Home

Apple 85W MagSafe Power Adapter (for 15- and 17-inch MacBook Pro)

Meltdown

Written by RC from Caldwell

May 6, 2009

The reason I am shopping for this, is because the other one melted down at it's connection. If not for this flaw, I would really like this device. It is irritating to have to keep replacing this item.

10 of 88 people found this useful

Apple 85W MagSafe Power Adapter (for 15- and 17-inch MacBook Pro)

Exposed Wires / Not Durable At All!

Written by BH from Pasadena

May 6, 2009

After about a year of using the power supply shipped with the MacBook Pro, the connector to the Mac is starting to fray and the bare wire is exposed. I'm concerned that it can cause a fire. I have only really used the power supply at home under ideal conditions. Now I have to buy a new one to replace it.

14 of 93 people found this useful

Apple 85W MagSafe Power Adapter (for 15- and 17-inch MacBook Pro)

really shoddy- clean up your act Apple

Written by TB from Santa Monica

May 5, 2009

I have had to replace these adapter/ power cables for TWO reasonably young Mac laptops held by my college age son and daughter within the last TWO WEEKS. Several moths ago had to replace one on 15 month old i-phone. Then there is my own laptop, two years old and I am now pretty confidently awaiting the meltdown of mine based on my current experience and reading of these posts. Pretty shocking.
I have to say there seems to be an inherent design problem. The right thing which would be to issue a recall on these adapters. Not impressive.

27 of 114 people found this useful

Apple 85W MagSafe Power Adapter (for 15- and 17-inch MacBook Pro)

meltdown for me too

Written by KH from ASPEN

May 4, 2009

melting powercord and smell of plastic and I can see the frayed wires... this really should not be happening!!! Ordered a new one so I guess I will see

21 of 103 people found this useful

Apple 85W MagSafe Power Adapter (for 15- and 17-inch MacBook Pro)

meltdown!

Written by NM from Mortsel

May 4, 2009

It worked fine until it melted.

20 of 102 people found this useful

Apple 85W MagSafe Power Adapter (for 15- and 17-inch MacBook Pro)

Third times a charm? Probably not.

Written by KH from Santa Clarita

May 3, 2009

So, I bought my mac book pro in August of 2007 to take with me to school. That first charger lasted about a year, when lo an behold, it stopped working and got really really hot. My dad found, upon examination (ie: opening it up) that it had in fact burnt up, literally, from the inside out.

I take excellent care of my chargers and all of my electronics. I took even more special care on the second charger I bought in August of last year (2008).

So, it was frustrating to plug in my computer, as usual, last month (April 2009) only to find that it had blown out again. This time only 9 months after its purchase date.

I spent about 3,000 dollars on this computer. I love it to death. In my opinion, however, the creators of this product should be stoned. And those who deny its faultiness and refuse to design something better deserve far far worse.

I'm now going to purchase my third charger in less than 3 years. 80 bucks a pop. And I am a college student with a job that only works me 9 hours a week at minimum wage.

Thanks mac.

At least with Bill Gates, all we get is faulty software...

27 of 108 people found this useful

Apple 85W MagSafe Power Adapter (for 15- and 17-inch MacBook Pro)

Never a Problem with this Power Adapter

Written by CF from Concord

May 1, 2009

I find some of the reviews expressing problems with this adapter interesting. Having travelled internationally with my MacBook Pro for the past few years (mainly asia) plugging in to a variety of electrical wall plugs and varying currents and I have still not had any need to purchase a new adapter as a result of any defects or wiring problems or meltdowns. I have never found any problem with any function of the original adapter, or its replacement (only due to loss). I found the negative ratings fascinating and felt compelled to write a quick review based on my own experiences.

86 of 103 people found this useful

Apple 85W MagSafe Power Adapter (for 15- and 17-inch MacBook Pro)

Poor construction.

Written by RS from KEY LARGO

Apr 30, 2009

I am about to order my third MacBook Pro power adapter. The first two failed the same way....weak construction causing the wires at the magnetic end to come loose. Very unhappy to have to buy another poorly made adapter but having no other option.

31 of 109 people found this useful

Apple 85W MagSafe Power Adapter (for 15- and 17-inch MacBook Pro)

i'm about to purchase my 2nd replacement in 1 year

Written by JC from white plains

Apr 30, 2009

i travel with my mac book pro and power cord, but treat it gently, especially after my first failed after a month. my replacement has failed, so i need to get another one. i am very disappointed in apple for the poor quality of this important accessory.

23 of 100 people found this useful

Apple 85W MagSafe Power Adapter (for 15- and 17-inch MacBook Pro)

Weak-point at cord-magnet interface

Written by GF from LOMA LINDA

Apr 28, 2009

I love the MagSafe Power Adapter. It has saved me (and my kids) on multiple occasions, and may be that's the reason it has worn down - first the protective plastic sleeve, and then finally the cord itself - after 2 years of intensive use in multiple locations every day. Yesterday the inevitable happened - some sparks and then dead silence... Time for a new power supply (after ~ 3 years of use). I see I'm not the only one who has discovered this weak point and would therefore appreciate Apple's engineers working on improving this weakest link in the otherwise excellent power supply.

