MacBook Pro 2019 charging repeatedly disconnects before charging normally

Hello, everyone! Please help. For the last six months, I've been having a problem where when my Mac has 30-60% battery life, I put it on charge and get 5-10 cycles of the charging sound turning off and on, then charging proceeds normally. This has been happening for the last six months. The service center couldn't find the problem, but they saw that this was happening. There are no problems with the 96W power adapter, and the same behavior occurs with the 145W adapter. But if I connect the 45W adapter from the MacBook AIR, there is no such problem. The Type-C cable is also new.

I have a 2019 MacBook Pro 16" with 16 RAM and 512GB.



[Re-Titled by Moderator]

Original Title: Cyclical charging problems

MacBook Pro (2017 – 2020)

Posted on Dec 23, 2025 12:32 PM

Reply
5 replies

Dec 23, 2025 1:16 PM in response to echoladone

echoladone wrote:

Hello, everyone! Please help. For the last six months, I've been having a problem where when my Mac has 30-60% battery life, I put it on charge and get 5-10 cycles of the charging sound turning off and on, then charging proceeds normally. This has been happening for the last six months. The service center couldn't find the problem, but they saw that this was happening. There are no problems with the 96W power adapter, and the same behavior occurs with the 145W adapter. But if I connect the 45W adapter from the MacBook AIR, there is no such problem. The Type-C cable is also new.
I have a 2019 MacBook Pro 16" with 16 RAM and 512GB.

Was the "service center" an Apple Authorized Service Center? I find it remarkable any authorized service technician would witness the behavior and not be able to determine cause or component involved, especially given the behavior with the 45W adapter. At the very least, the technician would have recommended or performed a DFU restore of latest macOS.

Dec 23, 2025 1:35 PM in response to echoladone

"MacBook Pro 2019 charging repeatedly disconnects before charging normally: [...]The service center couldn't find the problem, but they saw that this was happening. There are no problems with the 96W power adapter, and the same behavior occurs with the 145W adapter. But if I connect the 45W adapter from the MacBook AIR, there is no such problem. The Type-C cable is also new. I have a 2019 MacBook Pro 16" with 16 RAM and 512GB."

-------


Troubleshooting Mac Power:

A. Black Mac Screen:

Go Here: If your Mac doesn't Turn On or Start Up - Apple Support

Using External Devices: Try Resetting the SMC and NVRAM, but this time, using an external keyboard. Connect an external monitor and see if you get an output.


B. Mac Power Issues:

Try a New Charger:

If it is currently charging from a charger, then use a new charger:


C. A Few Links to Refer to Power:





Dec 23, 2025 2:13 PM in response to Bigwaff

Bigwaff wrote:

Was the "service center" an Apple Authorized Service Center? I find it remarkable any authorized service technician would witness the behavior and not be able to determine cause or component involved, especially given the behavior with the 45W adapter. At the very least, the technician would have recommended or performed a DFU restore of latest macOS.


You're right, it was an unauthorized service center. I contacted an authorized service center, and they said they only do modular repairs. That means replacing the entire motherboard. The replacement will be quite expensive, so it would be cheaper for me to buy a new MacBook than to replace the motherboard on my Intel MacBook.


UPD: I also tried reset SMC and NVRAM. It's not solved my issue.

Dec 24, 2025 12:16 PM in response to echoladone

There is a possibility the USB-C ports are damaged which is very common in my personal experience since it only takes a single drop/splash of liquid to enter the port & corrode it.....and no, you cannot always see the damage by peering into the port. It doesn't even take into account damage from connected accessories. Or it may be a hardware issue with the Logic Board, or possibly even the Battery. Testing with known good USB-C ports (aka I/O Board is the first step since an issue with one port could possibly affect all of the others).


I don't recommend spending any money to repair any USB-C Intel Macs for multiple reasons, but especially not the MBPro 16" (2019) model which has an extremely high rate of Logic Board failures (T2 chip issues, SSD issue, GPU issues, memory issues, etc.). The money spent on repairs is much better put towards a new laptop.

MacBook Pro 2019 charging repeatedly disconnects before charging normally

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple Account.