Swapping power supplies

Will using a MacBook Pro power supply on a MacBook, or vice versa, cause any damage?
zoara wrote on :

Will using a MacBook Pro power supply on a MacBook, or vice versa, cause any damage?

    -zoara-
Jim replied on :

In article 1hx6dl1.7hnz4fcfus2yN%me17@redacted.invalid, zoara wrote:

Will using a MacBook Pro power supply on a MacBook, or vice versa, cause any damage?

For the love of the Gods man, what are you doing?!

Jim

zoara replied on :

Jim jim@redacted.invalid wrote:

In article 1hx6dl1.7hnz4fcfus2yN%me17@redacted.invalid, zoara wrote:

Will using a MacBook Pro power supply on a MacBook, or vice versa, cause any damage?

For the love of the Gods man, what are you doing?!

I'm not. But I know Hannah well, and I'm sure that despite my warning not to mix them up, there will be a point where her battery is running out, and there's a cable right there and, well...

    -z-
Jim replied on :

In article 1hx6g6w.whl3gn12xfktfN%me17@redacted.invalid, zoara wrote:

Jim jim@redacted.invalid wrote:

In article 1hx6dl1.7hnz4fcfus2yN%me17@redacted.invalid, zoara wrote:

Will using a MacBook Pro power supply on a MacBook, or vice versa, cause any damage?

For the love of the Gods man, what are you doing?!

I'm not. But I know Hannah well, and I'm sure that despite my warning not to mix them up, there will be a point where her battery is running out, and there's a cable right there and, well...

I've no idea what the outcome would be, so why not colour-code the power supplies?

Jim

Sara Kirk replied on :

In article slrnf31409.2n1u.jim@redacted.invalid, Jim jim@redacted.invalid wrote:

In article 1hx6g6w.whl3gn12xfktfN%me17@redacted.invalid, zoara wrote:

Jim jim@redacted.invalid wrote:

In article 1hx6dl1.7hnz4fcfus2yN%me17@redacted.invalid, zoara wrote:

Will using a MacBook Pro power supply on a MacBook, or vice versa, cause any damage?

For the love of the Gods man, what are you doing?!

I'm not. But I know Hannah well, and I'm sure that despite my warning not to mix them up, there will be a point where her battery is running out, and there's a cable right there and, well...

I've no idea what the outcome would be, so why not colour-code the power supplies?

Does any of the documentation say what the specs of each are?

Jaimie Vandenbergh replied on :

On Thu, 26 Apr 2007 11:37:26 +0100, me17@redacted.invalid (zoara) wrote:

Will using a MacBook Pro power supply on a MacBook, or vice versa, cause any damage?

The transformers are very different sizes, so I presume different wattages. Connecting the MBP to the MB psu would therefore be contraindicated.

Other way around would be fine.

OTOH, the MB psu is 60W and I've never managed to push the laptop beyond 35W, so you'll probably be okay.

Cheers - Jaimie
Jon B replied on :

Sara Kirk sarakirk@redacted.invalid wrote:

In article slrnf31409.2n1u.jim@redacted.invalid, Jim jim@redacted.invalid wrote:

I've no idea what the outcome would be, so why not colour-code the power supplies?

Does any of the documentation say what the specs of each are?

65w MacBook & 85w MacBook Pro

Sara Kirk replied on :

In article 1hx6ory.4ccqt5z846c3N%black.hole@redacted.invalid, black.hole@redacted.invalid (Jon B) wrote:

Sara Kirk sarakirk@redacted.invalid wrote:

In article slrnf31409.2n1u.jim@redacted.invalid, Jim jim@redacted.invalid wrote:

I've no idea what the outcome would be, so why not colour-code the power supplies?

Does any of the documentation say what the specs of each are?

65w MacBook & 85w MacBook Pro

Oh. Not the same then. I'd probably swap 'em around though.

Tim Auton replied on :

zoara me17@redacted.invalid wrote:

Will using a MacBook Pro power supply on a MacBook, or vice versa, cause any damage?

