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the problem with airplanes and the MBP

I'd be interested in whether people think this problem is specific to my machine, or general.

I do too much travel on planes. I therefore couldn't begin to use my MPB until I could buy 3 batteries (about a month after I got the machine), and I also had to buy an inverter, since I couldn't find any iGo like tip to connect to the new magnet connection.

The first inverter I got was a Targus. It promised 90w - above the reported 85w drawn by the machine. Four flights, never would it work. Everytime, it would trip because too much power was demanded. I then bought a "CyberPower" inverter, promising 120w. That worked for a good 3 hours on an internatinoal flight, but then it began flaking as well. I then discovered that if I had a fully charged battery (so it wasn't trying to charge), it worked fine. So the obvious "solution" is either to have a fully charged battery, or to remove the battery -- though that's obviously a bit dangerous, since the cord disconnects from the laptop so easily.

This is a big problem with the machine. Is it just mine, or is it general? And is there any useful way to control how much power the unit draws? Notice, the processor speed control has been removed from the Energy Saver panel.

MBP Mac OS X (10.4.5)

PB G4, Mac OS X (10.3.6)

Posted on Mar 29, 2006 3:55 PM

82 replies

Mk Gonda

Level 2

375 points

May 4, 2006 3:05 PM in response to moretti

There you go. Now your thinking 🙂

You probably know that, if you fly AA like I do often, power ports are only in the first 10 rows + emergency exit rows, aside from 1st/Biz Class seats. Sounds silly to have wires tangling up passengers trying get out in an emergency but these coach seats are mostly occupied by frequent flyers with the seat preferential service.

The power allocation is for the whole aircraft so it depends on just how many ports they think it will be used at any given time. You can imagine on 747-400, 1/3 of the aircraft is dedicted to premium class seating (closer to 45% if you fly BA or Singapore), but it also has 4 engines i/o 2...of couse with much less passenger density.

Mac OS X (10.4.6)

Chasmo

Level 1

10 points

May 4, 2006 7:06 PM in response to Lawrence Lessig

Where is the crafty electrician who can splice a mag-safe plug onto an IGO? CON-vert instead of IN-vert.

May 5, 2006 1:16 AM in response to Chasmo

I was thinking the same thing - I have done this before when I had odd connectors that I could not buy.

1) Buy second Apple power adapter
2) Cut off the magSafe connector
3) Buy an airplane adapter that can output the same voltage as the Apple adapter - it's written on the Apple MBP adapter
4) Cut off the airplane adapter's plug and splice the MagSafe cable to it.
5) Done.

I read in the repair manuals that the MagSafe connector has 5 pins - a connector pin, 2 positive and 2 return pins. So the cable should just have 2 wires. The main problem seems to be finding an airplane adapter that doesn't have some sort of "smart" voltage adapter system.

Or you wait two months until some company - perhaps Apple - offers a commercial solution 😉

May 5, 2006 4:13 AM in response to Lawrence Lessig

I have to agree with you. I travel on planes at least 2x week, and the only reason I have yet to 'upgrade' my AL PB is that there isn't a good solution for the air travel.

I have used, successfully, the older madisononline air adapter eventhough it is rated as underpowered, because of it's size. When traveling as much as I do, every ounce starts to add up. The thought of carrying multiple batteries isn't even an option.

dave

PowerMac G4 867

PowerMac G4 867

May 5, 2006 7:30 PM in response to Lawrence Lessig

I'm a photographer and work internationally. I depend on my Apple laptop for getting work done. Three batteries keep me going for most domestic flights and east coast to Europe. Traveling to/from the Pacific region from east coast US and I'm up a creek for getting work done with the MacBook Pro.

According to Lind Electronics (lindelectronics.com), they do not have an airliner power cord for the MacBook Pro. They DO make excellent airliner seat power cords for Mac PowerBooks, however, tell me Apple will not license the MagSafe technology to third parties.

