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Comment by josephg | Hacker News Reader

If you’ve got one of the older style Mac chargers, the part which plugs into the wall physically separates from the rest of the charger. You can connect different plugs for all the different countries. There is a plastic seam where the charger separates. It’s easy to miss.

I’ve slowly acquired all the global adaptors for Mac chargers. I just bring a usbc Mac charger when I travel with the destination country plug attached.

I wish Apple made gan chargers though. Those look great

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Those Apple chargers in fact use the C7/C8 connector to interface the plug adapter, so you can skip their official parts and use any compatible cord.

I for years used a power cable from an Xbox with my old Magsafe1-era Macbooks.

Same here, I used a black power cord from an old stereo.

The issue with a generic cord is that it won't connect the earth pin on those chargers.

But it does work in a pinch.

> The issue with a generic cord is that it won't connect the earth pin on those chargers.

Nor does the two-prong "wall wart mode" tip many of them shipped with. The ground was only connected on the extended cord attachment.

Huh I was going to say you may be talking about a differen thing, but I checked and they actually are C7/C8: https://ptcomputers.com.au/wp-content/uploads/without-power-...

So in this universe Apple doesn't invent its own standards...

You might or might not be very surprised to learn they recently abandoned the C7/C8 https://www.macrumors.com/2026/04/02/apple-140w-power-adapte...

Even the MacRumors commenters who are generally cheerleaders are scratching their heads about this one. And so do I.

Unless, as purplefox speculates:

> My guess is that's a fake one.

I've seen fake Apple chargers in local shops recently, with complete Apple packaging, "made by Apple in California" etc. and only detectable by close inspection of the details, specs not matching any Apple product, device info reported electronically that doesn't match any Apple specs, and the tiny inset writing not making sense when looked at under magnification. So that sounds plausible to me.

There is a detailed teardown here: https://www.chargerlab.com/teardown-of-apple-140w-usb-c-powe...

And a discussion here: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/256262949?sortBy=rank

And you will notice that the regular power adapter cable is not compatible with the new 140W charger: https://www.apple.com/au/shop/product/mw2n3x/a/power-adapter...

If you do that, you're losing grounding, which will result in the machine having that AC leakage buzz when you touch it. The chrome lug that the plug nub slides onto is a ground connection, and the Apple official cords and some country-specific nubs implement the ground brush connector. There is (was?) a third-party Schuko (not Europlug) nub.

Those power supplies often shipped with both a full cord input which was grounded but also a folding two-prong component that made it in to a wall wart and of course was not grounded.

At some point my older Mac charger that I was using for traveling died, so as a replacement I got a few of these styles of adapters: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08YS7QHM9 (not the exact one I have - but you get the idea). I pair it with one of these: https://www.anker.com/products/a2687-anker-prime-charger-160... which is tiny for the amount of power it can output, which has been enough to cover both me and my wife while we travel. Many US plug chargers allow their pins to fold in, including this one, which makes for a fantastically compact setup when paired with that style of adapter.

Depending on where we are going and what we are doing, I also bring this thing: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08YDPB8RZ which is kind of an extension cord + USB charger + all-in-one converter as well. The plug is at a right angle and very flat, so it can fit behind furniture and such that straight cables can't.

I do this too, the recent MacBook chargers have 2 usb-c and I have 4 of the plug parts that adapt it. Very minimalist but for short trips with single charger it is great

This might if you’re from the US as I’ve collected the ends over time, but I’ve never seen them for sale except the US one: AC Power Adapter Wall Folding Plug Duck Head,US Standard Plug Duck Head Compatible with MaBook Pro Air/Maci Book/Phone/Pod Power Adapter Brick

> I’ve never seen them for sale except the US one

Apple - at least used to - sell an international plug pack if you’re missing some. I can’t even remember where I got some of my plugs. They’ve been doing this for decades, and the international plugs are still compatible.

It’s been years since, but I bought on Amazon a bag of 8 different ends that work everywhere in the world.

It wasn’t from Apple, but it’s basically a plastic shape and 2 or 3 (depending on end) metal parts - it’s hard to get wrong, and easy to test before use.

New 70W Apple charger is GaN (and much smaller than the old 67W one) FWIW, it's a shame it is single port, though.

Older style? It’s still the case for the charger that came with my M4 MacBook Air.

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