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Is the MagSafe Really Safe?

macuser1232

macuser1232

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jan 20, 2012
673
7
So I think we all know that the purpose of the Magsafe charger is to safely snap out of the charger if it's cord is pulled. Is this really actually safe? Does it not damage the internals of the charger, or charger magnet? It has to make scratches! What do you think?
 
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I think that will have been comprehensively and definitively tested before it was released to the consumer. The magsafe 2 also snaps out easier which is probably a refinement on the original version (too easily in my opinion).
 
macuser1232 said:
So I think we all know that the purpose of the Magsafe charger is to safely snap out of the charger if it's cord is pulled. Is this really actually safe? Does it not damage the internals of the charger, or charger magnet? It has to make scratches! What do you think?
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It doesn't really matter what we think, that is exactly what the magsafe is designed for and that's how it functions. Sure, if you don't put it on straight and are scraping it against the side of the computer it will cause scratches, using it normally won't.
 
macuser1232 said:
Is this really actually safe? Does it not damage the internals of the charger, or charger magnet? It has to make scratches! What do you think?
Click to expand...

Yes, no and no. I've used macs for years and I've never seen one with scratches due to the magsafe.

What do I think? I think you may be over thinking or over worrying about a minute detail that will not affect the computer's functionality, ever.
 
macuser1232 said:
So I think we all know that the purpose of the Magsafe charger is to safely snap out of the charger if it's cord is pulled. Is this really actually safe? Does it not damage the internals of the charger, or charger magnet? It has to make scratches! What do you think?
Click to expand...

Really? You are asking this?

Lets just take a step back.

You have a normal connecter, like ones found on dell, or lenovo. You trip over your cord and your laptop comes crashing to the ground and shatters into a billion shards of plastic ( dell, and lenovo ya know).

The Magsafe is not designed to protect the charger, it is designed to protect the laptop. Who cares if the charger breaks when you trip over the cord. Thats $85, vs the 2k + of the laptop.
 
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I'd much rather be left with a MBP that has a few scratches from the MagSafe pulling free then to have one that falls onto the floor and gets damaged. Scratches don't hurt performance. But if your computer drops onto a hard floor, chances you'll have some problems.
 
I'm fairly certain that it works as it's designed to work. We have 3 MBPs in the house, one of them a 2008 model, and none of them have any scratches or damage (that I'm aware of) due to the magsafe connector. And yes - the quick disconnect has been tested many times and the laptops are still safe. :)
 
MagSafe has stronger magnet compared to MagSafe 2.
My machine did get pulled a bit couple of times.

But Id rather have scratches than pulling my machine to the ground like my PBG4.
 
macuser1232 said:
So I think we all know that the purpose of the Magsafe charger is to safely snap out of the charger if it's cord is pulled. Is this really actually safe? Does it not damage the internals of the charger, or charger magnet? It has to make scratches! What do you think?
Click to expand...
Yes, it's safe. Unplugging, even abruptly, causes no harm to the charger or magnet. Of course, pulling too hard on the cord can cause damage.
 
GGJstudios said:
Yes, it's safe. Unplugging, even abruptly, causes no harm to the charger or magnet. Of course, pulling too hard on the cord can cause damage.
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Well if pulling too hard causes damage then what are you supposed to do when a foot steps on the cord. The force of your leg and foot stepping on it can jerk the cord out pretty forcefully.
 
Is this thread not like saying, "Oh my air bag has deployed, but my airbag is now mangled".

The point of the airbag is to save the occupant. In the same way the cord being magnetic saves the laptop. It is somewhat irrelevant what happens to the cord and/or airbag afterwards...

Bigger picture!
 
macuser1232 said:
Well if pulling too hard causes damage then what are you supposed to do when a foot steps on the cord. The force of your leg and foot stepping on it can jerk the cord out pretty forcefully.
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It won't pull because the magnet will let go of the laptop rather quickly, and then the cable will be free.

So even when it's being trampled on, there won't be significant tugging on the charger cord.
 
Thanks to the magsafe connector i still have a functioning macbook pro. I accidentally tripped over the cord and it detached leaving the macbook sitting on the table working on battery. That was over 12 months ago and still all working ok. Great design item. :apple:
 
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