Very interesting. So why do these expensive things keep breaking all the time, and how can I fix them? I'm on my third charger for my Macbook.
Macbook charger teardown: surprising complexity inside Apple's power adapter
311–320 of 324 posts
Re: Macbook charger teardown: surprising complexity inside Apple's power adapter
#312Despite 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…
My problems are not with the wires fraying. I mean, they do, but that's easily fixed with some insulating tape.
My problem is that after a while, they just stop working for no discernible reason. One of mine gave a big spark when it stopped working. The other just stopped charging.
Re: Macbook charger teardown: surprising complexity inside Apple's power adapter
#313Despite 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…
It's not just an issue with Macbook chargers; my wife's iPhone and iPhad chargers are in far worse condition. They keep falling apart in new and creative ways that my micro-USB chargers don't.
Re: Macbook charger teardown: surprising complexity inside Apple's power adapter
#314Earlier quoted context omitted.
An alternative datapoint - I have a charger that's not yet frayed, but it is starting to get intermittent - sometimes I need to wriggle the wires where they go into the mag safe connector. That's the original charger for my 2006 black MacBook. It was in daily use by me for work until I got my mid 2010 MacBook Pro, and was then used as a "home machine" by someone else up until early this year. The charger from the 201…
Yep, I think this is it. I also have 5 years old MBP with the original charger, and it's still fine. I'm not a very careful person, and in general never wrap cables in loops, just cram them in the bag. Sometimes my cables get impressively tangled, but I think I'm still actually saving time by skipping the meticulous wrapping every time I take off (at least twice per day). So maybe if you stop taking "good care" of yo…
I'm on the third charger for my 2011 Macbook Pro. One of the broken ones has a slightly frayed cord which I repaired with tape, and I don't think it's the wire that broke it (though I admit I can't be sure). The other one has a completely undamaged wire, and yet also stopped working.
I really think it's the internals that are too fragile.
Re: Macbook charger teardown: surprising complexity inside Apple's power adapter
#315Technically , have anyone can give me advice that we should keep charger plug-in when using macbook or plug-out when full-charge?
Keeping the battery always topped off isn't healthy for it.
I keep my charger in during the day then take it off when I leave.
Re: Macbook charger teardown: surprising complexity inside Apple's power adapter
#316Earlier quoted context omitted.
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…
Nope. This has happened to just about every Apple cable I've ever owned. MacBook Pro power adapters. MacBook Retina power adapters. iPod cables. Lightning cables. The insulation gets frayed. Sometimes there have been sparks. This has never happened to any USB cable I've owned. It's almost as if they make a profit off of selling licensed cables with their proprietary technology or something.
See my comment: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10634451
Re: Macbook charger teardown: surprising complexity inside Apple's power adapter
#317Earlier quoted context omitted.
I am a charger hoarder: One at work, one in the backpack, several at home. Take my phone for example - I tend to have a charger in every room of the house, several for my backpack and one at my desk.
This wouldn't be an issue if Apple's chargers weren't so proprietary to the point where third-party developers can't even manufacture their own devices. I wonder if they'll allow non-Apple USB-C chargers. I think they'd have to.
See my comment: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10634451
Re: Macbook charger teardown: surprising complexity inside Apple's power adapter
#318Earlier quoted context omitted.
My cat destroyed mine just last night. :( He has, admittedly, destroyed some headphone cables already, but $15 + some soldering is nothing compared to $80 for my Macbook charger.
Just a vent and kind of warning: I've got cat for 1.5 year, and this confirms my impression that they are horrible animals to be pets. Clawing everything, chewing on expansive stuff, peeing, vomiting, defecating on bed, sofa, chairs. If you're considering having cat, please think twice.
I get where you're coming from. I grew up with cats, so the behavior seems somewhat "normal" to me. They can definitely be difficult pets at times -- they don't love you like dogs, so it's harder to train them. They also have a very poor understanding of causality.
However, you totally can train them. It's certainly easier when they are younger, and unfortunately you can't stop them from doing something in the future if you don't catch them doing it (preferably early on in the behavior.)
It is definitely worth seriously considering the pros/cons of owning a pet before you get one. I have two cats, and I am stuck with them for the next ~15-20 years.
Re: Macbook charger teardown: surprising complexity inside Apple's power adapter
#319Earlier quoted context omitted.
> from my own personal experience with supporting hundreds of laptops I'm curious to how much hardware support goes into this, since most Apple machines are designed to not be support friendly (eg. non-replaceable and/or difficult to replace normal wear-n-tear components). > routinely break the charging port on the computer if they get yanked on too much Yes, most laptops have this issue, although it's not nearly as…
That USB-C port looks very sturdy. See, the connector case is milled into the macbook body. And the connector itself is a separate module that can be replaced with just a right screwdriver. https://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Retina+Macbook+2015+Teardown...
The issue isn't the entire port breaking, it's the relatively fragile plastic center part inside the port that breaks most often. Breaking that renders the port unusable.
Re: Macbook charger teardown: surprising complexity inside Apple's power adapter
#320Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's because the market is so fragmented. USB-C and USB power delivery will do a huge amount of good. The USB smartphone charger market is starting to produce genuinely well made third party products.
Fly-by-nights are going to destroy customer confidence in USB-C - just look at the reviews on Amazon.