Griffin Introduces BreakSafe Magnetic USB-C Power Cable for 12-Inch MacBook

[bennibeef]

Well Apple has a problem on hand with the USB C port on the new macbooks. I think they want to use it for power for everything because it kinda makes sense.

They havent figured out the solution. The one thing with the macbook is, the idea is you dont have to charge it all the time, you use it on the go not as a "desktop". But thats most of the time maybe not the reality. Many want to sit down with it plugged in.

The solution? Put the magsafe connector on the other end! Put the magnetic connector on the charger brick. If somebody trips over your cable, it should pop off the charger part. This solves a couple things:

- The macbook side has a secure connection for data (doesnt get yanked out)
- the charger side most of the time if the cable lies in a situation where it can be pulled off, the charger with the cable might be most of the time not be hanging behind a desk where the charger part is stuck somewhere where you would pull more the macbook side
- the brick only has to provide power, no data where its same situation like now if it gets pulled off, no data connection is lost
- a con would be, you might not know its not charging anymore if you dont look for the icon and you cant see if its disconnected from the brick

 

[Mac 128]

I don't own a rMB. For those that do is this a real issue? Sometimes I think accessories are a solution in search of a problem.

Yes that's right. Apple invested millions of dollars in R&D developing, patenting, and marketing MagSafe technology -- which they gave away as part of the cost of their product!! -- because nobody really needed it? Are you serious?

 

[Mac 128]

I think that is really wise if it is only power. None of us would want to be in the middle of a big transfer and get it interrupted, but to be able to use this on the charger would be awesome.

I absolutely agree. Considering that you wouldn't want a data transfer accidentally disconnected (and I"m not sure what those powerful magnets would do to the delicate data feeds anyway), this makes for a good replacement. Using it does raise the inconvenience of having only one data port used for power since it doesn't look like this adapter is easily unplugged to attach a data device. So hopefully we'll see the 3.5mm headphone jack replaced by Lightning, at least on the rMB to solve this problem. On the MB Pros, I don't see it asa problem at all. Then again, most rMB users defend the single port by saying all they ever plug into their MB is power, and use Wireless for everything else. In which case this is perfect!

 

[AustinIllini]

I don't own a rMB. For those that do is this a real issue? Sometimes I think accessories are a solution in search of a problem.

I can't believe I missed this post

but YES. Constantly. My wife's computer gets dragged off the table my the dog at least twice a week. Luckily it doesn't fall far and there is a rug on the floor.

 

[Thunderhawks]

I don't own a rMB. For those that do is this a real issue? Sometimes I think accessories are a solution in search of a problem.

Yes, it was an issue. I fixed many MacBooks where my (then teenage) daughters had tripped over the cords
snapping the cable or destroying the plug. (BTW: Not easy to fix)
The fact that people leave their MacBooks on the floor or with dangling cables around prompted Apple to invent the break away power cable.

 

[jazz1]

Wouldn't the little adaptor placed in the C-Port on the laptop cause issues if it were bumped?

 

[Tech198]

Well Apple has a problem on hand with the USB C port on the new macbooks. I think they want to use it for power for everything because it kinda makes sense.

They havent figured out the solution. The one thing with the macbook is, the idea is you dont have to charge it all the time, you use it on the go not as a "desktop". But thats most of the time maybe not the reality. Many want to sit down with it plugged in.

The solution? Put the magsafe connector on the other end! Put the magnetic connector on the charger brick. If somebody trips over your cable, it should pop off the charger part. This solves a couple things:

- The macbook side has a secure connection for data (doesnt get yanked out)
- the charger side most of the time if the cable lies in a situation where it can be pulled off, the charger with the cable might be most of the time not be hanging behind a desk where the charger part is stuck somewhere where you would pull more the macbook side
- the brick only has to provide power, no data where its same situation like now if it gets pulled off, no data connection is lost
- a con would be, you might not know its not charging anymore if you dont look for the icon and you cant see if its disconnected from the brick

well, that's why the Apple adapter exists... Simple port, with power pass-through. I would have liked a separate port, but Apple like adapters...

Reckon the adapters would be strong..... They are magnetic like the Mega-safe 2 is... so u'd have to knock it pretty hard.

 

[mongobongo]

Before I got my Retina MacBook I was a bit worried about the lack of MagSafe.

I was very happy to find that my concern was completely unfound. I hav tripped over my charging cable numerous times and the USB-C cable comes straight out just as the MagSafe cable used to do on my MacBook Air.

Even on purpose I find it nearly impossible to pull my Macbook off of a table by pulling the charging cable. It always unplugs.

When the charging cable was brand new it would hold a little firmer but after a week or so of use I find it's quite loose.

