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Macbook charger teardown: surprising complexity inside Apple's power adapter

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Re: Macbook charger teardown: surprising complexity inside Apple's power adapter

#81

Post by Sakiina_ »

Anyone here heard of the Magsafe saver?

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/lightning-magsafe-saver-p...

This is what I got-- took an eternity to get to me, but it works well enough. I wrap my cables. I had my Macbook Pro for two years, abused it, charger was fine. I sold it with the Macbook when I moved back Stateside after living abroad.

My next charger broke, because my kitten decided it made a great teething chew. Cha-ching. $80. I noticed a bit of wear, so I got the dinky plastic protectors. They seem to be working well. I use it on my lightning cable, too.

Re: Macbook charger teardown: surprising complexity inside Apple's power adapter

#82

Post by Brakenshire »

msoad wrote: post #27

I'm so sad to see MagSafe was replaced with USB-C in the new MacBook. Hopefully they don't deprecate MagSafe for larger laptops. I won't mind USB-C + MagSafe charging capability though! ;)

I'd gladly exchange Magsafe for generic interchangeable chargers. One charger for a laptop, tablet, smartphone and e-reader, and provided as a matter of course in cafes, libraries, trains, workplaces etc would be superb.

Re: Macbook charger teardown: surprising complexity inside Apple's power adapter

#83

Post by kens »

guelo wrote: post #66
TazeTSchnitzel wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, some people have good experiences, but it's still incredibly reckless. Chargers without proper safety features and which don't conform to electrical isolation standards could render your $1000+ machine worthless in a puff of smoke, or, worse, kill you.

Nobody in the history of personal computers has been killed by a charger.

There are multiple reports of phone chargers killing people: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/china/2013-07/14/c_1325400... http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2950641/Woman-electr... http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2671493/Woman-dies-e... http://shanghaiist.com/2015/03/15/girl_from_hebei_dies_after...

If you look inside cheap chargers (as I have), it's not surprising that they occasionally kill people.

Re: Macbook charger teardown: surprising complexity inside Apple's power adapter

#84

Post by yourapostasy »

jloughry wrote: post #46

An interesting feature of switched-mode power supplies like this is that they'll run on DC input, if that's all you have! DC passes right through the bridge rectifier into the chopper---not sure how happy the PFC circuit would be about that---and the rest of the circuitry works as usual. If the DC supply voltage is high enough, it'll work.

Please forgive the ignorant questions of a software guy that probably have blindingly obvious answers to a EE. Does this mean that theoretically, I could attach a 18V/18.5V [0] DC power source (like a solar panel array running into a DC-DC converter) to the prongs and as long as I can supply about 100W/8.5A my MacBook Pro will boot?

[0] http://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/111250/how-to-charg...

Re: Macbook charger teardown: surprising complexity inside Apple's power adapter

#85

Post by OxO4 »

Analemma_ wrote: post #2

My takeaway from this is that the $80 Apple charger is definitely safer and has higher-quality components than the $12 cheapo Chinese charger, but not nearly so much better that it solely explains the price difference, and that Apple is making a healthy margin on these things. So my question is, is anyone selling a quality charger without the Apple tax? Is there anyone making, say, $40 chargers that have the componen…

Groupon seems to be selling original ones starting at $30 (MacBook Air): https://www.groupon.com/deals/gg-apple-magsafe-2-power-adapt...

Re: Macbook charger teardown: surprising complexity inside Apple's power adapter

#87

Post by snowwrestler »

cjensen wrote: post #53
strictnein wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yep. Every single charger we've owned has had to be replaced after a year or two. The only thing worse are the Apple USB cables. Complete junk.

I have seven year-old chargers which work fine. Neither you nor I are unicorns: there are plenty of others for whom it breaks constantly or never breaks. I'd love to know what it is we do differently.

The secret to any cord's lifespan is: don't pull on the wire.

When people wrap the thin cord of the Mac brick, they either pull it nice and tight on the first wrap, or leave it loose on the first wrap. That's the difference right there.

Same thing with USB cables: to keep them healthy, grasp the hard plastic of the plug to insert/extract it.

I don't use the little wrap tabs on my Mac power brick at all anymore. I find I need the extender cord to reach a plug half the time anyway, so I just wrap both cords in a loose ~4" loop and use a little velcro strap to keep it together. My original power brick on a late 2008 Macbook Pro is still going strong.

Re: Macbook charger teardown: surprising complexity inside Apple's power adapter

#88

Post by chain18 »

_sword wrote: post #29

Has anyone else ever had the cord of their magsafe charger start sparking or catch on fire (as it burns through the insulation and rubber) right behind the adapter? I've had it happen with I believe three chargers across two different computers.

Yup had one catch one fire, was just thankful that I was around to see it happen and stop it from burning the house down. The charger was around 4 years old but I never wrap the cable so it seems like a major design flaw.

Re: Macbook charger teardown: surprising complexity inside Apple's power adapter

#89

Post by jdietrich »

throwaway420 wrote: post #30

Despite the visual appeal of their products, Apple normally does a very good job with prioritizing function over form except in this case with the charger wire being so fragile and thin. I know I'm not the most careful and delicate person in the world, but the failure rate here is ridiculous compared to other similar products I own. The end of the cable gets frayed every single time. Otherwise, Apple makes ridiculous…

In fairness, Apple's post-sale service is exemplary IME. I've had two power supplies and a battery replaced under warranty. In all cases it was a straight swap at an Apple store, no questions asked.

Re: Macbook charger teardown: surprising complexity inside Apple's power adapter

#90

Post by RBerenguel »

snowwrestler wrote: post #87
cjensen wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have seven year-old chargers which work fine. Neither you nor I are unicorns: there are plenty of others for whom it breaks constantly or never breaks. I'd love to know what it is we do differently.

The secret to any cord's lifespan is: don't pull on the wire. When people wrap the thin cord of the Mac brick, they either pull it nice and tight on the first wrap, or leave it loose on the first wrap. That's the difference right there. Same thing with USB cables: to keep them healthy, grasp the hard plastic of the plug to insert/extract it. I don't use the little wrap tabs on my Mac power brick at all anymore. I fin…

Exactly. Right until the comments in this thread I've been wondering why so many people complained about Macbook's and iPhone/iPods chargers cables, now I understand. When I got my first Macbook, I realised rolling it nice and tight put a huge strain on the cable, and I got into the habit of leaving it lightly loose on that first one. And that was it, and since then I had forgotten until now. Also, I rarely (if ever) unroll more than 25% of the cable, I just use longer or shorter chords plugged to the charger if I need longer span.
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