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sworthy · Apr 15, 2004, 09:26 AM

I have a a 12" powerbook and my fiance has a 12" ibook. Does anyone know if we can interchangeably use the power adaptors? (As in use the powerbook's power adaptor with the ibook and vice versa).

Some places say yes, but when looking at the apple store they say that the power adaptor is for dual usb ibooks, and titanium powerbooks. Unfortunately I have an aluminum. I did see this which says it's compatible with both, but I think the powerbook uses a 45w adaptor while the ibook's is 65w. Anyone either try this or know better than I do?

nate_02 · Apr 15, 2004, 12:13 PM

i have a friend with a 12" iBook and I have a 15" PB. We use each others power adapters all the time and it works fine.

vcutag · Apr 18, 2004, 10:28 PM

Originally posted by sworthy:
I have a a 12" powerbook and my fiance has a 12" ibook. Does anyone know if we can interchangeably use the power adaptors? (As in use the powerbook's power adaptor with the ibook and vice versa).

Some places say yes, but when looking at the apple store they say that the power adaptor is for dual usb ibooks, and titanium powerbooks. Unfortunately I have an aluminum. I did see this which says it's compatible with both, but I think the powerbook uses a 45w adaptor while the ibook's is 65w. Anyone either try this or know better than I do?

I have a 15" Albook, and my partner has a 12" iBook. I accidentally picked up his charger and took it with me one day, thinking it was mine. I plugged it in, and the battery menu said it would take 6:00 to charge fully. I was running xBattery at the time, and the measurements were consistent: there was much, much, much less juice charging the battery than normal. I switched to my charger when I got home, and everything was fine.

I'm not sure why the difference, but there is one.

MartiNZ · Apr 19, 2004, 02:25 AM

I've used a 12" AlBook adaptor with my 12" iBook G3 800 and it went fine, and that was with charging as well. So I don't really know what the story is....

chipchen · Apr 19, 2004, 03:15 AM

the powerbooks use a 65watt ac adapter and the ibooks use a 45watt ac adapter. yes, you can use one on another... but for the long run, it's better use the right ones.

i use my girlfriend's ibook charger on my powerbook all the time when i'm at her place.. just takes a while longer to charge...

miksu · Apr 19, 2004, 06:07 AM

If plugs and polarity are same and voltages close enough, it should work. Less current means of course longer charging time.

Since it's Li-ion battery, recommend using correct charger, but short term use shouldn't be harmful.

Waragainstsleep · Apr 19, 2004, 08:00 AM

If you look at the adapters, they have the output voltage and current printed on them. If they say the same figures, chances are they work.
I'm using a yoyo M7332 on a Lombard G3 Bronze.

ibook_steve · Apr 19, 2004, 12:35 PM

The iBooks and 12" Powerbooks use the 45 W adaptors. I know the 17" uses 65 W and I'd bet the 15" are 65 W as well. All these adaptors are interchangeable. However, as noted, you'll get slower charging performance with a lower wattage adaptor on a higher wattage machine.

Steve

tooki · Apr 19, 2004, 02:10 PM

The 15 and 17" PowerBooks require the 65W adapter -- they can operate OR charge off the 45W model, but draw too much power to operate and charge simultaneously.

I don't know what the iBooks ship with (and the site doesn't say). If they require the 65W adapter, then the same restriction as for the 15 and 17" PowerBooks applies.

Using the 65W adapter on a machine that only requires 45W will NOT damage it, as some uninformed websites have posted. The wattage of the adapter is its maximum output -- the computer will only pull as much as it needs.

tooki

rag on a muffin · Apr 19, 2004, 02:24 PM

i use my moms ibook charger when im using it in her office. it works just fine.

sworthy · Apr 19, 2004, 04:28 PM

cool, thanks everyone for the replies

tRr · Apr 19, 2004, 07:24 PM

A list of the PB G4's and iBook's Adapters:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=88231

Here is what Apple has to say on the matter:

"While 45 W adapters should not be used with computers that shipped with 65 W adapters, 65 W adapters can be used with any of the computers that shipped with 45 W adapters. Using the higher-wattage adapter will not affect the computer or battery performance."

And a list of all time:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=16168

QuadG5Man · May 22, 2004, 12:05 PM

So I can use the "Yo-Yo" 45 watt adaptor with my 15" Al 1.25 just as long as I don't want to charge and use the powerbook at the same time? And it's perfectly safe for my powerbook's battery?

Here's a pic of the adaptor in question:

http://i4.ebayimg.com/02/i/01/3f/4f/ec_1.JPG

Just trying to clear this up, sorry if it's redundant.

dennisbolt · May 24, 2004, 08:07 PM

I assumed that the reason my manly ALUMINUM 17" PB used a GIRLY WHITE PLASTIC charger was that Apple was saving time and money so that they only had to make one charger for all the "books". If they make more than one, why does the Aluminum PB use a charger that looks more like it should go with the white ibooks?? If the 15 and 17 require more voltage it would be nice to have a graphite or alumnum looking charger to both visually match as well as easily indentify.

mrchin · May 25, 2004, 05:32 AM

Yes. 65W on all but iBook and 12" PB. Interchangable on the 45W models.

Key, though, is that using a 45W adapter will slowly charge and help power your 15-17" PB but if your battery is completely drained and the system is off, the 45W adapter does not provide enough power to allow the system to even power on.