13 of 86 people found this useful

Apple 85W MagSafe Power Adapter (for 15- and 17-inch MacBook Pro)

Mine was good until it was stolen.

Written by SK from Lighthouse Point

Apr 26, 2009

I have a MBP 17" that worked well until I unplugged the power supply quickly after plugging I had just plugged it in to recharge my battery. Now the computer is in some kind of limp mode, where the computer will turn off (not shut down, but actually just turn off, causing me to lose whatever I was working on) if I push the computer too hard or turn up the brightness on my screen. The problem I have is not the power adapter, because I've tried other MBP 17" power adapters and got the same results.

My adapter was fine, though the plastic coating was a little short, where it came out of the brick toward the magsafe plug (not right at the magsafe plug, where most people seem to have a problem). I just pushed it back in and never unwrapped that part of the cable all the way, and the problem never happened again. While the brick would get pretty hot, my adapter worked for more than two years. I assume whoever stole it has it working well too. I hope it melts on them, though I doubt it, because the person I believe stole it has a 15 rather than a 17.

I LOVE the magsafe adapter. I believe it has saved my power plug at my computer a dozen times or more. People forget what the benefit is (take it for granted). I've heard of people who had broken their power plugs on their computers in the past. That's a VERY expensive fix, especially when comparing it to a replacement power adaptor.

Kudos to Apple for inventing such a wonderful, safer, less worrisome power supply. I feel much more free to move around and really use my notebook computer with it plugged in, because of the magsafe power supply.

I don't think that $80 for such an amazing device is expensive at all. THANK YOU APPLE.

77 of 85 people found this useful

Apple 85W MagSafe Power Adapter (for 15- and 17-inch MacBook Pro)

Melted

Written by BG from Glendora

Apr 25, 2009

Same as everyone else. Cord melted. Useless.

19 of 92 people found this useful

Apple 85W MagSafe Power Adapter (for 15- and 17-inch MacBook Pro)

I have had no troubles

Written by AS from Saint Louis

Apr 25, 2009

I have read many other reviews about this product before purchasing the power adapter. I bought one and have had it for almost two years with no problems. I would have to believe that people that are having problems with the product are not using it properly. Take care of your stuff and it will last much longer.

76 of 90 people found this useful

Apple 85W MagSafe Power Adapter (for 15- and 17-inch MacBook Pro)

These work fine.

Written by NH from Lynnwood

Apr 24, 2009

These work fine. I haven't seen one fail in under 3 years yet. If you don't mistreat your gear then you shouldn't have problems. We have ~25 Macbook/Pro's and have had one power adapter failure. The reason it's rated so badly on here is because the only people who have written reviews are the ones that have had failures. If it works fine, why write a review??? Right? Right.

82 of 92 people found this useful

Apple 85W MagSafe Power Adapter (for 15- and 17-inch MacBook Pro)

2nd broken cord

Written by EC from Milwaukee

Apr 23, 2009

2nd power cord to break. It is absolute trash.

14 of 83 people found this useful

Apple 85W MagSafe Power Adapter (for 15- and 17-inch MacBook Pro)

No good

Written by JB from Morganton

Apr 22, 2009

Same problem as everyone else. Had mine for a bit longer than most people but mine too has melted down around the mag plug and now the wire are showing and any movement of the chord shuts down my macbook. This is because the battery for my macbook died in less than a year, even though i treated it just like the manual describes. Lame..

23 of 94 people found this useful

Apple 85W MagSafe Power Adapter (for 15- and 17-inch MacBook Pro)

Great... until it broke.

Written by RH from Sherwood

Apr 21, 2009

I really loved the concept on the magnetic connector keeping the stress of the computer - and it did. It worked great, up until it just didn't work anymore. About six months into owning this cable, it stopped lighting up and providing power to the computer without jiggling and tweaking it, and eventually just stopped working.

It did keep the stress off the computer... but unfortunately the power cable wore out and broke just like every other laptop power cable seems to..

24 of 91 people found this useful

Apple 85W MagSafe Power Adapter (for 15- and 17-inch MacBook Pro)

I can't use my adapter anymore

Written by SV

Apr 20, 2009

I can't even use my adapter anymore when I put it in. It now takes about 5 -10 tries before I can get the battery light to turn on. I don't know if it is my battery or my adapter. Either way this is very inconvenient and I don't know how to rectify it. Apple is supposed to have the best products available in the market and I am starting to get disappointed with Apple. I have an IPOD, an Apple computer and both my brother and sister-in-law have Apple iPhones, but the computer is starting to not work without my adapter on - which is very inconvenient since the adapter is very big and doesn't allow me to use my laptop unless there is an outlet where I am sitting. I am very, very unhappy with this, and buying another battery and adapter does not make it any better since they are sooo.... expensive.

21 of 88 people found this useful