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Traveling to Japan

caribiner23

caribiner23

macrumors regular
Original poster
Feb 15, 2005
121
23
Chicago
I'm going to be traveling to Japan within the next couple of months, and I was wondering if there's any issue with using a US power supply for my MacBook and iPod there?

The Apple International travel kit seems to simply replace the plugs with a compatible-type to the country you're visiting, and Japan uses basically the same plugs as the US.

Any opinions or real experience? Thanks!
 
The Powerbook does not require a voltage converter or transformer aside from the Apple's International Plug Adapters.

http://www.pbcentral.com/features/travel.shtml

I would assume that the MacBook Pro is the same considering it is the predecessor to the Powerbook.

**But nevertheless, use the information at your own risk. Any momentary damage that you may encounter is not the fault of the MacRumors Community, or its parent sponsor, MacRumors.com.
 
Thanks for the responses so far. This is very helpful!

JohnNotBeatle said:
Japan uses the same physical plug, but AC there is standardized at 100V/50Hz, where US AC is 110-120V/60Hz. Both are 15A standard (household) current.

You want a converter.
Click to expand...

In looking at the ratings on my power adapter that came with the MacBook, it says "Input AC 100-240V 50-60 Hz 1.5A" -- this would seem to indicate to me that it's a switching power supply and I should be fine.

I'm calling AppleCare just to be on safe side. :)

Thanks again!
 
Ditto those who said that the adapter that came with the notebook will work fine. Bear in mind, though, that if you take any other devices that have a three-prong plug, a lot of sockets in hotel rooms are just two-prong, so you'll need to buy a converter. You can generally find one pretty cheaply in any decent-sized electronics store.

Have a great time! I'm going back in June myself, for the first time since December '05. Can't wait. :D


~Kalmia
 
I took a G3 or G4 iBook (bad memory) to Japan in 2004. The laptop will adjust itself to the voltage but the thing you have to remember is that the charge time to get the battery back up to full capacity will take longer. I think for me it took twice or 3 times as long compared to the charge time in the UK. But I think that has something to do with the Voltage, not sure.

When are you going? I'm going back this September for 2 weeks.
 
I travel to Japan all the time. You will have no problems with power and the power adapter is auto adjusting. Please not that 3-prong outlets are extremely hard to find in Japan. The extended power cord on Apple laptops is 3-prong. The plug on the brick itself is 2-prong. You may want to get a 3-prong to 2-prong adapter at your local Home Depot just incase.
 
Thanks to everyone for the responses in this thread.

I just got back from Tokyo, and I can confirm that the standard MacBook adapter worked just fine in my hotel room (as did the standard ThinkPad adapter on my IBM, but that's for another forum :).

A word of note: I flew JAL Business Class, and while they do have power at the seats, it's 100 VAC power: the MacBook power brick didn't fit in the little area where the outlet is available. I wish I had brought the extended AC cord adapter along, with one of those 3-to-2 adapters that skubish mentioned-- that would have worked.

The cool thing is that I recently got a replacement battery for my MacBook, so it only had about 5 charge cycles on it. I got a few hours out of it, so that was a good thing.

Fortunately I was able to return the MagSafe Airline Adapter I purchased before leaving.

Thanks again!
 
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