Let's hope that they really improve the quality of the cable. My MagSafe cables always fray and stop working after at most a year, which has made me very unhappy with Apple, as it's a well known issue, has been going since these cables came into existence, and the MagSafe is very expensive. Never had these problems with regular cables.
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MagSafe is Coming Back to the Mac: A Look Back at Apple's Original Magnetic Charging Technology
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that happening within a week of owning something Is just someone that isn't as cautious as I am with things. I have had the launch day 2016 and not one tripped over the cable. This was coming off a magsafe MacBook Pro I had for 4 years. Some people, most people, are just more clumsy with their devices.
MagSafe was one of those rare technologies that was near-on perfect. It saved many a MacBook from nose-diving I'm sure. There's also a security risk to any cable capable of transferring data. A dedicated charging port means that you can use someone else's charger if you need to, without fear of infection or compromised data.
Ditching MagSafe for some obsessive minimalistic aesthetic was like removing the nose from your face—I mean, you can still breath through your mouth, right? (Just not while you're eating, or kissing, or playing the didgeridoo.)
Ditching MagSafe for some obsessive minimalistic aesthetic was like removing the nose from your face—I mean, you can still breath through your mouth, right? (Just not while you're eating, or kissing, or playing the didgeridoo.)
I see the majority would embrace the return of Magsafe, and I am with you. Going all USB-C only was a very controversial and stupid idea, and 5 years later, most test reviews still list this fact in their negative bullet points. Because its true. Who needs 4 identical ports at once? Less than 5% of all users I guess, and there a desktop Mac would make more sense. Everyone else is either still being confronted with mixed standard devices having USB-A/-C/HDMI, or not using ports mostly at all. They went for that radical port decission (together with the much smaller battery and awful butterfly keyboard) because they wanted to tell you 'we made it even thinner!'. And that's it. Not really Pro at all, the majority of critics agreed here.
Hell, at least give us a full-size SD reader back. Dell kept it on the just-as-slimm XPS (it's UHS-III even) for the target market of creative users, most video- and photo cameras operate with SD cards, it is just more convenient to cary this very tiny medium which fits hundrets of Gigabytes, rather than your whole camera. Huge design flaw, and especially the 16" has plenty of space to bring that slot back.
For Magsafe: A magnetic connection always wins over mechanical in terms of wear & tear, and those USB-C ports are kinda meh in terms of durability. Also, people forget that crucial Status-LED! Very handy to quickly ensure the charging and capacity situation, without having to open the lid. Also helped me twice with a PRAM reset. Since 2016 those Macbooks have no single LED left. That's definitely a bit too much of Jonny Ive minimalism. Dell XPS have a front status LED + one on their USB-C charger.
People complaining about cable wear of the old power bricks: Who said they don't gonna go for a hybrid solution with a USB-C to Magsafe cable, which can be replaced separately? Volia, problem solved! And you could still go USB-C only with the same power brick if you prefer that. Everyone happy, win-win.
Edit: Certain users would probably go for a Macbook without any port, because 'progress'. 🤷♂️
Hell, at least give us a full-size SD reader back. Dell kept it on the just-as-slimm XPS (it's UHS-III even) for the target market of creative users, most video- and photo cameras operate with SD cards, it is just more convenient to cary this very tiny medium which fits hundrets of Gigabytes, rather than your whole camera. Huge design flaw, and especially the 16" has plenty of space to bring that slot back.
For Magsafe: A magnetic connection always wins over mechanical in terms of wear & tear, and those USB-C ports are kinda meh in terms of durability. Also, people forget that crucial Status-LED! Very handy to quickly ensure the charging and capacity situation, without having to open the lid. Also helped me twice with a PRAM reset. Since 2016 those Macbooks have no single LED left. That's definitely a bit too much of Jonny Ive minimalism. Dell XPS have a front status LED + one on their USB-C charger.
People complaining about cable wear of the old power bricks: Who said they don't gonna go for a hybrid solution with a USB-C to Magsafe cable, which can be replaced separately? Volia, problem solved! And you could still go USB-C only with the same power brick if you prefer that. Everyone happy, win-win.
Edit: Certain users would probably go for a Macbook without any port, because 'progress'. 🤷♂️
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Hardly a major justification for upending the apple cart (no pun intended). A dedicated port means you better be really lucky and find someone who happens to have the same generation of Apple product as you, and isn't using their charger, and has a schedule aligned with yours well enough that you can get a reasonable amount of juice before they leave/need their cable back.