In case someone was wondering this is my second charging cable for this MacBook and I had the same experience with both.

Aren't there any other Retina MacBook owners who found that the lack of MagSafe ended up being a non-issue?

 

[Tech198]

u do pull by the adapter right, not by the cord itself ? Maybe this is why people go through so many..... in my lifetime i've only gone though 2 adapters, but not because of any technical fault..... it's just the LED used to be the first thing not to light up anymore.

I would agree the older Mac's pre-2011 and the first mega-safe adapters, the magic was stronger than the 2nd versions..

which is probably why this company got into this. What a business ....

Apple purposely used a less secure magnet, just so other companies can have their product,,, Now i know your game

 

[manu chao]

Cool idea, but I think that Apple should have built Magsafe directly into the MacBook somehow (assuming it's possible).

People speculated/wished that Apple itself would create something like this Griffin connector. The problem is that the USB-C port on the Macbook One carries data as well as power. Making it detachable like MagSafe makes unplugging mounted volumes too easy (or at least significantly easier). I also don't know if data connections need a firmer connection (pressure) to reliably transport data where power can flow over a slightly more marginal connection (ie, the area over which the two sides of a connector are actually touching).

The problem with this approach is that you have an extra piece that you might forget to take with you or loose and that you might have to take off whenever you put the laptop into a bag. For people that only use a charger when at home, this would be less of a problem.

 

[ZipZap]

$40 bucks?

 

[apolloa]

This is one of those places where the tech reviewers are actually out of touch.

Someone like Andy Ihnatko was thrilled Apple moved to USB-C because he hated how the Magsafe adapter came unplugged.

The reality is, in everyday life, the end user would rather have their device get unplugged than be pulled off a table by a dog, child, or adult. I feel that the USB C move was a step backwards in that regard. Good for Griffin. Hope they sell loads of these.

But isn't it utterly ridiculous that a great innovation Apple has bought to computers, then in the name of thinness ditched it and now third party manufacturers have to bring the feature to Apple laptops???
Dropping Magsafe is Apple travelling at 5000 miles an hour in reverse in my opinion.

 

[yticolev]

If your laptop needs to be plugged into power all the time, then Magsafe is nice. It has saved me a couple of times, but even Magsafe doesn't protect from pulls in the right direction, and with even with Magsafe I've still had several drops over the last seven years.

But that laptop is now lucky to get three hours of battery life. The 12" MacBook gets 10 hours of battery life. Who needs to have it plugged in at all before bedtime? At bedtime it can be placed on the floor while charging.

So yes, you are holding it wrong!

The other issue is data or monitors. Can't connect those through a Magsafe and there is no way to engineer a new one that will handle Thunderbolt or even USB 3 in addition to charging.

Total non-issue. If you want a thick and heavy laptop with Magsafe, Apple sells those.

 

[jyen]

They could've at least gone a step further and added a charging indicator light!

 

[Mac 128]

Before I got my Retina MacBook I was a bit worried about the lack of MagSafe.

I was very happy to find that my concern was completely unfound. I hav tripped over my charging cable numerous times and the USB-C cable comes straight out just as the MagSafe cable used to do on my MacBook Air.

Even on purpose I find it nearly impossible to pull my Macbook off of a table by pulling the charging cable. It always unplugs.

When the charging cable was brand new it would hold a little firmer but after a week or so of use I find it's quite loose.

In case someone was wondering this is my second charging cable for this MacBook and I had the same experience with both.

Aren't there any other Retina MacBook owners who found that the lack of MagSafe ended up being a non-issue?

I would actually be concerned where a loosening data connector is the case. But as long as it doesn't ever get so loose that it simply falls out at the slightest tug, or it doesn't make proper contact on all pins, or allows intermittent contact, then all is well.

As I mentioned before, every user of the rMB has assured me they only plug power into their ribs 99.9% of the time, so none of this from a single port, to loss of magsafe is not a problem that concerns them -- and that's who Apple apparently built the thing for in the first place.

 

[jcmeyer5]

I suspect Apple ditched Magsafe with the introduction of usb-c because the connector no longer carries just power.

Which I think was a mistake. They should have left power dedicated opposite the USB C

 

[Rogifan]

Yes, it was an issue. I fixed many MacBooks where my (then teenage) daughters had tripped over the cords
snapping the cable or destroying the plug. (BTW: Not easy to fix)
The fact that people leave their MacBooks on the floor or with dangling cables around prompted Apple to invent the break away power cable.

Are you talking about MacBooks in general or the retina MacBook that was released this year. The latter is the one I'm referring to.

