The present disclosure provides a short-circuit protection apparatus and method. The short-circuit protection apparatus includes a current detection circuit, a control circuit, a threshold regulating circuit, and a timing circuit. The current detection circuit outputs a detection signal when a detected current is greater than a preset current. The control circuit outputs first and second control signals. The threshold regulating circuit outputs first and second threshold voltages, the first threshold voltage controls the output circuit to operate in first voltage threshold mode and start a first timekeeping by the timing circuit. The first timekeeping is restarted when the detection signal is received before the time of the first timekeeping reaches the first preset value. The output circuit operates in second voltage threshold mode when the time of the first timekeeping reaches the first preset value.