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Redditor Explains Why Apple Continue Making Frail Power Cables

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Re: Redditor Explains Why Apple Continue Making Frail Power Cables

#91

Post by asadotzler »

mirkules wrote: post #41
dmix wrote: post #10

Design isn't just about aesthetics, its about balancing aesthetics AND functionality. Apple's designers certainly knows this. This was a poor design choice on their part, not just the design department taking precedent over engineering and customer service. The designers are personally responsible, not just the structure

There is no reason they couldn't take a flimsy piece of a plastic tube and cover the ugly-but-functional rings on the old style adapters. That way the rings retain functionality, and they are covered, everyone is happy. When the tube breaks, it just exposes the "ugly" rings, but the cable won't actually break. Why they couldn't do this - I don't know. But there must be a good technical reason for it - if I -a softwar…

"f I -a software person- can think of something like that, I'm sure they already thought of it too"

And I'm sure they did think of it and given the product they shipped, the idea was obviously rejected or delayed beyond the shipping of the current generation.

I'm not a huge Apple fanboy, (I'm in the minority at my organization using PC notebooks) but given how much Apple puts into designing the precise way in which users will experience and interact with their products, I can't imagine that they didn't evaluate many designs for this component.

Re: Redditor Explains Why Apple Continue Making Frail Power Cables

#92

Post by asadotzler »

Aloisius wrote: post #3

I understand the æsthetic decision, but there is no reason why Apple couldn't have made the wire that runs from the brick to your laptop detachable. That way I could actually replace it for a reasonable amount.

Apple hasn't charged me for either of the replacements I've gotten. If they're willing to absorb that cost, who am I to complain about how high the cost is?

Re: Redditor Explains Why Apple Continue Making Frail Power Cables

#93

Post by scotty79 »

Great. Now I know why cable fails. From other sources I know why GPU failed (twice, and more to come, as fix by heating GPU to 200C is temporary).

Once I'll figure why battery swollen to thrice the original size (thank gods it didn't exploded or spilled toxic substance on somebodies lap) then I'll know why my girlfriends mac book is such a pain in the ass.

Re: Redditor Explains Why Apple Continue Making Frail Power Cables

#94

Post by asadotzler »

illicium wrote: post #79
parbo wrote: post #9

Why isn't the iPod/iPhone/iPad connector using the magsafe design?

USB carries both power and data, while MagSafe carries only power. This doesn't sound like a problem until you realize that the USB pins have to be unplugged in a strict order: data before power. This is enforced in the connector with varying pin lengths. With MagSafe, there is no guarantee of connection order.

That seems like an easily surmounted problem to me. A MacSafe-like connector could probably easily accomplish the same if there was a need for it.

Re: Redditor Explains Why Apple Continue Making Frail Power Cables

#95

Post by X-Istence »

Aloisius wrote: post #75
jbellis wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Detachable magsafe cables would also make it easier for third parties to sell power adapters, which is almost certainly why Apple power bricks are alone among major manufacturers in not splitting things this way.

Just put the same kind of DRM they put in the cable on the other side to auth with the brick.

Verifying that something on the other end is an authorised part is not digital rights management and has nothing to do with it. It is simply lock-in.

Re: Redditor Explains Why Apple Continue Making Frail Power Cables

#96

Post by asadotzler »

Niten wrote: post #56
ugh wrote: post #14

Sounds like a reasonable tradeoff to me. I can understand why some people might not think that way but don't be surprised that there are some people who do.

These poorly-designed adapters have a history of shorting out and catching fire. Yes, I am surprised that anybody would think "looks nice" is a more important feature than "won't burn our customers' houses down".

Can you point me to cases of houses burning down? I've no doubt it's possible, but lots of things are possible. I got a small flame from mine when it burned out but it was short-lived and would probably have had to have been sitting in a basket of tinder to cause any serious damage to anything beyond the cord.

Re: Redditor Explains Why Apple Continue Making Frail Power Cables

#98

Post by pedalpete »

The unfortunate part I find is that many companies are following Apple in this 'design trumps all' to their detriment.

How often are you actually wrapping up a power adapter, and bending the cord to obscure angles? Compared to your headphones, or phone charging plug.

It seems most headphone manufacturers have moved away from relief rings, and that results in much shorter lifetime for the headphones due to failure at this point. I've got my zune charge cord here, and it doesn't have these rings either. Kindle power cord has one small relief on either edge (but doesn't get used as much anyway.

Am I giving Apple too much credit? Did they start this trend? or has this poor design always existed?

Re: Redditor Explains Why Apple Continue Making Frail Power Cables

#100

Post by squidbot »

My reply, I think it may not have made reddit as I've never posted before:

I'm calling BS on this whole thread. The reason for the breakage is in the green circles, not the red ones: http://i.imgur.com/EYSo5.jpg

The 2007 cables had small buttons on the sides that you had to press to disengage the connector from the device. This meant you had to pull on the body of the connector to remove it. The 2009 design removes the buttons and the catches, which means the plug can be removed by yanking on the cable. It's the yanking on the cable that is causing the problem in the image, you can tell because the wire sleeve is pulled back from the connecter rather than split horizontally, which is what would happen if it was a strain relief issue. Yanking from the cable rather than the connector affects all cables. Apple connectors typically fit very snugly in their sockets (which is a good thing generally) which means it takes more force to pull them out, consequently pulling out the wires as well. It's not a problem unique to Apple by any means. Ever have a pair of headphones that start to crackle when you touch the connector? Same problem.

Apple cords do indeed have strain relief, and they are fine for typical use. They may not hold up as well as a longer relief when bent at high angles consistently, but generally they do the job they need to do when sticking out the side of a device.

Though I like the button design, if I were to guess why Apple removed the buttons, is because I'll bet people were still pulling on the cords to try to remove the connector and doing far worse damage to cord and/or socket due to the mechanical connection between the two.

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