Batteries for MacBook Airs have slowly been improving over the years and often a single charge can last a full day. However, if you have an older MacBook or if your MacBook Air charger isn't working, it can be frustrating. Here’s how to troubleshoot some of the most common issues:
Battery won’t hold its charge
As MacBook Air chargers’ capacity reduces the older they get, it's likely that an old battery won’t hold charge as well as it once did. If you notice a sudden change however, here’s what you can do.
- Go to the Apple menu, System Settings and click on Lock Screen.
- Customise the ‘Turn display off after options’ - less than 15 minutes is best.
- From here, you can check whether you want to dim the display while on battery power saving mode, optimise battery charging, or a range of other things.
No power getting to your Mac at all
This is one of the worst case scenarios because it means you won’t be able to use the Mac at all. To check where the problem is, try these steps:
Check the plug - The first thing to do is make sure everything is connected and that the power is working fine. Make sure the plug is switched on and plugged in securely. If this works, congratulate yourself on an easy fix!
Change the socket - Try plugging into a different socket to determine whether the problem is with the charger or the socket.
Try a different charger - If you have another charger, try that one. If that works, it could be the adapter or the cable with the plug on that’s faulty. If this doesn’t work, the problem is with the charge itself and the quickest fix is just to buy another one.
Mac is getting power but not charging
If this is the problem, either the battery is faulty or there could be a software issue. Here’s what to do:
- Check your battery health by going into system settings. Look at the number of charge cycles and see how close your battery is to ‘retirement.’
- To see and solve any potential software issues, take a look in the ‘Maintenance’ section of your computer and run maintenance scripts.
If you still have questions about your charger, get in touch and let us help.