As I and others have mentioned - it'd be great if Apple went with the "adapter" concept that still uses USB-C in the cable path. But a proprietary-only solution is dumb, regardless of how clever the magnetic connection concept is. I can buy a USB-C cable pretty much anywhere now, but not that long ago, in an all-Mac house, I had 3 different Apple laptops with MagSafe - and not all of them used compatible charging connections. I'd rather not have MagSafe at all than go back to the days where I had to research what generation of MBA/MBP I have, what version of MagSafe it used, and then figure out if the new improved connector design was the right one since it looked different.
USB-C does pretty much everything. I'm inclined to let it.
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I hope MagSafe is usable in addition to usbc and not instead of it. I’ve become very accustomed to not even knowing where my charging brick is and just going between usbc monitors with just the MBP.
Best would be to bring back the 2012 design with a modern CPU, graphics, ram, SSD, display, etc. Mac design has been sliding downhill ever since it peaked in 2012.
I'm simply pointing out that it's another benefit of the technology. How big a benefit (given Apple's non-standard charging ports), could be debated.
In mobile devices, where there is more standardisation (not a bad thing in itself), combining power and data over the same cable does create a genuine security risk, especially when people are in the habit of using public charging stations or even cheap third-party chargers and cables. Obviously there's very limited space on a mobile phone and the one-cable-to-rule-them-all is certainly convenient. On a laptop, there's plenty of space for more than a single cable, and being able to charge and connect to data-storage at the same time is a major benefit (something you couldn't do on Apple's utterly ridiculous MacBook with single USB-C port).
We had a similar situation in our home, so I empathise. I'd love it if Apple could, at the very least, settle on a standard port for their own products! Better still, they might licence the technology to other PC makers.
As everyone has already said, MagSafe should never have been removed. This was definitely a step backwards and I have not bought a Mac since. Not the only reason, but I fell in love with MagSafe on Mac and my 2013 MBPr is still running so no need for a new notebook. Can’t wait to have a MagSafe ARM CPU MacBook Pro!
Absolutely agree with this. I think that this is one of the things that Microsoft have nailed with their Surface devices.
They have their Surface Connect charging, which is basically a rip off of Magsafe, but you can always just use USB-C.
I am also waiting for this to be something different to what everyone expects. MagSafe was great and it would be a nice thing to have, but I have a feeling this will be different (like the iPhones).
What if this is wireless charging (with magnets) on the base of the machine? That would fit in with the new iPhone MagSafe. Not as universally useful as a port, but would be nice for charging the machine at a desk -- then use USB C elsewhere.
It would be really awesome if this involved a port you could use normal cables/peripherals in, but supports a special Apple MagSafe cable that works as you would expect MagSafe too.
I've been teetering on buying an M1 Mac, but this may well have me waiting for the next generation.
I see a lot of varied comments on MagSafe and folks either loving it or hating it-the two most common complaints seem to be it falling out too easily and the fragile cables.
To the first one-I think Magsafe 2 was a step backward in this regard. My primary computer still is a 2012 15" Pro with Magsafe 1(the Retina models debuted at the same time with Magsafe 2). I have what I call my travel computer also-a 2015 13" Pro. I also have piles of other Magsafe 1 computers and a couple of Magsafe 2(I think I have a few Airs kicking around). My wife's main/only computer is a 2015 Air.
As I'm sitting here on the couch with an original T-type Magsafe 1, it pulls off easily enough and would if, say, someone stepped on the cord, but it otherwise stays put pretty firmly. The L type I would say is even more secure, even though I prefer the T type and that's all I use.
Magsafe 2 uses weaker magnets, has less clamping surface area, and has a larger plug. Magsafe 1 can pull an MBA off the table if you're not careful, especially with an L type charger(which debuted with the original MBA). Magsafe 2 is a better match to the lighter/smaller computers, but it also comes off much easier than Magsafe 1. I suspect most of the complaints of "it detaches too easily" are from folks who are using Magsafe 2.
Second-I won't argue that the cables are way too fragile. In my first several years of Mac ownership, I went through a bunch. Since then, though, I started hoarding them-especially T types-and I haven't killed one in several years. My key to that is that rather than carrying them around with me, I leave them places where I'm likely to use them, and yes that includes several in different rooms in the house.
Someone upthread mentioned that 3rd party MagSafe chargers are available. Don't buy them. I've yet to see one that properly reverse engineers all the "Ju Ju" that goes into genuine Apple ones. When you plug in a genuine Apple one, there's a hardware handshake between the connector and the computer. You can see this happening since it takes a second or so for the LED to light up, and then if charging it takes a bit longer to turn amber. The genuine Apple ones don't come "live" until plugged into a computer so they won't spark if in contact with some other metal object. They can also vary the voltage as appropriate.
