Ever since I got back from Utah, I have been having trouble with my laptop - a fairly new MacBook Pro. My computer seems to recognize when it is attached to the AC adapter (and it runs fine with the AC adapter plugged in), but it doesn’t charge the battery.

Since I know several people with Macs, I thought I would post what I figured out, just in case somebody has a similar issue.

First, I would say, check to make sure that it’s not the ac adapter itself... This IS the problem for me, but I didn’t check it until someone was around with a power adapter so I tried all of this stuff first:

Rebooting... I know, stupid, but it solves so many problems, just not mine.

Next was a forced shut down, by holding the power button down until the machine went off.

Last, I searched and found a procedure on the apple web site (here’s a link, since it is different for the various Macs):

It involves turning off the computer, disconnecting the AC adapter, removing the battery, holding the power button down for some magical amount of time (I say magical since nothing actually happens)... then you reassemble and pray... no such luck for me.

This is when I finally got around to testing the AC adapter itself. As it turns out the MagSafe design by Apple is pretty flawed... the whole design hinges on five “male” pins on the adapter, which meet up with five “female” counterparts on the laptop. To insure a good contact the “male” pins are backed by springs which push them up against the “female” portion... and this is what failed... it seems my springs are a little weak... I tried cleaning.

So it sounds like it’s off to the Apple store for me. We’ll see if this is covered under their AppleCare plan!