MagSafe is Coming Back to the Mac: A Look Back at Apple's Original Magnetic Charging Technology

[GtrDude]

Oh no. That's a shame. The ONLY thing I like about the new Macs is that they don't have the Magsafe and are USB-C. This way it's not getting disconnected at the smallest movement you make.
Dang shame...
Not there's literally no reason to upgrade.

 

[darngooddesign]

I like MagSafe but do not like how it ties you into using apples own power supplies

It doesn't. Just go on Amazon and there are a bunch of inexpensive 3rd-party MagSafe chargers.

 

[darngooddesign]

...

 

[TenaciousMC]

Make Apple Great Again!

 

[LeadingHeat]

I’ve had both the MagSafe 2 and charging with USB-C. While I do like the computer not crashing down if I trip over the cord with MagSafe, I can’t say that happens very often. I much prefer now having one brick to rule them all. My MBP, iPad, iPhones, etc. I hope if they do bring it back (which I will welcome, as I do love it and it’s distinctly “Apple”) that it’s optional. As in have that port, but still let the TB3 (TB4?? 🤞🏻) ports charge the Mac. Or at least let just the cord be the MagSafe and the brick stays USB-C.

 

[appleoc]

I liked the USB-C charging, that cable served multiple purposes, why complicate things more?

 

[Tozovac]

Up yours, Jony Minimalist Jive.

 

[PharmlyDoc]

If MagSafe Is brought back, it could be so the MBP-16 inch could then have 4 USB-C ports to plug in to other devices instead of using up one port for power. I also don’t see them removing the functionality to still power the MBP via USB-C ports.

 

[DevNull0]

How about a charging LED like a $149 chromebook has. So many times I wake up to find the crappy usb-c connector wasn't seated right and I've got a dead macbook for the day.

With magsafe, it just worked. It seated itself properly and had an LED to tell me it was working.

 

[akbarali.ch]

They brought back scissor keyboard, now the magsafe, lets also bring back consumer grade Thunderbolt display and we are done. After 2020, 2021 couldn't start better, its great even if its just a pin-hole light at the end of the tunnel.

 

[iGüey]

That would be great! Honestly, the magsafe connector in the MacBooks is something that Apple should have never removed.

 

[anthorumor]

iPhone 4 design, MagSafe, looks like Apple doubling down on 'SE' !

 

[iamBrian]

Removal of the touch bar will guarantee my purchase of a MacBook Pro. Bringing back MagSafe would be icing on the cake.

 

[Axemantitan]

MagSafe saved my old MacBook on more than one occasion.

 

[macduke]

I got my first MagSafe-less MBP in the summer and my kids have nearly sent it flying on multiple occasions. Looking forward to Apple getting back to their Apple ways. They already brought the startup chime back, now they need to bring back the glowing logo. They were killing the whimsy and now it's slowly coming back.

 

[hot-gril]

View attachment 1713559

Mmmmm... dongles... sexy... chic... what side do you dongle?

I hope you're charging on the right-hand side. Charging on the left can cause thermal throttling.

 

[Patriks7]

Honestly, as much as I loved the magnetic connector on my old MBP, I love the ability to connect just one cable to my Mac from my dock and have it charge, run my displays, connect my external devices ... much more.

 

[NoIdentity]

Please don’t!
We don’t need a dedicated port for charging. Having all ports for charging is a great thing, also 1 port connection for an entire setup is very sweet.

This also creates unnecessary waste. All the devices and hubs people have would become useless or ‘obsolete’.

And let not forget the practicality of replacing just a cable when it dies. In 4 years I replaced 3 magsafe chargers and in 4 years I replaced 1 usb-c cable.

for those of yoh who still don’t have a usb-c mac, let me tell you. I thought I was gonna miss magsafe. I never did, just the possibility to charge from either side outweighs it. Also woth longer lasting batteries you are not plugged in all the time.

 

[icymountain]

While USB-C was a tough sale 5 years ago, it is now widely adopted, for all uses including charging. I would not like to lose this now, after I reorganized my cables and chargers around this.

Bringing back MagSafe has advantages, and I certainly loved the safety it brought us, but would not like to lose the ability to use USB-C for everything like I do now. And I would like even less to have to deal with an Apple proprietary connector, that fails often, and can only be replaced with pricy pieces of equipment sold by Apple only! I think that, over the time I used MagSafe, I had about 5 dead cables causing a replacement of the whole power supply, plus two dead power supplies that still had a cable in good shape...

 

[flottenheimer]

While I too miss the brilliant MagSafe connecter,
I seriously enjoy the freedom USB-C provides.

