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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

#251

Post by noonespecial »

shade23 wrote: post #33
mikepurvis wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I doubt it, since the magnetic connector itself is patented, and they apparently don't license it— which is why the BatteryBox connector is such an awkward hack: https://www.getbatterybox.com/shop

Wow.I never gave much thought to Apple's magnetic connector till.The battery box does look like an ugly hack.But what I dont get is.Its magnets attracting.What and exactly what have they patented?

Magnetic self-locating connectors have been around forever. I have a waffle iron from the 60's that's got one. The patented part is the specific size and shape (and pinout I guess) of that particular connector that prevents 3rd parties from making compatible adapters. Apple is far from alone in trying to profit from that shenanigan. It is, of course, profoundly wasteful for manufactures to pursue "nickle-and-dime" profits in this manner at the expense of the public and the environment. Something the cellphone charging standard in Europe tried to address.

Just goes to show that there are plenty of places where Apple doesn't do much thinking different after all.

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

#252

Post by whyenot »

mrosseel wrote: post #153
nostromo wrote: post #141

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My earphones kept breaking (I use them while working out) so I reinforced the sensitive area with a heat-shrink wire wrap, like these: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B008WWC6FU It works wonders. I'm not sure this would work for Mac chargers because you couldn't get the sleeve over the ends, but it also works iPhone charger cables.

I used Sugru (sugru.com) to fix my mac charger and other things, my earphone cable is next.

I have tried using Sugru to fix my Mac charger. It only worked as a temporary fix for me. I think the problem is that Sugru is not elastic enough and tends to crack when it bends.

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

#253

Post by FireBeyond »

Bud wrote: post #122
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…

I support around 300 Macs for work. In my extensive experience, the deal here is that people are FAR too rough and careless in winding up those charger cables over and over. Apple HAS implemented strain relief here and done their best to make the points of failure less vulnerable. Here's a tip: Instead of yanking the cable at a 90-degree angle and winding as tightly as possible, let the cable come out of the charger…

Your tip is great, but I do this.

I have a charger in a cable tray under my desk. Above my desk, one of these guys: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004GUS4XK

I've still had two Macbook cables fray, the sheath opening up like a paper lantern. There is near zero strain on this cable at any point.

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

#254

Post by eru »

Bud wrote: post #122
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…

I support around 300 Macs for work. In my extensive experience, the deal here is that people are FAR too rough and careless in winding up those charger cables over and over. Apple HAS implemented strain relief here and done their best to make the points of failure less vulnerable. Here's a tip: Instead of yanking the cable at a 90-degree angle and winding as tightly as possible, let the cable come out of the charger…

I wonder why they didn't go for a design, where doing the natural winding would not cause a 90 degree bend. (Eg they could let the cable come out of the charger at a different angle.)

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

#255

Post by [deleted] »

Bud wrote: post #122
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…

I support around 300 Macs for work. In my extensive experience, the deal here is that people are FAR too rough and careless in winding up those charger cables over and over. Apple HAS implemented strain relief here and done their best to make the points of failure less vulnerable. Here's a tip: Instead of yanking the cable at a 90-degree angle and winding as tightly as possible, let the cable come out of the charger…

[deleted]

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

#256

Post by Pinatubo »

Bud wrote: post #122
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…

I support around 300 Macs for work. In my extensive experience, the deal here is that people are FAR too rough and careless in winding up those charger cables over and over. Apple HAS implemented strain relief here and done their best to make the points of failure less vulnerable. Here's a tip: Instead of yanking the cable at a 90-degree angle and winding as tightly as possible, let the cable come out of the charger…

Do you have any tips for how I should hold my phone?

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

#257

Post by praveenweb »

I guess there is a similar problem with the lightning connector for iPhones. I had to change my iPhone cable multiple times in the past 4 years. Be it the 30 pin connector or the new lightning connector, its so fragile. Always been an ardent fan of Apple and its products, but disappointed with this strategy of making money through intentionally designed fragile cables that won't last more than a year leading to accessory sales.

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

#258

Post by simoncion »

Bud wrote: post #172
vacri wrote: post #152

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Apple HAS implemented strain relief here That's not the same as implementing good strain relief. I used to work for a company that made medical devices. One of our products started with a cable with strain relief, and it kept breaking (a wearable monitor). We 'implemented better strain relief', and it kept breaking. It was revision D where we got it right and the cables stopped breaking. And if cables can't survive…

That's ludicrous. Other companies don't have this problem? Sorry, but I take care of hundreds of PCs. Other companies definitely do have this problem.

> That's ludicrous. Other companies don't have this problem?

Anecdotally, neither the 7-or-8-year-old charger for my Toughbook nor the four-ish-year-old charger for the treats-all-her-cabling-like-it's-meant-to-be-load-bearing roommate's Toshiba Satellite have failed.

Apple definitely seems to be an outlier in this arena and is well known for their not-infrequent decision to sacrifice function, user comfort, and/or safety for aesthetic appeal.

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

#259

Post by fpgeek »

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…

It's not just the charger wire. I have a clear example of Apple prioritizing form over function in the charger itself:

In 2011, my wife and I bought new laptops (a MacBook Pro and a ThinkPad) around the same time - based on the same Intel chipset and with similar CPUs (might have been one speed tier apart). The setup was power-hungry, so my ThinkPad came with a proverbial charging brick - big and bulky, but it kept the laptop fed no matter what. Her MacBook came with a standard Mac charger (much smaller and lighter). But if she used her laptop when plugged in, it didn't charge much (if at all). And if she did something particularly demanding, the battery could even drain (fortunately, she didn't do that too frequently).

This seemed odd and I remember coming across an explanation online (while researching something else): It was just physics. My ThinkPad charger was something like twice as powerful as her MacBook charger, but they were both feeding roughly similar internals. Given that Lenovo concluded my ThinkPad needed the more powerful charger, it's not at all surprising her weaker MacBook charger couldn't keep up with her laptop.

On any list of functional requirements for a charger, I'd say "not letting the battery drain while plugged in" has to be pretty high on the list, so...

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

#260

Post by Scoundreller »

cleaver wrote: post #177
mrosseel wrote: post #153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I used Sugru (sugru.com) to fix my mac charger and other things, my earphone cable is next.

I've used both shrink tubing and Sugru on iPhone cables. On the MacBook charger, just Sugru. Both will fail eventually. I find that typical shrink wrap is too stiff and creates stress riser. After a couple of years, my cables are more patch than original.

I'm planning on doing this with shrink wrap. My plan will be to not completely shrink the cable-side of the shrink wrap to leave some play so I don't create a stiff point.
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