Help: My MacBook (Air/Pro) Won’t Charge!

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I had a panic attack today. I had left my MacBook Air inside its sleeves and on my bookshelf for a week since I didn’t have an immediate need for it and I didn’t want someone stealing it. I took it out today to prepare it for a trip overseas, only to find that my MacBook Air wasn’t charging and the charger LED wasn’t turning on. I opted not to buy the extended AppleCare, and mine expired a few months ago. I looked up the cost for a new charger to find out it’ll cost me $79. $79!!! I knew of Apple and their premium prices, but I still found it shocking.

I did what any sensible person would do, which is to start googling to find a do-it-yourself solution to my problem. Most people would suggest resetting SMC, or just simply going to the Apple Store and letting the Genius people take care of it. But what if you no longer have AppleCare and resetting SMC doesn’t work?

I managed to find one solution that finally worked for me. I’d give the site credit, but I closed the page and can’t find it any more. So the solution to the charging problem is… wait for…

Sit on the charger.

Seriously, I found this ridiculous, but figuring I had nothing to lose, I tried it anyway. I sat on my charger, noting that it was slightly cold due to cold weather, for a few minutes and gave it a go. Still nothing, the LED didn’t turn on. I tried sitting on it again, this time a bit longer. This time around, the LED turned green and then orange a few seconds later. Score!

charger charging problem MacBook MacBook won’t charge MagSafe

Comments

36 responses to “Help: My MacBook (Air/Pro) Won’t Charge!”

May 6, 2016

felipe andrada

It’s unbelievable but works.
“Excuse customer I will sit on my charger for some minutes”

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May 23, 2016

barry magic

Electronics hate two things, voltage spikes and HEAT.

The heat “solution ” is crazy.

What you have is in intermittent connection and after heating

it just happened to connect.

magic119g@gmail.com

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September 21, 2016

Kenya

OMG IT WOKED, i was almost about to pay $95 for a new charger. thank you so much…

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1. September 29, 2016
  
  magic119g@gmail.com
  
  glad mac charger fix worked
  
  magic119g@gmail.com
  
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September 30, 2016

Sammie

Genius! It worked except I laid it on my belly and covered it with my hand. Just a couple of minutes did it. Thank you!

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October 14, 2016

Steve

I used a blow dryer. Totally worked!

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1. January 4, 2018
  
  Emmy
  
  How long did you use the blow dyer on the charger?
  
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October 18, 2016

TT

I didn’t believe this for one second but thought I had to try it as i’m stuck in Mexico with no Apple store anywhere near me. It worked. I was stunned but happy!

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November 3, 2016

Lyle

Well it worked for me too! Thanks for sharing.

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November 29, 2016

Elden

Wow! I left my Mac Air on the desk for 2 months and came back to it unable to charge. I sat on the charger for 10 minutes for bam, the light on the charger came on and my laptop was charging.

Big thanks!!!

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November 29, 2016

rb2000

Had the same problem after I moved my charger to a colder room and left it sitting on a wooden floor. Moved it to another room, warmed it under my armpit, and, ta-da!, worked immediately!!!

Thanks so much for the fix!

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December 26, 2016

v.dyro

this has worked on two different chargers on my two different macbooks…
hands down…

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December 28, 2016

hazim

i also make the same way you did .. but for only 10 minutes, then my macbook wont charged. please help me ! 😦

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January 3, 2017

T.

If only it would hatch into 2 chargers after sitting on it. At its price, could be a good income generator…

All jokes aside, it is probably humid and leaving it for a week in the cold creates sweat, which is not good for circuits…

Apple have thought this through, no worries, 79 bucks for a charger…

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January 31, 2017

Jamie

It works.
After replugging my charger in every outlet in this hotel for an hour… wiggling… pushing buttons… everything!!!

Sitting on it worked.

Thanks so much!!!

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February 22, 2017

George Donahue

Ok, it’s stupid and haven’t a clue why but it works! Tried it with my hands and nothing happened. Used wife’s hairdryer for just a couple of minutes and….it works. Thanks to all for the tip!

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March 12, 2017

Gabor

No words – it just works… Many thanks John!

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June 5, 2017

Theresa

Didn’t work for me. 😦

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July 3, 2017

Gean

Worked for me too, thanks a lot. Some time ago i’ve replaced ir for a new charger because of this problem, and throw the old one away, what a piece of crap from Apple!

Thanks John

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July 6, 2017

Julia

Thought I would have to drive 200 miles to nearest store to fix, tried every plug in this vacation house. But damned! This worked. Thank ya jeezus!

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August 7, 2017

Paty

Million thanks!

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August 8, 2017

Sam

Is this serious? Can’t even try what the other blogs are saying that I should restart my laptop as it doesn’t have any battery left. Will try this too tho. Thanks for sharing!

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August 18, 2017

Kang

I wouldn’t belive it while heating my charger with hair dryer.
But it works! Wow!!
Thank you very much for this great tip! And saving my money.

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October 10, 2017

Shankar Prabhu

Funniest solution i have ever come across. But it worked like a charm 🙂

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December 11, 2017

Michael

OMG it worked.

UNBELIEVABLE

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January 5, 2018

Ed

Well. I was skeptical, but it worked. Who knows why or how, I don’t care. Thanks!!!

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March 30, 2018

applator

I have an opposite problem. Living in India that too in summer. My adapter only heats up and no light on magsafe connector. Battery looks fine, no bulging. Does not work without battery, assume it is adapter problem. Tried putting the adapter in refridgerator but no use !!

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April 12, 2018

KyleR

I can’t believe that fucking worked. Thanks for the tip!

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August 11, 2018

RICK MIR

Should I try this trick while charging the Mac or without charging .cuz I do haven the same problem

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January 19, 2019

James

Like everyone else, I really can’t believe this worked. Thanks!

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February 14, 2019

Lexie

Thanks! This trick didn’t quite work for me but got me thinking about temperature being an issue… and I realized it was my MacBook Air that was having issues with starting up and accepting a charge due to being too cold.
Recently the temps in my home have been getting down into the 40’s and 50’s, so I guess thats a little colder than my laptop likes it lol. Instead of sitting on my laptop to warm it up, I tried sliding it under my dog while he was napping on the couch… and sure enough it finally started up and began accepting a charge again. 😂

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May 31, 2020

alexander

awesome – really worked – superb!!

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July 18, 2020

Andrés

It’s unbelievably but that’s true, this abnormal method works, thanks a lot, my charger MagSafe come back to live again.

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March 13, 2021

Holy

Yes I can confirm with my 2 MacBook Air.
I used a hairdryer to heat the adapter for 5 mins and then connected to the Air for 5 mins and suddenly the charger LED light turned on and the Air booted up.
For the other one , I needed to connect the charger to the Air and used the hairdryer to heat for 10 mins! Then the charger LED turned orange and after a few mins the Air also booted up.

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December 22, 2021

Pied Piper

I cant believe that it worked at the first try on mcbook pro 2020

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February 3, 2022

Stunned

IT WORKED!!! Holy cow! Had to sit on it for quite a while (3-4 minutes), and even flipped it over at one point, so that both sides got warmed up, but it bloody well worked. Thank you so much!

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