Solving Apple's awful charging cables

[XboxMySocks]

Hey guys, so I have a charging cable from when I bought my MacBook Pro back in 2011 and have been using it since. The only problem is, like the lightening cables, the MagSafe charger disintegrates with frustrating reliability. Mine actually started going black and falling off in clumps. I have no idea why this happens, but I have a solution. ABS Solvent. Just apply it liberally to any exposed area and let it dry.

Works like a bloody charm.

 

[dingdong]

For something like this I would much prefer using a spiral cord protector...

 

[XboxMySocks]

For something like this I would much prefer using a spiral cord protector...

The cord has already disintegrated... to be honest... past the point where a normal person would consider using it. Should have taken before pictures haha.

 

[RoboWarriorSr]

Interestingly I never had the problem with the mac charger cables, I only had them replaced due to the charger itself not working (apparently due to the chargers always heating up, the copper wires were warned out or something). Even more interesting is that I do have the cable wire issues with my iPhone chargers so there must be something different in how I handle my mac and iPhone cables.

 

[XboxMySocks]

Interestingly I never had the problem with the mac charger cables, I only had them replaced due to the charger itself not working (apparently due to the chargers always heating up, the copper wires were warned out or something). Even more interesting is that I do have the cable wire issues with my iPhone chargers so there must be something different in how I handle my mac and iPhone cables.

The same step works for iPhone cables as well actually!

That is interesting, though

 

[RobbieTT]

You could do a proper repair:

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/apple-magsafe-one-mbp-charger-repair.1900264/

 

[Samuelsan2001]

I have had 2 MacBook Pros in the last 6 years and both still run fine and both chargers are still perfectly functional, I really wonder what people do to them....

 

[zhenya]

10p worth of shrink tubing would have done the job a lot better and not looked like that to boot...

 

[XboxMySocks]

10p worth of shrink tubing would have done the job a lot better and not looked like that to boot...

Funny you say that, because I actually tried this first and it worked for a month, then the cable continued to fail down the line. Cheeky!

I have had 2 MacBook Pros in the last 6 years and both still run fine and both chargers are still perfectly functional, I really wonder what people do to them....

I think some people just get wonky ones. I've had some that were fine and some that disintegrated within weeks of having them.

 

[minh2b]

Mine is here:

 

[zhenya]

Funny you say that, because I actually tried this first and it worked for a month, then the cable continued to fail down the line. Cheeky!

Get the kind with adhesive on the inside. That will prevent it from working its way out. If the entire cable is failing, either way you will have to eventually cover the entire thing. Just add more shrink tubing or do the thing end-to-end from the beginning.

Oddly, my wife, who is terrible with power supplies, has had only one issue with her Apple ones in 7 years since we switched her from PC's. It began to fray a bit near the charger and Apple replaced it. Even our oldest charging cables are otherwise still in great shape.

 

[priitv8]

Get the kind with adhesive on the inside. That will prevent it from working its way out. If the entire cable is failing, either way you will have to eventually cover the entire thing. Just add more shrink tubing or do the thing end-to-end from the beginning.

The thing with common shrink tube is that it's diameter can shrink only 2:1. So for my TB cable, I had to use lube to get it slide over the connector. The diameter difference of the MagSafe T-form connector to the cable seems to be too big to get a proper fit.

 

[Falcon9]

I've never understood why people complain so much about Apple's chargers. Every single Apple charger I've owned (30 pin, lightning, magsafe) has never failed me.

 

[Arran]

Self-fusing silicone tape works wonders. Here:

Similar result to heat-shrink tubing (maybe not as neat). But no heat needed and no need to force it over a too-big connector.

 

[satinsilverem2]

Ive never had a cable fail on me; Lightning, 30 pin, MagSafe, etc.

 

[SurferMan]

I had one cord that literally disintegrated as well on one of my MBPs, the old T style one. I went to the Apple store and they said there was a recall years ago, but the guy still honored it and gave me a new L connector. Said they constantly had people with the old T style ones coming in daily getting replacements. The T ones will fray very easily, well known issue.

L ones don't really have that problem much, but I still tweaked it a bit for preventative measures, used the coil inside pens on both Macbook cords

 

[JackieInCo]

I've had pretty good luck with cables in using Macs since 2007. I had one simply quit working. i replaced it and the cable frayed about a year later. I think the brick caught on something and I likely pulled on the cable which stretched it. Other than that, no other cables have frayed. I still have the original charger on my old 2008 black MacBook.

 

[Arran]

I had one cord that literally disintegrated as well on one of my MBPs, the old T style one. I went to the Apple store and they said there was a recall years ago, but the guy still honored it and gave me a new L connector. Said they constantly had people with the old T style ones coming in daily getting replacements. The T ones will fray very easily, well known issue.

L ones don't really have that problem much, but I still tweaked it a bit for preventative measures, used the coil inside pens on both Macbook cords

Quite ingenious.

I don't see why Apple couldn't have figured out how to build that into the cable itself. They're usually pretty smart.

 

[joe-h2o]

Quite ingenious.

I don't see why Apple couldn't have figured out how to build that into the cable itself. They're usually pretty smart.

Because there's really no need. Adding that sort of strain relief to the cable would increase the cost to manufacture.

There's an argument that they could increase the length of strain relief they include on a MBP magsafe by default, but however you do it, you'll always have a weak point where the strain relief ends.

If people treat their cables poorly that is where they'll fail.

In over a decade of using Macs and iPhones, I've never had a cable fail. Of course, I don't do things like pulling the connector off via the cord, or twisting it around at an extreme angle when it's plugged in. Common sense things.

Given that the magsafe cable is quite thin (for usability) then a design improvement from Apple would be to make them easily replaceable from the power brick end so that you wouldn't have to buy a whole new power adapter if you trashed the connector end - you could just swap out the cable end. They could make it magnetic on both ends, or use a modified figure 8 style connector.

Alternatively they could make the cord much thicker, but this would make it far less usable.

 

[XboxMySocks]

Because there's really no need. Adding that sort of strain relief to the cable would increase the cost to manufacture.

There's an argument that they could increase the length of strain relief they include on a MBP magsafe by default, but however you do it, you'll always have a weak point where the strain relief ends.

If people treat their cables poorly that is where they'll fail.

In over a decade of using Macs and iPhones, I've never had a cable fail. Of course, I don't do things like pulling the connector off via the cord, or twisting it around at an extreme angle when it's plugged in. Common sense things.

Given that the magsafe cable is quite thin (for usability) then a design improvement from Apple would be to make them easily replaceable from the power brick end so that you wouldn't have to buy a whole new power adapter if you trashed the connector end - you could just swap out the cable end. They could make it magnetic on both ends, or use a modified figure 8 style connector.

Alternatively they could make the cord much thicker, but this would make it far less usable.

Again, I don't mistreat them either. I still have some T connector cables from 2007 MacBooks that work just great... but sometimes you get funky ones that literally disintegrate like I said in the OP.

 

[Slicktype]

Hey guys, so I have a charging cable from when I bought my MacBook Pro back in 2011 and have been using it since. The only problem is, like the lightening cables, the MagSafe charger disintegrates with frustrating reliability. Mine actually started going black and falling off in clumps. I have no idea why this happens, but I have a solution. ABS Solvent. Just apply it liberally to any exposed area and let it dry.

Works like a bloody charm.

What a great idea ! Looks like crap, but who cares. ...

 

[mickeydean]

For the amount they charge for these accessories I expect better but in general quality is good (not worth the Apple premium though).