– Plug-in and charge either on the left or the right side of my MacBook.
- Using almost any power brick in the house.
- Being able to replace just the power-cable if it gets damaged.
- Ability to use a cable of my preferred length.

I hope the new MacBooks will offer charging with both MagSafe AND USB-C.
Now that would be wonderful.

 

[Artemis70]

I still have a MagSafe-era Macbook Pro, but one thing I had been looking forward to when I do decide to upgrade has been USB-C charging and being able to use such a wide variety of charging devices, like powerbanks, power strips with USB-C PD ports (Anker makes some really nice ones) and so on. Requiring MagSafe for charging basically means you need a line level (120/240V) power outlet and the original Apple charging brick to charge your MacBook.

So I hope if this rumor is true and Apple brings MagSafe charging back to the MacBook, that the USB-C ports are still usable to charge with, even if it's slower.

I totally agree. I am so happy that my current laptops all support USB-C charging. I've got 65W USB-C chargers in 3 places in my house to charge my Apple and Lenovo laptops. I would hate to have to duplicate this or only charge the MacBook Pro in only one place.

 

[Artemis70]

Instead of USB-C ... that to me is a stupid move, a universal port is what we need... no more proprietary solutions for “simple” things like charging...
I realize this is an unpopular opinion here but ...
they should have also long replaced lightning with USB-C

I don't think your opinion is that unpopular. Like so often you don't get to hear the people who are currently happy as often as the people who are currently unhappy.

 

[Artemis70]

Amazing how different perspectives can be. You wax poetic about MagSafe and the road warrior... wanting the safety of being able to plug in anywhere and not worry about people tripping on the cord.

Um. I travel for work 20 times a year. If I am in a place I worry about people tripping on the cord, I use this thing built into my laptop called the battery. On the M1 the battery life is 20 hours. I can carry the thing around all day and not use the charger once. I appreciate the freedom of not searching for the power outlet when I walk into a room. I prefer a battery charger *I* can chose, one that is often smaller than the brick apple offered, a charger I can often use to charge my computer, phone, and watch all at the same time back in the hotel so I don't have to pack multiple charger. I prefer a charger where the cable was not attached unlike the Apple one. Want to talk about inconvenience? That power cord frayed on me while traveling and I had to interrupt my trip to find an Apple store to get another Apple brick. Finally, I prefer that the cable I use to charge can also connect to my hard drives. I prefer being able to plug in on either side of my computer.

I had magsafe. I haven't missed it once since it was replaced. I far prefer the freedom of USB-C in packing for trips.

This really doesn't make any sense. I think its a case where the rumor mongers are just wrong. I am putting my money on Apple building in a MagSafe charger for phones on the upper deck of the laptop.

I love your perspective, that I completely agree with. I have had the same issue trying to find a replacement power brick. I ended up ordering one online and getting it delivered to my hotel 2 days later, and without a laptop for a day and a half.

 

[Artemis70]

While many people realize USB C may be more convenient as more devices allow charging that way, there's nothing that can easily and universally replace the safety that came from MagSafe.

For those who do most of their computing at a regular desk, this isn't a problem.
It's about road worriers, students, and workers who sit all day in libraries, coffee shops, and couches. High school and college teachers moving from classroom to classroom all day, every day. Having the peace of mind to know your computer won't be pulled to it's death is a great relief to have.

These affordances to those who work outside of the way you do is something we used to appreciate about Apple. Thinking of someone except the office worker was why we LOVED Apple. They were the underdog and we were too because in 2004 when you said you made your living doing art or photography or video, no one understood.
Now that everyone has an iPhone and can take stellar photos and video and use Canva or Adobe Spark, us "creatives" are just as mundane as what office workers used to be, so Apple has given us a mundane laptop.

Bringing back anything charming that used to be (Magsafe, glowing apple logo, sleep light, boot sound, poof when removing something from the dock) would show Apple hasn't become a completely stodgy Fortune 100 company and realizes while Tim might not need an SD slot because he takes all his photos on iPhone, the rest of us are living in dongletown (oh how we love USBC ) or holding onto old devices because they make us more productive because of their features.

As a road warrior who also travels to more remote places where Apple stores are not easily found, I would Apple to stick to USB-C. I don't mind if it is side by side, but the ability to buy a charger anywhere is worth something to a road warrior.

 

[Artemis70]

Removal of the touch bar will guarantee my purchase of a MacBook Pro. Bringing back MagSafe would be icing on the cake.

I am of the opposite opinion. Too bad that the current M1 laptops are not good enough. But I don't want to go back to function keys that I never use from a Touch Bar that I use every day.