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I have a 2008 Macbook Pro and my cat recently chew through that power cord. I bought a 85w adpater but I don't want to open it if I know it won't work.

Does an 85w work with a 2008 Macbook pro or should I exchange it for the 60w?

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3 Answers

up vote 2 down vote accepted

According to Apple knowledge base entry HT2346 the 85W power adapter is the right one. However, there seem to be issue with "T" style (the old) vs. "L" style (the new): see this thread. It seems that for some people, a workaround does the trick:

Turn off your computer, flip over the laptop and remove the battery, hold down the circlular button on the battery for 10 seconds, the green light should go out. Re-install the battery and turn your computer on. Your new charger should work fine.

If that doesn't work, you need to call Apple support to arrange for your power adapter to be replaced with a "T" style adapter:

Apple is aware of the issue with the pins being at a different depth in the new chargers with the "L" shaped connection. After having two new ones not work, I contacted tech support. They sent a new version of the old charger with the square mag safe connector. It works fine.

Edit: Apparently the MacBook SMC Firmware Update 1.4 should fix the "L" style power adapter issue on older MacBooks.

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@Samantha: Found new info, have updated the answer. –  DarkDust Jan 15 '12 at 21:39
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Yes. All MacBook Pro 2008 Models can use an 85W Apple Magsafe power adapter.

This information is available from Mactracker, an app that catalogs details on every Apple product.

Mactracker is available for free from the Mac App Store and for download at: http://mactracker.ca/

I have no connection to the developers of Mactracker, it is just an indispensable tool that I have used for years to identify hardware details on non-current Mac models.

I hope this helps.

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It actually depends on your screen size.

  • 13 inch models can use both 60W and 85W adapters. When connected to the 85W adapter they will simply pull less power.
  • The 15 and 17 inch models should only use the 85W adapter as this is the minimum power they need for their batteries.
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Not correct. I have a 2009 15 inch MBP, the power adapter is 60W. –  Tom De Leu Mar 15 at 19:53
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