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My MacBook charger won't magnetise properly anymore. I took a look at the ports and one of the little gold things are burnt, and the same one on my MacBook. I tested my old charging cable that broke and it still magnetises so it isn't specifically the Mac book. Is there any way I can fix this? Or find someone to replace the cable with my older, perfectly fine cable? I'm a student so I really need my laptop.

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The first thing to try is cleaning the MagSafe contacts. The burned metal nubs within the MagSafe plug (on the charger cord) and socket (on the computer) can both be cleaned using a electrical contact cleaner (like DeOxIt, available at electronics supply houses, hardware stores, big-box stores or online) or even alcohol, applied with a Q-Tip. After cleaning and drying both, try your charger again. Cleaning may allow the plug-and-socket magnets to clamp together; that and the clean nubs may be enough to resurrect charging. If your MacBook then charges, you're good to go.

If your MacBook still doesn't work, try your MacBook (after making sure the MagSafe socket has clean nubs) with a known-good charger borrowed from a friend. If your MacBook works with the borrowed charger, then your MacBook is OK but your charger and/or cable is damaged. If your MacBook doesn't work with a known-good charger, then you'll need to take your equipment in for repair.

The charger and cable is available from the Apple Store as well as online from other vendors, but other vendors' versions, usually cheaper than Apple's, are sometimes not up to Apple's quality standards.

You can also take your charger to a repair person to change the cable. The charger case must be disassembled and the new cable soldered in place, but this is not a technically difficult repair. If, however, your charger itself (not the cable) is defective, just replacing the cable will not fix the no-charge issue.

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