Question about Power Adapters

Hello,

I'm an American living in Germany.

My home computer is a 2009 13" Macbook, which I bought in America and which came with Apple's (American) MagSafe Power Adapter.

My work computer is a 2009 15" Macbook Pro, which my work bought for me, and which came with Apple's (European) MagSafe Power Adapter.

Is it safe to use the European MagSafe Power Adapter with my home Macbook? I don't need it at work (my laptop is hooked up to an external monitor with a power feed) and could use an extra one at home.

Bonus question: My wife's home computer is a 2007 13" Macbook, which she bought in America. Is it safe to use the European MagSafe Power Adapter with it?

Thanks!!!

-Josh

I don't think that's possible in the way you want, but I may as well be wrong.
You could buy the World traveller kit and swap the plug, though.
That will probably solve it.
They come on Ebay at approx. 25% of value today.

Hope this helps.

I think it is possible. The magsafe connection is the same for all of the laptops and charges the battery in the same way, so you should be fine. Wait for someone else to clarify though, as I don't want you to do this and then have killed 2 macbooks. I'm almost 100% sure it should work though.

Okay, I stand almost 100% corrected, ghe ghe
Just be careful, to the OP.
Calling an Apple genius wouldn't hurt in this case.

I agree with Sur3Mac call an Apple Genius..

I memory serves correctly US current is 60Hz and EU is 50Hz (cycles) not just the power plugs are different but so is the current .. I would dbl check with someone who knows about international plug ins for our precious Mac's

Guys, the power bricks convert mains voltage and amperage to 16.5-18.5v 4.6amp... That's the same regardless of where it was purchased. If you doubt that, read the brick.. you'll see it says...

Input: 100-240v ~1.5a 50-60Hz
Output: 16.5018.5v 4.6A Max

Click to expand...

So, the answer is... the difference is the plugs.

BTW, this is about as universally true as it gets.. laptop power supplies, desktop power supplies, and even server power supplies all do this.

correct, all mackbooks take the same output from the AC charge unit.

all the charging unit does is converts the AC current into DC current at the right amperage and volts.

EU USA model is just for socket differences, EU is rounded plug, where we have flat heads

Figured Out Answer

I spoke to an Apple Representative and got what I think is the correct answer.

The Apple Power Adapter is cross-compatible between European and American power. In other words, the fact that one computer was bought in Germany and came with a German power adapter and the other was bought in America and came with an American power adapter doesn't matter.

HOWEVER, one of the laptops is a MacBook and the other is a MacBook Pro. That does matter. One has a 60W and the other an 85W power adapter. These can be used with one another for short periods of time without harm. However, over the long-term, using the wrong wattage (in either direction) diminishes the life of the battery.

Thought I'd share so future users know the facts.