Does anybody know if the adapters are covered by the warranty?
Redditor Explains Why Apple Continue Making Frail Power Cables
141–150 of 170 posts
Re: Redditor Explains Why Apple Continue Making Frail Power Cables
#142Except, there are strain relief features built in to Apple power adapters. Power Adapter: http://cl.ly/0r2n2S2z1b3K0L1E0R3t LED Cinema Display Power Adapter: http://www.cl.ly/3i1B3R142q0S25223q2U These may not be adequate, but clearly Apple industrial design has taken a pass at the problem. Anybody have photos of older power adapters to see if that sheathing has always been there?
The OP is referring to Apple's iPhone power/usb connector cable, as seen in this picture: http://i.imgur.com/yAywo.jpg . The dock connector strain relief is decidedly weaker (I have had two or three break on me personally) than other Apple products. One thing that is interesting is how Apple's Industrial Design team, mentioned in the post, affected the design of the new Macbook power adaptors (like the one you linked…
You missed the worst part of the new magsafe. They don't perform the job magsafe was invented for: preventing an accident from yanking your laptop off a table.
Out of the 4 possible directions a cable can be yanked - 2 of them (towards the laptop body and the direction the magsafe cable is pointing) are now more likely to pull the laptop than they are to safely disengage the cable.
How did someone not notice this?
Re: Redditor Explains Why Apple Continue Making Frail Power Cables
#143Earlier quoted context omitted.
My experience is similar, I still use the power brick which came with my first gen macbook (2006?). I do wrap the thin cable around the little hinges when I take it with me.
I hope you wrap it in a figure-8 pattern rather than a circular pattern (to prevent twisting the cable).
No, circular. Here is a picture: http://i.imgur.com/BuyqU.jpg
Re: Redditor Explains Why Apple Continue Making Frail Power Cables
#144Earlier quoted context omitted.
That actually matches what I've observed. Namely that after 2 years of heavy use my magsafe has not had any issues with the connection. I always remove the connector by tilting it first, instead of pulling. In fact I think there was something in the manual about this - though I can't find it at the moment.
My manual says: When disconnecting the power adapter from a power outlet or from the computer, pull the plug, not the cord. But it doesn't say anything about tilting.
It's a magnet. Shearing / levering is easier than pulling. You're doing it, even if you're not thinking about it, just because you're not pulling perfectly straight. Intentionally tilting it away makes removing it a lot easier than doing so accidentally, though.
Re: Redditor Explains Why Apple Continue Making Frail Power Cables
#145I recall seeing some (non-Apple) hardware with case-to-cable transition designed as an inverted strain relief. Instead of a semi-rigid tube extending from device, the function was performed by proper curvature of the hole itself; nothing extended beyond the profile except the cable. I'm having hard time describing it properly, but the hole walls had specific profile, elliptical extending outward. Pretty much like the…
The place I've seen this is actually on a certain generation of the apple laptop power adapter.
http://km.support.apple.com/library/APPLE/APPLECARE_ALLGEOS/...
Found under "7. Check for strain relief issues." on this page: http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1725
I always thought it was a great idea, but they didn't use it for long so it must have drawbacks.
[edit] I believe it was used on the aluminum powerbooks.
Re: Redditor Explains Why Apple Continue Making Frail Power Cables
#146My 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 t…
> if I were to guess why Apple removed the buttons Seems more likely that the ID people wanted a smaller connector, though that's just speculation.
I think there's a practical reason for smaller connectors, actually:
Shorter connectors mean less leverage. The shorter it is, the less likely it is to damage the internal plug / motherboard / case, which is essentially irreplaceable. Certainly in comparison with a far cheaper cord.
Re: Redditor Explains Why Apple Continue Making Frail Power Cables
#147Mine is fine (it's the smaller of the two without the release clips). Unfortunately the USB plug on the other end has split AFTER the strain relief resulting in sticky tape bodge.
Re: Redditor Explains Why Apple Continue Making Frail Power Cables
#148So, if I summarize correctly the red comment, they choosen the new design because someone at Apple prefers it.
Re: Redditor Explains Why Apple Continue Making Frail Power Cables
#149Earlier quoted context omitted.
The OP is referring to Apple's iPhone power/usb connector cable, as seen in this picture: http://i.imgur.com/yAywo.jpg . The dock connector strain relief is decidedly weaker (I have had two or three break on me personally) than other Apple products. One thing that is interesting is how Apple's Industrial Design team, mentioned in the post, affected the design of the new Macbook power adaptors (like the one you linked…
You missed the worst part of the new magsafe. They don't perform the job magsafe was invented for: preventing an accident from yanking your laptop off a table. Out of the 4 possible directions a cable can be yanked - 2 of them (towards the laptop body and the direction the magsafe cable is pointing) are now more likely to pull the laptop than they are to safely disengage the cable. How did someone not notice this?
I have both on my table, so I tested it:
new MagSafe releases much easier to the left;
worse than the old one forward and backward;
equally bad to the right; and, unlike old, doesn't release up at all for quite some distance.
Re: Redditor Explains Why Apple Continue Making Frail Power Cables
#150Earlier quoted context omitted.
But there must be a good technical reason for it - if I -a software person- can think of something like that, I'm sure they already thought of it too. The rings have to be exposed, that's how they work. Consider a hypothetical cable that's flexible, but fragile. Fold it in half, and it explodes violently, killing your customers and inspiring such a mighty class-action lawsuit that it leaves your company a smoking gre…
But the blingy solution breaks anyway, and is also ugly, beyond being dangerous. Parent's point was that if we assume Apple is optimizing for showroom appearance, better to put the bling over the function bits and let the going break after a few months, instead of having only bling and letting the bling break and kill the device and user with it.
I have no idea what you're trying to say here.