Here’s How to Check and Troubleshoot the Wattage on Your MacBook’s Charger

Mac System Information app showing laptop charger information

Charging your Mac laptop is pretty straight forward: just plug in the cable and let your battery juice up. If you want to make sure your charger is working as it should that’s easy to check out, plus you can troubleshoot charging issues, too. Read on to learn how.

Here’s how to see the expected wattage of your MacBook, MacBook Air, and MacBook Pro charger, along with the wattage delivered to your laptop:

  • Go to Apple menu > About This Mac
  • Click System Report
  • Choose Power from the column on the left
  • Scroll down to AC Charger Information
Mac System Information app showing laptop charger information
System Information shows your Mac laptop charger type and wattage output

Look for Name to see the wattage your charger is rated for. In my case, that’s 87 Watts because I have a 15-inch Touch Bar MacBook Pro. Now look for Wattage. That number should be about the same, which in my case is 86 Watts. Apple’s current 13-inch laptops ship with a 60 Watt charger.

What if My Mac’s Charger and OutPut Wattage are Different?

Let’s say your Mac’s charger is 87 Watts, but you’re seeing significantly less than that going into your laptop. That might be a problem, or maybe not.

As your Mac’s battery gets closer to a full charge the electrical current feeding it decreases. That’s normal and could account for a discrepancy.

A dirty or damaged charger connector or port can cause problems, too. Check to make sure the cable and plug connecting to your Mac is in good condition.

Macs that charge with a USB C cable add an extra variable in the mix: passthrough charging. If you connect your Mac to a passthrough charging port it’s possible you aren’t getting the wattage you’re expecting. Try connecting your Mac directly to your charger.

If your charger cables, plug, and port all look good and you aren’t finding any other issues that could be causing an unexpected lower wattage reading, it’s possible you have a hardware-related problem. The next step is to make a Genius Bar appointment to get your Mac and charger checked out.

2 thoughts on “Here’s How to Check and Troubleshoot the Wattage on Your MacBook’s Charger

  • Constructive criticism of your article. The actual term is Power not Wattage. The unit of measure for Power is Watts. There really is no such thing as Wattage.

    1. Yea but that’s like the scenario where:

      you lie…
      and I know you’re lying…
      and you know that I know you’re lying…
      therefore you are not deceiving me so you are not lying.

      Roundabout way to say, sometimes incorrect is more correct than correct.

      This website does not exist to serve Merriam-Webster. It exists to serve Mac aficionados. Wattage is generally a more meaningful term for this audience than power. Every once in a while (not all the time, just now and then) it is an editorially better decision to use a word like wattage than the technically correct word.

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