I was very excited by this because I have a MacBook Air charger that is very badly frayed at the laptop end and I don't want to spend AU$129 on replacing something that is breaking because Apple sucks at making cables. Unfortunately, I have a three prong charger that isn't being recalled, so I guess I'll just have to apply some more gaffer tape.
Mass recall of Apple AC Wall Plug Adapters 2003-2015 due to shock hazard
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Re: Mass recall of Apple AC Wall Plug Adapters 2003-2015 due to shock hazard
#12It looks like it is only the international adapter part. Everyone complains about Apple's strain relief, but a lot of engineering went into making that as good as it is (which is less than average). It is hard to make robust stuff look sleek and well designed. Some companies err on the side of robust. Apple goes the other way.
Re: Mass recall of Apple AC Wall Plug Adapters 2003-2015 due to shock hazard
#13How about a recall of the entire adapter. I have 4 or 5 of them, all which have disintegrated cables. Either the famous problem where the cable/sleeve detaches at the adapter or the plug end, or on a couple of them, the entire plastic cable housing has disintegrated and sloughed off, leaving bare shield wire. This after just a year or so in every case. Absolute disgrace, Apple.
Maybe I'm the exception here, but in a decade of using MacBooks, I've never experienced the power adapter falling apart.
I remember this a lot back in the PowerBook days, especially those clearish gray translucent adapters.
Re: Mass recall of Apple AC Wall Plug Adapters 2003-2015 due to shock hazard
#14It looks like it is only the international adapter part. Everyone complains about Apple's strain relief, but a lot of engineering went into making that as good as it is (which is less than average). It is hard to make robust stuff look sleek and well designed. Some companies err on the side of robust. Apple goes the other way.
Agree. I think the HN title should update to reflect that. The current one is a bit sensational.
Re: Mass recall of Apple AC Wall Plug Adapters 2003-2015 due to shock hazard
#15How about a recall of the entire adapter. I have 4 or 5 of them, all which have disintegrated cables. Either the famous problem where the cable/sleeve detaches at the adapter or the plug end, or on a couple of them, the entire plastic cable housing has disintegrated and sloughed off, leaving bare shield wire. This after just a year or so in every case. Absolute disgrace, Apple.
I agree that the fragile cables on Apple chargers suck, but I've had chargers replaced at the Genius bar for that reason (free), so you could try too if it's worth your time.
Re: Mass recall of Apple AC Wall Plug Adapters 2003-2015 due to shock hazard
#16It looks like it is only the international adapter part. Everyone complains about Apple's strain relief, but a lot of engineering went into making that as good as it is (which is less than average). It is hard to make robust stuff look sleek and well designed. Some companies err on the side of robust. Apple goes the other way.
>Some companies err on the side of robust
And on the side of not shocking people to death.
Re: Mass recall of Apple AC Wall Plug Adapters 2003-2015 due to shock hazard
#17It looks like it is only the international adapter part. Everyone complains about Apple's strain relief, but a lot of engineering went into making that as good as it is (which is less than average). It is hard to make robust stuff look sleek and well designed. Some companies err on the side of robust. Apple goes the other way.
"international" sort of depends on your point of reference, doesn't it?
Re: Mass recall of Apple AC Wall Plug Adapters 2003-2015 due to shock hazard
#18How about a recall of the entire adapter. I have 4 or 5 of them, all which have disintegrated cables. Either the famous problem where the cable/sleeve detaches at the adapter or the plug end, or on a couple of them, the entire plastic cable housing has disintegrated and sloughed off, leaving bare shield wire. This after just a year or so in every case. Absolute disgrace, Apple.
Maybe I'm the exception here, but in a decade of using MacBooks, I've never experienced the power adapter falling apart. I remember this a lot back in the PowerBook days, especially those clearish gray translucent adapters.
Apple has a fetish for putting weak boots on their cable ends, so if you tension them too much, the jacket of the cable will fail.
Personally, I've only had it happen to iPhone cables that get abused in the car. Still, it's a ridiculous problem to have when almost no other quality cord is so fragile.
Re: Mass recall of Apple AC Wall Plug Adapters 2003-2015 due to shock hazard
#19How about a recall of the entire adapter. I have 4 or 5 of them, all which have disintegrated cables. Either the famous problem where the cable/sleeve detaches at the adapter or the plug end, or on a couple of them, the entire plastic cable housing has disintegrated and sloughed off, leaving bare shield wire. This after just a year or so in every case. Absolute disgrace, Apple.
I agree that the fragile cables on Apple chargers suck, but I've had chargers replaced at the Genius bar for that reason (free), so you could try too if it's worth your time.
Just another anecdotal datapoint: I've tried to do that both in Switzerland and Japan, and they wouldn't replace adapters I brought with broken down cable shielding.
Re: Mass recall of Apple AC Wall Plug Adapters 2003-2015 due to shock hazard
#20How about a recall of the entire adapter. I have 4 or 5 of them, all which have disintegrated cables. Either the famous problem where the cable/sleeve detaches at the adapter or the plug end, or on a couple of them, the entire plastic cable housing has disintegrated and sloughed off, leaving bare shield wire. This after just a year or so in every case. Absolute disgrace, Apple.
I haven't experienced this, and I wonder which of these is the reason:
1) I don't wrap/unwrap the cable around the plastic clips each day.
2) When I do wrap the cables, I'm careful to (i) leave a little slack before I start winding, and (ii) grip loosely so as not to cause twisting stress
3) I remove the magsafe by pulling the outer edge upwards, rather than pulling outwards in the opposite direction to the magnetic force.
If the reason is mainly (1), then this would indicate poor design. If it's some combination of (2) and (3), then it seems like more prominent instructions would help many people.