I can't believe I missed this post

but YES. Constantly. My wife's computer gets dragged off the table my the dog at least twice a week. Luckily it doesn't fall far and there is a rug on the floor.

She owns the 12" retina MacBook?

 

[Mac 128]

Which I think was a mistake. They should have left power dedicated opposite the USB C

Except then they would have had to have eliminated the 3.5mm headphone jack, and they couldn't have claimed one connector for everything (which is bogus anyway because they have a second port dedicated for audio only). There isn't room on the current rMB to include more than one port on each side.

Depending on what you think Apple plans to do with the 3.5mm jack and Lightning audio on the iPhone will determine what they do with the right side of the rMB. Either way, the rMB benefits more from having two multifunctional ports rather than one USB-C, and one solely dedicated power, or audio on the right.

I think this adapter is a great choice for those who charge their rMB's while working.

 

[eggersj]

I don't own a rMB. For those that do is this a real issue? Sometimes I think accessories are a solution in search of a problem.

For some reason, the Apple Watch came to mind when I read this... Lol

But I love mine!

 

[melendezest]

If your laptop needs to be plugged into power all the time, then Magsafe is nice. It has saved me a couple of times, but even Magsafe doesn't protect from pulls in the right direction, and with even with Magsafe I've still had several drops over the last seven years.

But that laptop is now lucky to get three hours of battery life. The 12" MacBook gets 10 hours of battery life. Who needs to have it plugged in at all before bedtime? At bedtime it can be placed on the floor while charging.

So yes, you are holding it wrong!

The other issue is data or monitors. Can't connect those through a Magsafe and there is no way to engineer a new one that will handle Thunderbolt or even USB 3 in addition to charging.

Total non-issue. If you want a thick and heavy laptop with Magsafe, Apple sells those.

Well, with the RMB (unless you are using an adapter) you are either charging or transfering data, not both.

It is a typical Apple differentiator, nothing more, particularly when the 11" MBAir has it. It has NOTHING to do with their ability to put it in. It was a CONSCIOUS decision to leave it out.

I cannot believe that there are still people here defending the omission of MagSafe as if it was a "feature".

Like I pointed out in an earlier post, it's fine if you can live with the compromise and adjust (you are buying a one port computer after all).

Nothing wrong with that.

But please, stop trying to make good, reasonable folk sip from your cup.

 

[zhenya]

Well, with the RMB (unless you are using an adapter) you are either charging or transfering data, not both.

It is a typical Apple differentiator, nothing more, particularly when the 11" MBAir has it. It has NOTHING to do with their ability to put it in. It was a CONSCIOUS decision to leave it out.

I cannot believe that there are still people here defending the omission of MagSafe as if it was a "feature".

Like I pointed out in an earlier post, it's fine if you can live with the compromise and adjust (you are buying a one port computer after all).

Nothing wrong with that.

But please, stop trying to make good, reasonable folk sip from your cup.

If you could see past your own limited viewpoint, you'd see that it is, in fact, a feature in many reasonable ways. We own two other computers in this house with magnetic power cables - a Macbook Air and a Surface Pro 3. Yes, that's a great feature too, but I gladly give it up to have a computer as thin and light as the Macbook that can charge from virtually any USB power brick which means I don't have to buy additional (very expensive) power adapters, I don't have to carry that extra bulk and weight with me the majority of the time, and I can keep my Macbook charged on the kitchen island where I use it at home the most often with a cable physically indistinguishable from the one that charges your phone, plugged into the USB outlet installed in the wall. When I travel I carry ONE brick that charges my laptop, my phone, and my tablet if I bring it.

Those are all HUGE advantages over any magsafe equipped laptop. It makes an already extremely mobile laptop all the more so.

 

[appledefenceforce]

How many people who have commented so far actually own a rMB? Is this a major issue? Are you constantly worried your device is going to go flying off your desk/lap or is it actually happening? Anc are you typically charging the device while using it?

Exactly. All the complaints and whines are entirely based on speculation and guess work.

 

[mongobongo]

Exactly. All the complaints and whines are entirely based on speculation and guess work.

My point exactly!

As I explained in post 58. The MacBooks USB-C charging cable actually works, in essence, just as a MagSafe cable. Meaning the MacBok does not come flying of the table when the cable is tripped over.

I'm surprised not more people who actually own a retina MacBook bring this up.

 

[DUCKofD3ATH]

This constant obsession of thinness for the sake of thinness needs to stop.

If Apple were smart they'd keep the MagSafe in their yet-to-be released Skylake MBP's.

Why? Apple's living proof that you can't be too rich or too thin.

 

[happosai]

up next: breaksafe lightning cable for the ipad pro...