If it were anybody else asking, I'd point out that Apple's engineers would have to really hate the people in Apple's warranty department to provide incompatible power supplies with identical connectors. I'd also point out that the 45W and 65W iBook/PowerBook power supplies had identical connectors and were interchangeable, despite different ratings.

But as it's you, just go for it dude. We all know they're gonna die young, so they may as well live fast.

Tim

Jaimie Vandenbergh replied on :

On Thu, 26 Apr 2007 15:41:33 +0100, black.hole@redacted.invalid (Jon B) wrote:

Sara Kirk sarakirk@redacted.invalid wrote:

In article slrnf31409.2n1u.jim@redacted.invalid, Jim jim@redacted.invalid wrote:

I've no idea what the outcome would be, so why not colour-code the power supplies?

Does any of the documentation say what the specs of each are?

65w MacBook & 85w MacBook Pro

My 60W MacBook supply is American, but I thought they were universal.

J
Jon B replied on :

Jaimie Vandenbergh jaimie@redacted.invalid wrote:

On Thu, 26 Apr 2007 15:41:33 +0100, black.hole@redacted.invalid (Jon B) wrote:

Sara Kirk sarakirk@redacted.invalid wrote:

In article slrnf31409.2n1u.jim@redacted.invalid, Jim jim@redacted.invalid wrote:

I've no idea what the outcome would be, so why not colour-code the power supplies?

Does any of the documentation say what the specs of each are?

65w MacBook & 85w MacBook Pro

My 60W MacBook supply is American, but I thought they were universal.

Actually looking, mines a 60w too, that'll teach me to work from memory. MBP definitely 85w though.

zoara replied on :

Jim jim@redacted.invalid wrote:

In article 1hx6g6w.whl3gn12xfktfN%me17@redacted.invalid, zoara wrote:

Jim jim@redacted.invalid wrote:

In article 1hx6dl1.7hnz4fcfus2yN%me17@redacted.invalid, zoara wrote:

Will using a MacBook Pro power supply on a MacBook, or vice versa, cause any damage?

For the love of the Gods man, what are you doing?!

I'm not. But I know Hannah well, and I'm sure that despite my warning not to mix them up, there will be a point where her battery is running out, and there's a cable right there and, well...

I've no idea what the outcome would be, so why not colour-code the power supplies?

Heh. You're presuming that she'd use the wrong power supply because she didn't notice, rather than because she thought (despite my warning) that it didn't really matter.

I speak from experience....

To be honest, I don't think it will matter, but if someone says OMFG NOOOO! then I'll have to explicitly explain that wrong power adapter == dead computer, and I'm not just being fastidious.

    -z-
zoara replied on :

Sara Kirk sarakirk@redacted.invalid wrote:

In article slrnf31409.2n1u.jim@redacted.invalid, Jim jim@redacted.invalid wrote:

[using MBP on MB power supply, and vice versa]

I've no idea what the outcome would be, so why not colour-code the power supplies?

Does any of the documentation say what the specs of each are?

The only difference is that the MB is 60W and the MBP is 85W. I would presume that plugging in the MBP into the MB supply would mean it didn't recharge very fast (or at all, if it was bing used at the same time) but plugging in a MBP adapter into a MB? I dunno...

    -z-
zoara replied on :

Jaimie Vandenbergh jaimie@redacted.invalid wrote:

On Thu, 26 Apr 2007 11:37:26 +0100, me17@redacted.invalid (zoara) wrote:

Will using a MacBook Pro power supply on a MacBook, or vice versa, cause any damage?

The transformers are very different sizes, so I presume different wattages. Connecting the MBP to the MB psu would therefore be contraindicated.

Other way around would be fine.

So plugging in the higher-rated power supply into a MacBook would be okay? I'd presumed that if anything, this would be the one to cause problems (giving more power than the MB is intended to take).

But (as I've probably shown in this thread) I don't really understand electricity.

