Are Apple ever going to design a new AC power adapter for forthcoming MacBooks

[thehustleman]

I highly doubt the user is to blame very often when chargers die, but why is it such a problem to point out that it can be the user's fault sometimes? It's a true statement.

The gist of the responses here claim that the adapter design is just fine, but also agreeing that like all electronics, there will be duds. That is a very logical statement, so I don't know why you felt the need to bring up what other people think about Apple fans. Quite frankly, I don't care what other people think about "us". If somebody is going to call Apple fans a cult based on the dialogue that has occurred in this thread, that person has issues.

Completely missed my point.

Yes there are defective units as well as user error that's possible.

I'll never deny that.

People on here are implying that the OP HAD To have done something to mess it up instead of simply saying "you may have a dud, take it to apple" they're pointing blame.

Why can't it just be defective?

I see a lot of that around these forums.

It's as if Apple can do no wrong

 

[GGJstudios]

People on here are implying that the OP HAD To have done something to mess it up instead of simply saying "you may have a dud, take it to apple" they're pointing blame.

Why can't it just be defective?

I don't think anyone is challenging the fact that some adapters can be defective, including the OP's. What is being challenged is the claim that the design is defective and the suggestion that defective adapters represent more than a small fraction of the total sold, which is not the case.

 

[blueroom]

We've gone through a handful of MagSafe adapters (the previous right angle one) for all the same reason. The inner metal braided sheath when twisted (normal use) over time will compress the cable (like winding a rubber band) and the outer rubber cover doesn't compress well and starts to kink and eventually tear itself apart near the connector. Also some of the cables started to discolor and probably weaken, I'm assuming from heat transfer.

I think the overall design is brilliant but they've got some technical problems that need addressing. Not sure if the new T MagSafe adapters are any better.

 

[Tubamajuba]

You have to remember this is MacRumors, where should one dare say anything positive about Apple, or not bash Apple at any given opportunity, one is branded a fanboy.

Agreed. There really needs to be more anti-Apple forums on the internet for the people here at MR that are militant in their dislike of Apple.

Completely missed my point.

Yes there are defective units as well as user error that's possible.

I'll never deny that.

People on here are implying that the OP HAD To have done something to mess it up instead of simply saying "you may have a dud, take it to apple" they're pointing blame.

Why can't it just be defective?

I see a lot of that around these forums.

It's as if Apple can do no wrong

I see your point... but this is the internet. It doesn't matter who manufactured the product, any complaints about a well-liked brand or product are treated with suspicion by users of those products. And part of it is perspective- I see far more petty insults toward Apple users and incessant anti-Apple whiners around these forums than pretty much any other sites devoted to Apple. That's my perspective, and the truth is probably somewhere in between my perspective and yours.

 

[Emsmu]

I'm a +1 to the users who have had multiple problems with these adapters. As a student I travel a lot, and since my battery only lasts about an hour after 5 years of use I have to bring my charger with me. I can barely get one to last a year. The only charger I had that lasted two years was my first one, which I had in high school and I kept in my room all day. Once you have to fold it up and travel with it at all the inside frays, overheats, splits, and then the cable breaks apart.

This time I went to the Apple store and talked to three managers who all claimed to have "never seen this happen" which is impossible, as I've seen it happen to plenty of friends and some family and I don't work at a store that works with these products. In fact to prove me right, halfway through the conversation one of the managers backtracked and told me that the same problem happened to her son's charger, but she was ok with that because her son is the kind of person who "drags his charger around, steps on it, and gets it caught in furniture." All I could say was "that's great, you've seen it happen. I'm not the kind of person that drags the charger around, I consciously take good care of it." The charger just isn't made of materials that cope with the MBP's tendency to overheat and wear down the internal wires as well as travel at all. When I talk to people who never had a problem they either don't travel with their charger or they don't use their computer for anything heavy enough to cause it to draw a lot of power and overheat.

 

[jdsingle]

I'm a +1 to the users who have had multiple problems with these adapters. As a student I travel a lot, and since my battery only lasts about an hour after 5 years of use I have to bring my charger with me.

This time I went to the Apple store and talked to three managers who all claimed to have "never seen this happen" which is impossible, as I've seen it happen to plenty of friends and some family and I don't work at a store that works with these products...When I talk to people who never had a problem they either don't travel with their charger or they don't use their computer for anything heavy enough to cause it to draw a lot of power and overheat.

