Can a 3rd party charger damage my macbook pro?

Solution 1:

It's unlikely they will actually damage your MacBook Pro by delivering too much power to it. But there are many cautionary tales to be found on the internet of third party chargers overheating, and occasionally catching fire or exploding. Technically, using a non-Apple charger without Apple's written permission may also void your warranty if anything did go wrong.

Personally, I wouldn't risk it.

Solution 2:

Even an Apple charger can damage a Mac. It's far, far more rare since Apple tends to have superior QA and more motivation to make sure the adapter fails safely and fails before the computer would than the average knock off manufacturer is motivated by safety or adding cost for a margin of safety.

That being said, there are many good chargers that will work just fine. The main risk is fire from a poorly constructed transformer as opposed to down stream damage to your Mac since the magsafe port delivers between 3 V and 25 V DC it's not a huge amount of power or danger to life or hardware.

Solution 3:

I can't comment yet so would just like to write two remarks, I own a chinese charger alongside my Apply one and:

• the fan goes crazy when the battery is not at a 100% (I.. do hope it's not due potential software contained in the charger itself, yes I know it sounds crazy but I've heard that for USB cables)

• I searched this topic cause my battery (not connected currently) just went from 33% to 43% (in two jumps), which I never noticed before.

Solution 4:

I own a 2017 13″ MacBook Pro, which came with an original 61W USB-C power adapter from Apple. After losing the adapter two weeks ago, I bought a PD2.0 adapter for 60W output from a Taiwanese company Acer for half the price of the original, and it works just fine so far! It charges the laptop quick and smooth, no sudden jumps and overheating as reported by @Kharski. Moreover, it's slightly lighter than the original adapter.

One note though: when buying a PD 2.0 adapter, make sure it can supply all the required power at 20V from a single port. For example, in my case I was looking for a 60W USB-C adapter. Therefore it must say something like this on the package:

USB-C Output: 5V⎓3A, 9V⎓3A, 12V⎓3A, 15V⎓3A, 20V⎓3A/Max 60W

Note that it can supply 3 ampere current at 20 volts, which gives 60 watt power at that voltage.

Beware of the adapters which provide less current per port. For example:

USB-C Output: 5V⎓2A, 9V⎓2A, 12V⎓2A, 15V⎓2A, 20V⎓2A/Max 40W
Total Output: 60W (max)

– this is bad! Because the adapter cannot provide all the necessary power through a single port.

UPD. Two years later, both my MacBook and Acer power supply still work together. No issues!