OTOH, the MB psu is 60W and I've never managed to push the laptop beyond 35W, so you'll probably be okay.

Right. Seeing as that would me me doing that, its unlikely to happen anyway (unless I know it's okay). It's the MacBook into MacBook Pro power supply that's the important one.

    -z-
Jaimie Vandenbergh replied on :

On Thu, 26 Apr 2007 17:45:10 +0100, me17@redacted.invalid (zoara) wrote:

So plugging in the higher-rated power supply into a MacBook would be okay? I'd presumed that if anything, this would be the one to cause problems (giving more power than the MB is intended to take).

But (as I've probably shown in this thread) I don't really understand electricity.

The rated wattage of a power supply is the maximum wattage that it would be happy delivering. What actually get delivered into the computer is only whatever the computer requests. If the computer needs 35W, it gets 35W, whether the psu is "85W" or "60W".

(this is not a place where analogies of voltage as waterfalls is any use at all!)

OTOH, the MB psu is 60W and I've never managed to push the laptop beyond 35W, so you'll probably be okay.

Right. Seeing as that would me me doing that, its unlikely to happen anyway (unless I know it's okay). It's the MacBook into MacBook Pro power supply that's the important one.

Absolutely positively no problems there at all.

(for completeness sake, I should say that "60W" is a bit of oversimplification. What it really means is more like "40W max on the 12V line, and 20W on the 5V line". If you demand more than those per-line wattages, then the psu starts getting upset and squirting pus. My PC here runs off a 580W psu, even though it peaks at just 250W

  • because the 580W psu supplies 200W on the 5V line, which I need for these dual xeons)

    Cheers - Jaimie

David Kennedy replied on :

On 26/4/07 11:37, zoara wrote:

Will using a MacBook Pro power supply on a MacBook, or vice versa, cause any damage?

In your case a definate yes.

Paul Russell replied on :

Jon B wrote:

Jaimie Vandenbergh jaimie@redacted.invalid wrote:

On Thu, 26 Apr 2007 15:41:33 +0100, black.hole@redacted.invalid (Jon B) wrote:

Sara Kirk sarakirk@redacted.invalid wrote:

In article slrnf31409.2n1u.jim@redacted.invalid, Jim jim@redacted.invalid wrote:

I've no idea what the outcome would be, so why not colour-code the power supplies?

Does any of the documentation say what the specs of each are? 65w MacBook & 85w MacBook Pro My 60W MacBook supply is American, but I thought they were universal.

Actually looking, mines a 60w too, that'll teach me to work from memory. MBP definitely 85w though.

I don't think it matters - the MBP will just charge a little slower if you feed it with a MB PSU rather than an MBP PSU.

Paul

zoara replied on :

Tim Auton tim.auton@redacted.invalid wrote:

zoara me17@redacted.invalid wrote:

Will using a MacBook Pro power supply on a MacBook, or vice versa, cause any damage?

If it were anybody else asking, I'd point out that Apple's engineers would have to really hate the people in Apple's warranty department to provide incompatible power supplies with identical connectors. I'd also point out that the 45W and 65W iBook/PowerBook power supplies had identical connectors and were interchangeable, despite different ratings.

Thanks.

But as it's you, just go for it dude. We all know they're gonna die young, so they may as well live fast.

Wild.

    -z-
zoara replied on :

Jaimie Vandenbergh jaimie@redacted.invalid wrote:

On Thu, 26 Apr 2007 17:45:10 +0100, me17@redacted.invalid (zoara) wrote:

So plugging in the higher-rated power supply into a MacBook would be okay? I'd presumed that if anything, this would be the one to cause problems (giving more power than the MB is intended to take).

But (as I've probably shown in this thread) I don't really understand electricity.

The rated wattage of a power supply is the maximum wattage that it would be happy delivering. What actually get delivered into the computer is only whatever the computer requests. If the computer needs 35W, it gets 35W, whether the psu is "85W" or "60W".

Oh, righto. Thanks for that. Am happy now.

(this is not a place where analogies of voltage as waterfalls is any use at all!)