The aftermarket and counterfeit ones(there are some convincing counterfeits) are always on and IIRC always supply 18.8V. They can rarely supply their rated capacity, but might tell the computer that they are-say-85W when they're really 45W. This can lead to dangerous overheating. All said and done, they're just not worth it. BTW, if in doubt, there are two nearly definitive tests-short the pins and see if they spark, and see if it delays lighting up when plugged into the computer. If it comes on immediately or sparks, it's fake.
Last thing-Magsafe 1 and Magsafe 2 are electrically compatible and pin compatible. Quite literally the only difference is the shape of the magnet ring. The adapters Apple(and I think others) made/make are passive devices that just pass the power through via straight-through pens and adapt the magnet ring shape.
I see a lot of varied comments on MagSafe and folks either loving it or hating it-the two most common complaints seem to be it falling out too easily and the fragile cables.
To the first one-I think Magsafe 2 was a step backward in this regard. My primary computer still is a 2012 15" Pro with Magsafe 1(the Retina models debuted at the same time with Magsafe 2). I have what I call my travel computer also-a 2015 13" Pro. I also have piles of other Magsafe 1 computers and a couple of Magsafe 2(I think I have a few Airs kicking around). My wife's main/only computer is a 2015 Air.
As I'm sitting here on the couch with an original T-type Magsafe 1, it pulls off easily enough and would if, say, someone stepped on the cord, but it otherwise stays put pretty firmly. The L type I would say is even more secure, even though I prefer the T type and that's all I use.
Magsafe 2 uses weaker magnets, has less clamping surface area, and has a larger plug. Magsafe 1 can pull an MBA off the table if you're not careful, especially with an L type charger(which debuted with the original MBA). Magsafe 2 is a better match to the lighter/smaller computers, but it also comes off much easier than Magsafe 1. I suspect most of the complaints of "it detaches too easily" are from folks who are using Magsafe 2.
Second-I won't argue that the cables are way too fragile. In my first several years of Mac ownership, I went through a bunch. Since then, though, I started hoarding them-especially T types-and I haven't killed one in several years. My key to that is that rather than carrying them around with me, I leave them places where I'm likely to use them, and yes that includes several in different rooms in the house.
Someone upthread mentioned that 3rd party MagSafe chargers are available. Don't buy them. I've yet to see one that properly reverse engineers all the "Ju Ju" that goes into genuine Apple ones. When you plug in a genuine Apple one, there's a hardware handshake between the connector and the computer. You can see this happening since it takes a second or so for the LED to light up, and then if charging it takes a bit longer to turn amber. The genuine Apple ones don't come "live" until plugged into a computer so they won't spark if in contact with some other metal object. They can also vary the voltage as appropriate.
The aftermarket and counterfeit ones(there are some convincing counterfeits) are always on and IIRC always supply 18.8V. They can rarely supply their rated capacity, but might tell the computer that they are-say-85W when they're really 45W. This can lead to dangerous overheating. All said and done, they're just not worth it. BTW, if in doubt, there are two nearly definitive tests-short the pins and see if they spark, and see if it delays lighting up when plugged into the computer. If it comes on immediately or sparks, it's fake.
Last thing-Magsafe 1 and Magsafe 2 are electrically compatible and pin compatible. Quite literally the only difference is the shape of the magnet ring. The adapters Apple(and I think others) made/make are passive devices that just pass the power through via straight-through pens and adapt the magnet ring shape.
Most of the time, Apple does not explain why they remove a feature. On the keynote, you just notice that it is not there anymore and that something else took the same role; and then Tim explains why the new implementation is the best thing ever without referring to the old one. That is it.
So next year, we will probably see the touchbar go away without being even mentioned at the conference...
Personally, I love my 2012 MBP 15". An updated version with new silicon chip, updated RAM, GPU, etc. would be an easy sell to me as well.
As great as Magsafe was for it's time, the convenience of plugging in one cable for power, data & display massively overrides it in my opinion and it would be a massive step backwards to lose that. Add it in as an extra port which charges faster by all means which is optional.
I remember having an Apple Display where the cable needed to plug in to 3 ports (Power, data & DisplayPort) to work. We don't need to go back to that.
The chime and backlit logo are nostalgic, but very much welcomed.
MagSafe never left Microsoft Surface devices. Love it on the Surface Pro X.
Interestingly, the M1 laptops seems to need less charging – thus using those MacBooks plugged in would be less commonplace.