Charging issue on 2020 M1 MacBook Air

For the last 2 days (coincidentally since updating to Sonoma), my MBA intermittently refuses to charge when power is applied. By that I mean that the battery icon at the top of the screen does not show the powerplug overlay, and the beep doesn't sound when I plug the power in to either of the 2 TB3 ports. The screen is currently showing 78% charge, and the System Setting option for Optimised Battery Charging is turned off.


If I plug the cable and power supply from a 2019 Intel MBA in, it starts charging immediately on either port.

If I then pull the 2019 power out and plug my 2020 power in to the connector nearest the front, it again charges, but the rear port still refuses to operate.


Looking at System Information > Power > Battery Information, it shows State of Charge % as 71, different from the 78% shown on screen. Cycle count is 273, Condition Normal, and max capacity 93%.

However, whenever I plug the charger in and it shows on the menu bar that it is charging, the AC Charger Information in System Information shows No to Connected and No to Charging.


Now I have just plugged my 2020 power in to the rear TB3 port and the Menu bar on screen shows it is charging OK, and it beeped, but the System Information still shows No to charging and No to Connected. I leave it on charge for a few minutes and the charge level does go up.


So my 2020 power brick is working, and my 2020 cable from power brick to TB3 port is working, and has no sharp bends or kinks in it.


But there is an intermittent failure somewhere.


I have 2 docks to provide other ports, which I use a lot for development. I purchased the second because I thought the first had failed, but both seem to be affected by this intermittent feature.

MacBook Air 13″, macOS 14.0

Posted on Sep 30, 2023 1:07 PM

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Posted on Oct 1, 2023 6:04 AM

Now in Safe Mode, and battery down to 54%. Plugged the 2020 charger in to both ports and no response, even after leaving connected for a few seconds.

Tried again in the back port, and it responded and started charging.

Gave it a few minutes, then tried the front port again, and nothing. Rear port again, nothing.Disconnected the cable from power brick to computer, and used a fine stiff brush (made for cleaning an electric razor head) to clean inside the connector.

Now works every time.


Sometimes the simple, obvious things elude us!

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Oct 1, 2023 6:04 AM in response to WheelieNick

Now in Safe Mode, and battery down to 54%. Plugged the 2020 charger in to both ports and no response, even after leaving connected for a few seconds.

Tried again in the back port, and it responded and started charging.

Gave it a few minutes, then tried the front port again, and nothing. Rear port again, nothing.Disconnected the cable from power brick to computer, and used a fine stiff brush (made for cleaning an electric razor head) to clean inside the connector.

Now works every time.


Sometimes the simple, obvious things elude us!

Sep 30, 2023 1:28 PM in response to AndrewCSP

Try and restart the Mac first, after that boot in the safe mode to see if the issue persist in the safe mode


  1. On your Mac, choose Apple menu  > Shut Down.
  2. Wait for your Mac to shut down completely. A Mac is completely shut down when the screen is black and any lights (including in the Touch Bar) are off.
  3. Press and hold the power button on your Mac until “Loading startup options” appears.
  4. Select a volume.
  5. Press and hold the Shift key, then click Continue in Safe Mode.
  6. The computer restarts automatically. When the login window appears, you should see “Safe Boot” in the menu bar.


If the issues does not persist in the safe mode, you might want to review your externally installed software om your Mac

Oct 1, 2023 8:31 AM in response to AndrewCSP

For the record, it seems I spoke too soon.

Although the 2019 power supply and the 2020 are both 30W, the 2019 reliably initiates charging, but the 2020 doesn't.

Thank goodness we have the 2 to in order to compare, and so determine a possible cause.

The 2020 is left plugged in to an unswitched power block, and hence constantly powered up. The 2019 is plugged in as required.

So the 2020 power supply may be slowly losing its output after 3 years continuously powered on.

But this is just conjecture.

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Charging issue on 2020 M1 MacBook Air

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