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theluggage

macrumors 604
Jul 29, 2011
7,510
7,413
Title says it all. Looking for a quick answer on this.

Personally, i would hate to have you try, for fear of the consequences.

Hooking up two computers via a Thunderbolt cable is a perfectly legitimate thing to do - it works as a fast network link between machines and should show up as "Thunderbolt Bridge" in the networking control panel at both ends.

Whether it will charge the MBP is another matter (I'd guess "no" but maybe it will trickle charge at 15W if the MBP is off/idle) but there's no reason not to suck it and see.
 

Gravydog316

macrumors 6502a
May 17, 2016
553
193
Canada
Hooking up two computers via a Thunderbolt cable is a perfectly legitimate thing to do - it works as a fast network link between machines and should show up as "Thunderbolt Bridge" in the networking control panel at both ends.

Whether it will charge the MBP is another matter (I'd guess "no" but maybe it will trickle charge at 15W if the MBP is off/idle) but there's no reason not to suck it and see.
I'm just being flip.
It will charge if it has enough power, so really, you have to test it.
 

LogicalApex

macrumors 65816
Nov 13, 2015
1,283
1,959
PA, USA
Personally, i would hate to have you try, for fear of the consequences.
What consequences? It is USB... I hooked my MBP 2018 to my old USB wall socket that has only USB-A via a USA-A to USB-C cable and it worked just fine. Only connected at 15W I think it was and supplied that amount of power without a problem. Not enough to charge... But no damage. It is USB...
 
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Brookzy

macrumors 601
May 30, 2010
4,976
5,573
UK
I occasionally trickle charge my MBP from a USB-C port on my 2017 (non-Pro) iMac when I'm too lazy to find the power adapter. :D
 
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CWayne234

macrumors newbie
Mar 25, 2022
1
0
Short answer. No.
Short answer is: Yes, I'm doing it right now. I'm on my M1 Mac Mini and I have my M1 MacBook Pro charging cord hooked into the mac mini. The cord is hooked into my M1 MacBook Pro it's charging just fine.

 
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TechieTaco

macrumors newbie
Nov 20, 2023
18
79
I know this is an old thread, but I'm wondering if I found out the hard way.

Recently got a Mac mini M2 Pro. I was curious if it could power my 13" 2019 MacBook Pro, plugged it in and it appeared to be charging. I can't remember what it said for the power source - adapter or battery. Think I only had it charging for a few hours once or twice?

As of yesterday, it won't charge at all. Plug into the Mac mini, nothing. The power adapter, nothing. Change ports, outlets...nothing. I scheduled an appointment at Apple to run diagnostics and (hopefully) be able to recover it somehow. My fear is I accidentally fried something in the port?

UPDATE: FIXED!!
Someone on reddit recommended to reset my SMC and linked me this guide. Problem solved!

 
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