I have a Late 2013 Macbook Pro Retina, but it’s been gathering dust in the closet for years because the charging cable is losing more and more of its rubber sheath. And every time I plug it in, I get more and more concerned that I’m going to shock myself.

So I’ve avoided using this laptop until very recently. I discovered that people make adapters to MagSafe2 - the proprietary cable type that Apple puts (used to put?) in their laptops.

So I bought myself a USB-C to MagSafe2 adapter since most other devices in my life right now are USB-C. Here’s the exact link.

I’m sure if you get the shape of the MagSafe part correct, then it doesn’t really matter which brand you buy. But I didn’t pay too much attention to the slide about needing a hefty power brick to actually charge your laptop.

So today I noticed my computer was repeatedly triggering the “now charging” notification. But then I realized that it could be power brick I have it plugged into. So I squint at the low contrast text at the bottom of the brick - this is a 61 watt Macbook USB-C brick. And sure enough: the max output of this thing is 20.3V at 3.0A. That’s the bare minimum wattage supported by the adapter.

My next best brick is a 65W one. And there’s no flickering now.