Apple's New 16-Inch MacBook Pro Charger Has a Compatibility Issue

[Mainyehc]

I’m don't know why Apple doesn’t speak publicly about these things. That's a question for them. And I have no visivibility of their future product plans or business decisions about what they sell. From what I understand, this is to address something they discovered over time through real-world useage. The current C7 connectors aren’t doing a great job of preventing micro-arcing and heat buildup. There’s too much play in them, and since they’re a standard, people are using other inferior cables and adapters that worked fine when wattage was lower. Even though UL and IEC haven’t updated the C7 spec, other companies have tweaked their connectors to make them sturdier or fit more snugly like Sony, Razer, and others. HP has historically used C5 connectors for its chargers but has recently started reinforcing those as well. Apple didn’t just change the connector’s external shape to have tighter tolerances it also altered the design of the pins and sleeves that encase them to make better contact and resist spreading over time.

Fair. They should, IMHO, propose their changes to IEC as a standard, then. We all know that where Apple goes, others mostly follow. It’s a bit hit-or-miss, especially with high-end standards such as FireWire and all of their weird, proprietary and dedicated display connectors, but they did get the world to standardise and stick to 802.11 WiFi, USB-A, USB-C, and hopefully Qi2… A sturdier, IEC-sanctioned design would fit nicely into that family.

 

[Mainyehc]

The third "pin" is the metal mushroom that slots into the duckhead. Few (if any) of the plug-in adapters used it but the Apple extension cable does/did.

It's pretty obvious that a charger & extension cable are more vulnerable to damage, water exposure etc. than a charger plugged directly into a wall - which is probably why Apple originally went to all the effort of making a grounded extension cable.

All people are doing is trying to guess a reason for Apple to change the connector.

None of the Apple straight plug-in adapters ever had the internal metal tines to connect to the grounded metal prongs on their power bricks. Not even those adapters that do have a metal prong themselves, like the BS 1363/Type G one. I know, because I own two of those. Only the power cords do, and I guess your reasoning makes sense.

What doesn’t make sense is the absence of extension cables compatible with the new standard in their store, combined with the fact that they used a metal prong and connected it to ground, as we’ve established from the teardown photos. Apple made quite a few power bricks with plastic prongs on them, mostly for iPods, and as they had a regular IEC C8 inlet with two ridges, it actually made their semi-proprietary, single-notch extension cables incompatible with it, and if they had gone down that route, we’d know Apple was just phasing out extension cable compatibility, period, and half of this conversation wouldn’t even be taking place.

Sure, Apple engineers may just be on the fence and future-proofing here, but these are just plastic adapters with plugs and electrical cables, people. Apple has access to all the OEM cable manufacturing capacity they will ever need and could order new adapters and extension cables on a whim. If using this beefed up but proprietary, C7/C8-inspired connector pair is their plan going forward, at least they should provide users with travel adapters and, dare I say it, extensions from day one. Forcing users to throw away all their old stuff at some point down the road is already bad enough, but not providing them with options, for a brand that caters to a segment most likely to travel a lot (not just because their products are more premium, but also because they’re lighter and more inherently portable, duh), is downright shortsighted and insulting.