I have no use for vegemite sandwiches anyway.

OTOH, the MB psu is 60W and I've never managed to push the laptop beyond 35W, so you'll probably be okay.

Right. Seeing as that would me me doing that, its unlikely to happen anyway (unless I know it's okay). It's the MacBook into MacBook Pro power supply that's the important one.

Absolutely positively no problems there at all.

I just realised that my statement was ambiguous; it's plugging the MacBook into the 85W supply that's possible. But from what you say above, I can see you must have understood what I meant.

(for completeness sake, I should say that "60W" is a bit of oversimplification. What it really means is more like "40W max on the 12V line, and 20W on the 5V line". If you demand more than those per-line wattages, then the psu starts getting upset and squirting pus.

Sounds messy.

My PC here runs off a 580W psu, even though it peaks at just 250W

  • because the 580W psu supplies 200W on the 5V line, which I need for these dual xeons)

Gotcha.

    -zoara-
holland.chris replied on :

On Apr 26, 11:37 am, m...@redacted.invalid (zoara) wrote:

Will using a MacBook Pro power supply on a MacBook, or vice versa, cause any damage?

    -zoara-

-- "I'm sorry, that's not a hair-related question."

SHUT UP YOU VAGINA-FACED WOMAN!!!!!

HAHAHA HAHAHAHA GO BLEED FROM YOUR MENSTRUAL CYCLE YOU DYKE

I BET YOU ARE A BUTCH DYKE , NOT A SEXY LESBIAN LIKE IN PLAYBOY

Jaimie Vandenbergh replied on :

On Thu, 26 Apr 2007 22:43:03 +0100, me17@redacted.invalid (zoara) wrote:

I just realised that my statement was ambiguous; it's plugging the MacBook into the 85W supply that's possible. But from what you say above, I can see you must have understood what I meant.

Certainly did, and it's fine. I didn't even see the ambiguity, in fact.

... I was reading thedailywtf earlier, and a chap had posted a bit of buggy code with a - ho ho - infinite loop in, to catch the unwary. Which I couldn't spot. Turned out that he'd autocorrected the bug as he typed.

I do that a lot with my eyes, just don't see typos/thinkos sometimes. Until I press "send", of course.

Cheers - J
Ian McCall replied on :

On 2007-04-26 11:37:26 +0100, me17@redacted.invalid (zoara) said:

Will using a MacBook Pro power supply on a MacBook, or vice versa, cause any damage?

Been doing that for ages with no ill effect.

Cheers, Ian

Jamie Vandenbarf replied on :

In article 1hx6dl1.7hnz4fcfus2yN%me17@redacted.invalid me17@redacted.invalid (zoara) wrote:

Will using a MacBook Pro power supply on a MacBook, or vice versa, cause any damage?

    -zoara-

-- "I'm sorry, that's not a hair-related question."

Give it a go. What harm could it do?

Joke of The Year "...don't worry, I shan't be posting here again." - Sarah Balfour

zoara replied on :

Ian McCall ian@redacted.invalid wrote:

On 2007-04-26 11:37:26 +0100, me17@redacted.invalid (zoara) said:

Will using a MacBook Pro power supply on a MacBook, or vice versa, cause any damage?

Been doing that for ages with no ill effect.

Confirmation from the trenches! Ta.

    -z-
Jaimie Vandenbergh replied on :

On Mon, 30 Apr 2007 20:55:53 +0100, me17@redacted.invalid (zoara) wrote:

Ian McCall ian@redacted.invalid wrote:

On 2007-04-26 11:37:26 +0100, me17@redacted.invalid (zoara) said:

Will using a MacBook Pro power supply on a MacBook, or vice versa, cause any damage?

Been doing that for ages with no ill effect.

Confirmation from the trenches! Ta.

Whereas I've just accidentally discovered that an 85W G4 Mini psu won't power on an Intel Mini (110W psu). How odd, given that it actually draws under 30W.

Cheers - Jaimie