Q: Thunderbolt Display power cord for laptop not charging
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Aug 6, 2013 5:04 PMby Malcolm J. Rayfield,Newer Apple laptops use MagSafe 2, and nedd an adapter to connect to the display's MagSafe connector. There may have been an adapter in the Thunderbolt display box. If not you can order one from Apple.
<http://store.apple.com/us/product/MD504ZM/A/magsafe-to-magsafe-2-converter>
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Aug 6, 2013 5:12 PMby Lovell Mcilwain,Hey Malcolm,
I did have a magsafe 2 adapter since I do have the newer laptop and I also tried plugging the cord into a laptop that uses that plug natively and still no charge in either case. Sorry I failed to mention that. It does sound like I am going to have to lug that monitor to the genius bar and have them take a look.
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Aug 7, 2013 9:40 AMby Lovell Mcilwain,Hey txburns,
I have been back from the Apple store for about an hour. When I packed it up and took it down there they tried it on 2 different systems and it worked without any issue. I think took my laptop out and tried it and it worked without issue.
So of course I'm thinking, when I get back to my office it won't work for me again. But sure enough I bring it back and its working like it should be. My assumption is that I should have tried power cycling the display since thats really the only thing that was done shutting it down from here and bringing it to apple store.
If you haven't tried that, try that and see if it helps. Otherewise Im not sure what else that can be done aside from taking to the apple store and hoping it can be reproduced.
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Nov 29, 2013 2:50 PMby HenriLeCinq,I have had this problem for a couple of days now, and I started to realise that my laptop was charging before but then why not now.
And I know that Its two cinema display/thunderbold inputs on the laptop. So after trying out both of the inputs I found out that the laptop only charges when using the input closest to the power connector.
Hope this helps!
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Apr 8, 2014 7:14 AMby TheSock,I'm having this problem too seems too much like a coincidense. However my solution was to wiggle the connector near where it connects to the laptop. By tilting the cable down a bit toward the back the charge light came on. I have all quite new clean equipement. 15" Powerbook Retina and using the Mag2 adapter. Note I tried flipping the adapter around and that made no difference. It's only when I pushed the cable down at the back that it started to work. I have the display connected to the thunderbolt near the power connector.
Model Name: MacBook Pro
Model Identifier: MacBookPro11,3
Processor Name: Intel Core i7
Processor Speed: 2.3 GHz
Number of Processors: 1
Total Number of Cores: 4
L2 Cache (per Core): 256 KB
L3 Cache: 6 MB
Memory: 16 GB
Boot ROM Version: MBP112.0138.B02
SMC Version (system): 2.19f3
Thunderbolt Display:
Display Type: LCD
Resolution: 2560 x 1440
Pixel Depth: 32-Bit Color (ARGB8888)
Display Serial Number: C02LL2D0F2GC
Mirror: Off
Online: Yes
Rotation: Supported
Connection Type: DisplayPort
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Apr 15, 2014 3:42 AMby GhostX-RaY,Wiggling definitely works.
I bought my Thunderbolt Display together with a MBP Retina that comes pre-installed with Mavericks. Charging was intermittent. Sometimes, the charging light has a VERY dim green light, as if not all the juice is going into the MBP.
I have to jiggle the cable to a specific angle (don't really know how to explain.) for it to work.
What I can say for sure is that the cables, and the ports on both equipments are in perfect working condition. My suspicion is that the MagSafe 2 adaptor connection with the Thunderbolt's MagSafe connector is not 100% at any angle. You gotta jiggle it to find the sweet spot.
If I have an old MBA, maybe i can test this teory.
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Dec 24, 2014 3:46 AMby tim202,Hey All, did anyone find a solution to this ? same here a 15" Retina MBP on the screen and it says charging but the charge light will not illuminate..
1 thing i did have on an older power supply was the MBP like a dedicated 85watt charger, could it be the thunderbolt displays are not supplying a high enough charge for the MBP to see it correctly..
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Aug 19, 2016 1:48 AMby Dominique G.,I have the same issue. As it occurred in the office, I could troubleshoot the material a bit more easily, as we have several displays.
Yes, wiggling the cable sometimes works, but ultimately, I identified the problem being linked with the adaptor (that tiny grey adaptor that connects the power cable to the laptop).
I changed the adaptor with one from a different display and it worked first time without any problem.
I am now going to either try to order a new one (I believe you have to reorder the whole cable and cannot just order the adaptor) or find out if I can fix / clean it.
Hope that helps.