I'm a patient sort and didn't complain much waiting for availability of spare batteries, but I see no sign of Apple or anyone working on a solution to this.

Will someone from Apple spreak to this?

MBPro; G5 2.7Dual Mac OS X (10.4.6)

May 5, 2006 9:13 PM in response to jim farley

Don't forget, you can install the CHUD processor tools (look for it on versiontracker.com) and turn off one of the cores in your dual core macbook pro. that should drop processor use substanstantially, and still give you a single 2 ghz or so core to do work precessing or dvd playback.

May 5, 2006 10:17 PM in response to Lawrence Lessig

Easy! You can swap batteries while the computer is asleep (try it!).

May 6, 2006 8:56 AM in response to Lawrence Lessig

I wanted to make a comment regarding the Mag-safe connector. Someone critized it as
"apple-cute."

I call it a GREAT Apple improvement!

Especially, since my previous 2 Powerbooks had to be sent in to Applecare for repair due to the previous power connections breaking, either in the Power Brick or the Power Board in the PowerBook!

May 6, 2006 6:40 PM in response to Nikolaus Heger

http://www.woodynet.net/pics/index.php?currentDir=photos/2006/06.03-EmPower-MagS afe.Adapter

May 6, 2006 6:45 PM in response to Bill Woodcock

Dude! Get thee to Flickr or one of its competitors! Your server ain’t up to this sort of popularity.

RRS

drwheeze

Level 1

4 points

May 7, 2006 4:57 AM in response to Lawrence Lessig

I have the same problem as I also do a lot of traveling and have some international trips coming up this month.

Has there been any update to this issue?

Oleflyer

Level 1

5 points

May 7, 2006 9:13 AM in response to Lawrence Lessig

Larry,

I know you fly a lot on United (saw you in First on UA 870 from Sydney to SFO on March 5 for example). As you know, United uses the Empower solution for power, and prior to the MBP, you could RUN (but not charge) your PowerBook with a simple cable from several suppliers including Madsonline.com. No adapter required, just the right plug at each end. Madson tells me that Apple has not (yet) released the specs for the Magsafe connector so no third party can make adapters or cables yet. Hopefully they will soon, or perhaps Apple will make their own EmPower cable. The MPB should run fine with such a solution. The discussion about wattage largerly refers to CHARGING the battery, not running the machine.

Ole

Several Mac OS X (10.4.6)

May 7, 2006 10:00 AM in response to Lawrence Lessig

I am a frequent traveller as well. I usually jump between the airline lounge and the airplane and vice versa. All the while plugging in when I can. Usually I find that I keep at least 60% of my battery power.

I only just got my MBP and have not been on an airplane with it so this thread is great.

My temporary solution, if I was not fully charged when plugged into the airplane power, would be to put the computer on sleep or shut down and let the battery charge up. Once it is fully charged - hopefully in less than 30 minutes, I can get working again.

PS.. On a recent flight from London to Singapore on Singapore Airlines (before MBP), I was plugged in and fully charged the whole time. And I was online wirelessly-G for 7 of those hours with ConnexionByBoeing. I am hooked. I am optimistic that the hardware and airlines will eventually get it together.

May 8, 2006 1:06 AM in response to Lawrence Lessig

so what about cars? I virtually use my powerbook 17" 90% of the time in our van as we're travelling the country. Would a 150w inverter work fine in a car to use & charge? Or are we talking the same limits?

g5 dual Mac OS X (10.4.6)

May 9, 2006 2:40 PM in response to Oleflyer

Wow! I'm being watched!

The simplest solution to this would be for someone to write a hack that would disable the battery charging function, so that the only pull would be to run the machine. Then you could use a 120W (or maybe lower) inverter. That's much easier that rebuilding the power system for the United planes, or expecting a deal to license Apple's precious plug.

MacBook Pro Mac OS X (10.4.6)

the problem with airplanes and the MBP