MB Pros had 60W batteries, and the unibody models have 50W -- good for several hours. Whether the battery is charged or discharged or entirely absent, the operating current the computer needs is only a fraction of what the airline or the plug in your kitcen provides. It's closer to 15 or 20W than the 85W the charger offers.
You can burn DVDs for the duration of the flight, simultaneously charging your iPhone and your neighbors iPod while editing video, and your battery will discharge at no greater rate than it would in full sleep mode.
Removing the battery is not advisable, as its presence provides structural integrity.

123 of 127 people found this useful

Apple MagSafe Airline Adapter

Apple Magsafe Airline Adapter

Written by RR from New Port Richey

6/05/2008

I join the legion of 20mm adapter losers. My fault. Won't happen again. (Although for some, experience is recognizing a mistake the third time you make it!)
That having been said with the number of people leaving them behind, it makes good sense to offer a replacement 20mm tip for sale. What do you say, Apple?

PS Keep up the good work, Apple, I'm happy to be back in the fold after a 20 year sojourn on the dark side.

174 of 253 people found this useful

Apple MagSafe Airline Adapter

Works well on empower ports

Written by DM from Pittsburgh

10/07/2009

I've only tried this with an EmPower port, and it worked great.

As noted in the other reviews, it does not charge the battery. (Note that this is by design--because of the limited power draw of the power ports in the seats.)

59 of 63 people found this useful

Apple MagSafe Airline Adapter

Worked great for me ... !

Written by JL from San Diego

9/10/2008

Have to admit I was a bit hesitant to buy this based on the reviews below, but decided to go for it anyway.

Not sure what all the complaints are about, because I used this cord on US Airways, Lufthansa, and Turkish Airlines traveling from the NYC to Germany to Turkey and back again with no issues. Everytime I pulled the plug out (which was a bit stiff on a couple of the planes) I checked to see if the plug came apart, but it was intact everytime.

I also read the instructions ... powered down my MBP, removed the battery, connected the cord, and then powered up on the plane. Also worked just fine.

I recommend it.

54 of 55 people found this useful

Apple MagSafe Airline Adapter

Not Quite Perfect

Written by RF from LONDON

5/01/2009

No complaints about the performance and it is light in weight with a long enough cable. However, I pulled mine from the power outlet in low airplane light... and left the end connector on the aircraft. Now I have to buy a complete replacement kit. I won't make that (expensive) mistake again. My "Air" was pricey enough in the first place.

74 of 99 people found this useful

Apple MagSafe Airline Adapter

How To Prevent Adapter Loss and Disgruntlement

Written by GP

29/10/2008

When you get your Airline Adapter, wrap the 20mm plug with tape, and leave enough tape hanging out to tape it, tether-style, to the cord. Make sure it has enough slack to mount the 20mm plug to the adapter.
That way, if you do the wrong bad thing and remove it by pulling on the cord (the instructions say not to do this), it won't ALLOW you to leave the 20mm plug in the plane.

When you don't need the 20mm adapter, it just hangs there out of the way, not causing any harm, and not getting lost. The two are soulmates forever, and nobody gets mad at Apple for blunders that aren't Apple's fault.

47 of 51 people found this useful

Apple MagSafe Airline Adapter

It's not the cable's fault!

Written by SO from Boulder

19/12/2008

According to SeatGuru, airline EmPower sockets provide "up to 75 watts" of power, less than the 85 watt AC adapter needed to power and recharge a MacBook Pro. In fact, SeatGuru goes on to recommend removing your laptop battery when using an EmPower adapter to avoid drawing excess current in a futile attempt to recharge the battery.

So blame the airline, not Apple when your power hungry laptop dies halfway through a flight. Or travel with a plain vanilla MacBook, which uses less current.

38 of 43 people found this useful

Apple MagSafe Airline Adapter

Not for Delta economy though

Written by JS from Atlanta

25/07/2008

Sounds like a great idea, but I recently took two international Delta flights & the plugs in the 767s I was in did not fit this adapter, nor did the USB power outlets provide power to my iPhone or iPod. Good idea, but I have yet to find a Delta economy class seat where it was actually useful.

52 of 72 people found this useful

Apple MagSafe Airline Adapter

Works fine

Written by CR from Cogan Station

2/10/2008

This is a power adapter that powers your laptop on many airplanes. Nothing more, nothing less. Though it may not charge your battery, it prevents you from having to use up your battery just by watching a DVD on the plane. I've never had any plugin issues. Some smaller planes do not have power adapters at all, so this is mainly useful on larger longer flights.

33 of 35 people found this useful

Apple MagSafe Airline Adapter

Works exactly as advertised.

Written by CS from Los Angeles

31/12/2008

Works exactly as advertised.

Please understand that this adapter WILL NOT:
-charge the macbook battery, only keep it from discharging.
-remind you to take it (or part of it) with you if you leave it on the airplane.

Worked perfectly on AA and LAN.

29 of 31 people found this useful

Apple MagSafe Airline Adapter

Highly Recommended

Written by MR from Chapel Hill

26/01/2009

I have used it on American and have never had a problem. Basic white 15 inch macbook. For people having problems, it could be that you have a macbook pro and it takes more battery. It could also be that a lot of people are using the outlets; I don't know because I am not the expert.

It works fine as advertised. Keep in mind it does not not work in a car or does not charge your battery. I highly recommend this product.

26 of 27 people found this useful

Apple MagSafe Airline Adapter

Not Idiot Proof

Written by PH from NAPERVILLE

19/03/2009

I am the idiot but have become spoiled with the Apple line. Remember to insure that both parts of the male end (portion plugging into the seat) removes when you unplug it at the end of the trip.

I didn't and am currently buying another due to my rude awakening 10 minutes into the flight.

Other than this, great product.

43 of 62 people found this useful

Apple MagSafe Airline Adapter

Powers computer, but it's not a recharger

Written by RS from Athens

23/10/2009

The adapter works very well. Be aware, though, that it supplies power to the computer but does not recharge the computer's battery. If your battery is low when you start using this adapter, it will still be low when you finish.

The reason for this, apparently, is that powering the computer and charging the battery simultaneously would draw more power from the airplane's outlet than is allowed.

As other reviewers have noted, keep track of the detachable parts so you don't leave part of it behind, still in the power outlet.

24 of 25 people found this useful

Apple MagSafe Airline Adapter

Does what it says, elegantly engineered

Written by BD from Vancouver

13/02/2008

Works exactly as advertised and does a good job.

For those wanting an Airline Adapter to eliminate Malaria and then make them pancakes on Sunday mornings, this isn't it. Because cigarette lighter plugs in cars don't provide clean enough power or high enough amperage to run a 17" Macbook Pro. That's the price we pay for having a universal, backwards- and forwards-compatible power standard.

49 of 75 people found this useful

Apple MagSafe Airline Adapter

More problems on AA

Written by DI from Cherry Hill

10/10/2008

I've been using this product for about a year with my MacBook. I've flown it on AA, UA and US airlines. UA and US don't seem to be a problem. AA was also ok until recently when I got the newer MacBook (I had the 2.16Ghz model previously). Now, when I plug it into the AA power socket, the charge still drains from the battery. This is despite the green light indicating power, and the icon in the toolbar on the screen detecting a power source.

Did something change in the design of the newer MacBooks that are causing this? Does anyone else with a MacBook(not Pro) have a power drain problem when flying AA?

39 of 56 people found this useful