New 85W Magsafe not working with 2008 C2D Macbook Pro but works with i7

Hi RockyRoad.

The adaptors are certainly meant to be interchangeable. The new 85W ones should work fine on any of the older MBPs. You might want to check that the contacts in the MBP that it is not working with it are clean and not distorted, and that the pins in the magsafe adaptor plug itself aren't sticking. It may be that slight differences in the tolerance of pin alignment or the like are causing the difference with this particular older machine.

Cheers

Rod

I am having the exact same issue. My dog chewed up my old magsafe adapter and I went and purchased 2 new onesw from the apple store. My Macbook Pro 17" and My wife's Macbook Pro 15" works with her old adapater, but neither will work with the two new aqdapters?

Also having the exact same problem. Tested 2 new cords they do not work. Tested 2 old cords both work fine.

There is definitely a problem with one of the macbook pro's and the new magsafe adaters.

I'm having a very similar problem. New revision of the magsafe adapter worked for a few days, but as of now I can only charge using the old version.

Same thing. I've tried 2 new magsafe cords. They work for about 2-3 days and then nothing. The light goes off, the battery doesn't charge.

The new adapter doesn't work with my '08 macbook pro either. I can work around it by taking out the battery, holding down the power button, putting the battery back in, and THEN plugging it in. But I have to go through that process every.single.time. I plug in the computer. Come on apple, this isn't bad ports or faulty laptops. It's yet another badly designed power supply. I've now spent over $300 on power supplies for my 2 year old computer, and am getting pretty grouchy about the whole thing.

I've had the same problem. This is what I have identified:
- My battery will not charge initially. After turning off the computer and removing the battery, it will begin to charge immediately. I do not need to restart the SMC - just simply pop the battery out and put it back in.
- As long as I leave the power cord plugged in, it continues to charge. If I unplug the macbook and then close the lid (i.e. put it to sleep), it will revert to the initial state, which does not charge with the new 85w cord.
- The first time I used the cord (i.e. straight from the box) it worked fine. After I unplugged it and began using the computer, this cycle began.
- My macbook still charges fine using the old power cord. It also charges fine using my friends power cord (also older model).
- My friend's macbook (same model, year, etc) worked fine initially - we haven't tested it again.

My guess is that it has something to do with the way the macbook and battery interact. The computer will allow the battery to charge only when it has been freshly inserted, but will not allow it to charge after that.

That worked for me too. It's unfortunate that I have to do that every time. When at home, my old magsafe works fine. But at work, the new magesafe requires the battery to come out before plugging in.

got a new battery have been doing the remove the battery gig every 2-3 days- major pain-
but now i can't get the battery out for some reason- is there a special trick to this ?
can we get old power adapters anymore ?

Exact same problem.

New 85w magsafe worked for a while on my 2008 MPR then stopped working after a day (unless the battery is removed and replaced while the cord is attached).

It works fine on my friends newer MBP - and every older model magsafe i've tried works perfectly on my MBP.

$85 for one of these gems @ the Apple store. Tell me there is a software fix in the works.

I had this same problem with my Macbook Pro late 2008 model. Recently my "T" charger went out and I went along borrowing others "T" & "L" style chargers at work.

Late last week I purchased an "L" style charger from Apple and plugged it in to my laptop, it didn't work. It didn't work on any of the 8 Macbook Pro's in my office either, even with ones that previously had the "L" style.

After tons of searching I found an answer. 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.

Let me know if this works for you!

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.

Was just on the phone with Apple Care for an hour & 3 minutes (1-800-275-2273).... He gave me a link to their website (see below) with power adapters listed (has pictures @ bottom of page). He said the older "T" style adapters are only available for purchase over the phone, so basically you need to go to this page and figure out which is correct for your computer and then call Apple Care for the purchase. (I originally called the Apple Store, & they told me they couldn't help & transferred me & this is the info he has given me). FYI, he said something about the purchase going through "DIY", but never explained what that meant.

(The reason the call took over an hour is that at first he kept telling me the "L" style power adapters are fine for the older style MacBook pro & I had to CONVINCE him it doesn't work. Upon further investigation on his part, he found the way to purchase the old "T" style. Hopefully if you go to this link below, you will be ahead of the game when calling!)

http://support.apple.com/kb/ht2346

I registered just to post my disappointment.

This is short of ridiculous. How can an updated product be released from Apple that doesn't work with the same technology as the older revision. Granted i can understand the battery connector not working if they brought out some amazing new way of charging your laptop, like the mag safe idea when it first came out.

But now, after I recommend 2 of my friends spend close to €2,000 euro on machines from apple (MBP). I wont be able to use their battery chargers without going through the process of taking out my battery, reinserting it and then charging it.

Something/someone made a massive mistake here.

How a person with a 2 and bit year old mac can't charge their unit that has the exact same connector is beyond me?

I could go on complaining but i wont. This is the first time i've kicked up a fuss about something. I'm just well aware the people 'upstairs' that in charge of this will just be telling themselves that in 3-4 years most of the 'older' macbook/pro users will have moved on to a new system so this problem will solve itself over time.

Not good enough imo. I don't want to have to lug my power adaptor around if i know the place i'm going to had new chargers in it.