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Can you use a 65W apple charger instead of the 45w charger that comes with the Macbook Air? How will this affect the machine.

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Did you really mean the old PowerBook 65w adapter or the newer MagSafe 60w adapter. The round with a pin 65w adapter will not fit, and the 60w or 85w adapters are safe to use. – bmike♦ Mar 3 '12 at 3:57

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up vote 7 down vote

Yes this is fine (assuming you refer to the 60W Magsafe) and this has been confirmed by Apple to be safe

Although you should always use the proper wattage adapter for your Apple portable, you can use an adapter of a higher wattage without issue.

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That obviously begs the question: if you can use whatever you want without issue, why should you always use the normal wattage? – Phong Mar 3 '12 at 4:42
@phong using a 45w adapter on a 60w load causes stress to both systems - the common case is two macs and two adapters, hence the admonition to use the correct on each. – bmike♦ Mar 3 '12 at 4:52
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Right; my comment was on the "without issue". Clearly there are issues. – Phong Mar 3 '12 at 4:56
@Phong emphasis on higher … without issue. – Graham Perrin Mar 17 at 13:07
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This will not affect the Mac at all. It will not charge faster. It will not damage your battery. It will not damage your adapter.

Information on power adapters is detailed on Apple's support site: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2346

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You can use the 85w too, but bear in mind that periodic use of power adapter with more wattage, will decrease your battery life. I can't find the link for that information, but it has been mentioned to me in at least three different Apple Stores by different employees when I lost (twice!) my 45w power adapter and needed to buy a new one; the first stores didn't have stock for the 45w and they strongly advised me against buying the 60w version. I ended up finding a 45w later that day.

Your battery will charge slightly faster and that is not good. There's a reason why each machine has a different battery size and therefore a different power adapter.

Occasional usage of a different model is ok. For example if you're running low and need to keep working or something like that, but don't buy one and use it all the time.

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Actually that's not quite true, a 60W/85W charger will not charge a MacBook Air faster, the Logic Board along with the MagSafe charger are smart enough to adapt power flow to the battery. The real reason for different power adapters is that a 17" MacBook Pro really does require more "juice" than a 11" MacBook Air. – Dan Barrett Mar 3 '12 at 9:52
@dan According to the Apple Store guys, the bigger chargers do charge a little bit faster. I can't say I've timed it, but I am under the impression that it does. The Logic Board along with the MagSafe is not too smart. I can test this (and I will) because at the office there are plenty of 60w chargers and I'm the only MBA. – Martín Marconcini Mar 3 '12 at 14:30
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Please read support.apple.com/kb/HT2346 – Justsomeguy Nov 24 '12 at 7:15
Apple article HT2346 states "you can use an adapter of a higher wattage without issue" – no decrease in battery life. – Graham Perrin Mar 17 at 13:05
up vote -2 down vote

It DOES charge quite a bit faster. Just enough to make it more practical.

But I won't use it if it will spoil the battery sooner. I don't really trust the algorithms controlling the charging parameters.

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This is completely wrong – Justsomeguy Nov 24 '12 at 7:07
Read support.apple.com/kb/HT2346 – Justsomeguy Nov 24 '12 at 7:14

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