Can you swap one apple power adapter attachment for another older one?

October 14, 2009 4:13 PM

Is it safe to swap the power adapter attachment between an iBook G4 and an intel MacBook?

Please bear with me, because I'm not sure of the proper terminology: my girlfriend has an intel-based MacBook (2 or 3 years old - from just after the switch to intel). She was unplugging her power cord and the casing came off the power adapter attachment... I'm referring specifically to the piece that can be swapped out for a longer cable (if this is still unclear, let me know).

I have a seemingly identical piece from my old iBook G4 - both say "2.5A 12.5V-" on the bottom. The piece fits perfectly, but is it safe to use? Will it void her applecare? She's going to call them tomorrow to see if they will replace the piece, but I don't see why they would. She still has the long cable, but she would prefer not to carry around the extra weight.

posted by ndicecco to computers & internet (4 answers total)

Yes, you can swap them. And her Applecare is probably gone by now, considering the first Intel consumer MacBooks came out in May 2006.
posted by elsietheeel at 4:18 PM on October 14, 2009

You mean one of the things in this collection, that just adapt the power supply to whatever combination of pins and plates are used in your country's wall sockets?

Yes, those are perfectly interchangeable, as you can confirm by noting that Apple sells the same set for "all iBook, MacBook, MacBook Pro, and PowerBook G4 computers."

They don't do anything other than adapt the physical connection: it's the bigger power supply "block" that does the actual finicky power handling, and differs from some MacBooks to others.
posted by rokusan at 4:50 PM on October 14, 2009

Oh, and if you're in North America: $4 on eBay for many compatible ones. I doubt they're Apple originals, but there's not much to get wrong, there. It's basically a zero-length extension cord.
posted by rokusan at 5:09 PM on October 14, 2009

Awesome! Thank you everyone!
posted by ndicecco at 6:41 PM on October 14, 2009