MacBook Air keeps dying after using the wrong charger – anyone else experienced this?

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Level 1

4 points

MacBook Air keeps dying after using the wrong charger – anyone else experienced this?

Hi everyone,

We bought our MacBook Air in June and everything was fine until we went on holiday. My husband accidentally took the USB-C charger from our old MacBook Air instead of the new MagSafe one. After a couple of days, the MacBook stopped charging.

The shop said the motherboard was dead and replaced it. A few weeks later, we went on another trip… and he did it again 😅 — same old charger, and the same thing happened! This time the Wi-Fi also stopped working, and when he plugged in my iPhone, the MacBook crashed completely. My brother has the same MacBook as we do and can use this usb charger without any issue so I don’t even know if it’s related

Apple now says they’ll repair it but won’t replace it.

We’ve basically paid €1400 for a laptop that dies every few weeks.

Has anyone else experienced something like this? Any advice (besides banning my husband from charging it 😅)?

Posted on Nov 8, 2025 6:09 AM

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Answer 1

HWTech

Level 9

68,474 points

Nov 9, 2025 7:22 PM in response to Lauvie

Is it an official Apple OEM power adapter? I find they don't usually have any issues except for the Duckhead adapter and the charging cable (aka USB-C cable). Apple OEM power adapters can be used on other Macs without issue, but if the power adapter is smaller than the original for the laptop, then the battery may drain during use & charging will be slower.

If it is a third party power adapter, then get rid of it since it has destroyed two Logic Boards. You must be very careful using third party power adapters & cables. You want to use high quality products from well known respected brands....there are many fakes & counterfeits out there especially from third party marketplaces on major websites.

Another possibility is that the USB-C cable being used is bad (poor quality if third party, or it may be damaged)....assuming the same USB-C cable was used both times.

Personally I would toss out that particular power adapter & charging cable....why risk it damaging the laptop again or something else?

Another possibility is that the laptop is being accidentally damaged on your vacations and it is unrelated to the power adapter or charging cable being used. Or perhaps you are connecting a defective external device that is causing damage to the laptop's Logic Board.

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