Interesting. I'm also a student and throughout my entire university career have had zero problems with my adapter. I also fly ~20 round trip flights a year and my MacBook/adapter go everywhere with me. We have three MacBooks in the house and no issues. In addition, I'm on a 17" late 2011 for my newest MBP and consistently run two DAWs and sometimes have PS open at the same time. I ALWAYS keep my MBP plugged in unless I absolutely cannot (or am too lazy) to plug it in.

Everyone who is +1'ing the OP on this are clearly in the minority. If this issue was that horrendous you'd have an outcry of all of us moaning that they suck. How many people have posted in here saying the opposite? I loved one person's comment about how there is a higher than normal failure rate. Based on what, your own observation? Oh, everyone I know has this issue therefore let's extrapolate that across the entire population and say it is a representative sample.

 

[ssmed]

Minority report

Everyone who is +1'ing the OP on this are clearly in the minority.

Being in the minority is only being less that 50% of the users. If only 1 in 20 chargers had a short life that would, in my opinion, be unacceptable and would mean that for everyone who had had an apparently faulty unit there would be 19 more who did not share their experience.

One possible cause of failure which has not been described on this thread is that some users may be using the smaller wattage units (for MBAs for instance) with MBPs. I am not sure if that would make a difference, but they get very hot in that situation as well as being unable to start a completely flat battery.

I suspect, that as these are not covered by Applecare, faults are unreported and people just shell out. Unfortunately we will never know from this forum whether its 0.001% or 10%. I know I have bought several new powerpacks for both my staff and myself and in general they have been well cared for. These have been from the Powerbook 12" through to the current day, but this still means nothing scientifically.

 

[theluggage]

One possible cause of failure which has not been described on this thread is that some users may be using the smaller wattage units (for MBAs for instance) with MBPs.

I think that, more simply, power supplies and cords see a lot of wear and tear, are exposed to whatever crap comes over the mains and are one of the weakest links in any bit of electronics (running a close second to optical drives, I suspect). Lots of Mac users use Apple kit almost exclusively (at least when it comes to laptops and PSUs) so they don't have much experience with other brands.

For years I have worked in a group of about 8 regular Mac users, some with multiple Macs, some with more than one power supply. Most of these Macs "commute" daily, and the Macs are frequently taken on the road, or on long-haul flights. I tend to be the go-to person if something breaks.

If the failure rates some people are claiming were representative, I'd be ordering new adapters every few weeks. I'm not. Maybe once a year - and that's just as often because someone has lost one. I do think the right-angle connector was a good idea, since this gives you a bit of mechanical advantage when disconnecting it - the in-line style encouraged people to pull the lead.

I've certainly found the MagSafes an improvement over past power supplies, Apple and otherwise. Frayed leads were far more common with the old "phono"-style connectors but, worse, the sockets in the laptops could easily get damaged. A colleague once took out all the power on our floor of the building with an Apple "hockey-puck" adapter.

That's not to say that replacement adapters aren't horribly overpriced - but virtually all laptop manufacturers do that.

 

[Lolito]

mine works perfectly after 3,5 years. I wouldn't change a thing of it. I never bought one from apple, as they are a rip off. I buy the chinese replica, which work perfectly.

I'd like to see it in black maybe... I think all these white components, like external keyboards and mice should leave behing the full white thing, as white apple computers disappeared long ago.

 

[adjeff8]

Those experiencing problems with adapters represent a very tiny minority of users. There's nothing wrong with the design. When you make millions of anything, it's inevitable that a small percentage may have manufacturing defects.

I disagree. Ive had 3 of them die on me since 2007.

 

[GGJstudios]

I disagree. Ive had 3 of them die on me since 2007

... and yet the vast majority don't have such problems. They last for years if you take care of them. If you add your experience to all the others who claim such problems and multiply times 100, you still have a tiny fraction of total units sold.

 

[Mackan]

I've had 2 chargers die the last couple of years. One time the cord got burnt, which is an acknowledged problem by Apple, but only in the U.S.

These chargers are also too weak, causing the MacBook to discharge its battery, when on full CPU load.

There is no 'user problem' here. These chargers are simply not good.

 

[GGJstudios]

These chargers are also too weak, causing the MacBook to discharge its battery, when on full CPU load.

It is by Apple's intentional design that Macs can draw power from both the battery and AC power during periods of heavy workloads, and Apple discloses that possibility. Such occurrences are relatively rare for the vast majority of users.