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Video Review: The Juiceboxx Keeps Your MacBook Charger Cord From Fraying
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I've always fancied trying sugru - https://sugru.com, might try it sometime, looks like it would be better than the self fusing tape that I used to fix a damaged cable
I used to think similar things when people complained about the lightning end of charging cables. I had countless 30 pin cables and never had a problem. Also had countless lightning cables and also never had a problem until two cables started fraying. Both lightning and 30 pin cables used in exactly the same way, the 30 pin cables last better than the lightning cables.
Don't get on a high horse. My MacBook rarely leaves the side table and cables still fray. It's not a matter or tightly winding or mismanaging. The cables simply don't last.
You're absolutely wrong. I am very easy on my things, and they typically are fine, all it takes is one wrong wrap or something and suddenly the cable is cutting out or breaking... all with intended use, and use that would never break a hefty PC charger. I'm sorry to say, once again, you're absolutely wrong about this being a non-issue. Apple needs to use better cords, especially in their MagSafe chargers.
Wow is all I can say. Apple making crap cords that break easy? Just buy a desktop. #YoureHoldingItWrongSolution: buy an iMac.
The design flaw is that if you wrap it loosely, it comes undone. Most people seem to think you're supposed to wrap it tightly for that reason, and then they kill their chargers. I don't blame them for thinking that. This is why I hate loaning my charger out. If someone doesn't break my charger, he'll probably at least weaken the cable.
i have had Multiple Magsafe MBP's taken to in multiple locations in multiple countries ....daily. Number of power supply failures or frayed cords ? ZERO. Jeebus. What are you people doing???
This seems like a non-starter. Who pays $20 to protect $70 ?
Also, I've never broken a MagSafe. If ou just dont wrap it up, its fine. It's the people who wrap it around tightly that break it.
Also, I've never broken a MagSafe. If ou just dont wrap it up, its fine. It's the people who wrap it around tightly that break it.
I wish Apple would just use a better product for the cord cover. Same product they use on their iPhone/iPod/iPad cords. Just junk.
I actually used Sugru on my macbook charger, and my iPad lightning cable before it started the inevitable fraying. Works like a charm!
PS: I am super gentle with my cables, wrap them carefully etc, but Apple uses thin silicone for cable insulation, not PVC as other manufacturers do - as a result it isn't as durable. I abuse my PVC cables without any fraying for years.
To all people saying that the power chord is fine and it's actually people who mistreat it and cause it to fray they are completely mistaken. I have been using apple laptops for more than 10 years and I've been having problems with the power chords for the last 2 years. I don't really know what causes the chords to fray but I suspect it has something to do with the environment (temperature, humidity etc). I used to live in London, UK for 5 years and I never had an issue with my power chords. Since I have moved to Italy I have changed multiple chargers. I am taking really good care of every charger (my laptop is basically plugged in all the time on my desk and I never have to wrap it or bend it). About a year ago I came across a website online with a product called the fray fix and I ordered a couple. I have to say that it's been a little less than a year since I have installed it on both my macbook pros and until now I haven't seen any fraying. I hope it stays that way...
I never use those weird wrap up clips. The bending radius seems dangerously small to me. So I just wrap it together like you would with normal cables. Doesn't look nice or anything, but it doesn't really matter to me.
Either way, Apple's cables have disastrous quality and I'm certain that they do it on purpose. It's a clear case of form over function and I don't get why. Those things are very costly at 90 EUR, I can't see the reason why they need to use that weak, flabby isolation around their cables. It's the same with their Lightning cables and EarPod cables. I had cases of frayed cables with each of those (multiple times even).
Either way, Apple's cables have disastrous quality and I'm certain that they do it on purpose. It's a clear case of form over function and I don't get why. Those things are very costly at 90 EUR, I can't see the reason why they need to use that weak, flabby isolation around their cables. It's the same with their Lightning cables and EarPod cables. I had cases of frayed cables with each of those (multiple times even).
The perfect counter example is here...
I wrap mine tight because I hate things are being loose which would ultimately cause it to hang onto something else to create other issues. However, that does not mean I am hard on things... In fact, all of my stuffs till look like essentially brand new.
The design has its flaws, and criticizing the user is not correcting the issue itself.
(On a side note, my MagSafe charger is still not damaged.)
1/3 the price of buying a brand new power adaptor. I'd just buy a new one. Or you can just wrap it properly and not have to worry about this problem at all.
Over the past 5 years we unwrapped about 100 macbooks in the office. Most of us are constantly on the move. That means every day the power supplies end up at least 3 times in backpacks. In their lifespan, many of those power supplies travel well over 100,000 km in airplanes alone - not even calculating road travels.
While most of us do have respect for our machines, the work horses as they are, we don't treat them as princesses either. Every 2 years all machines get renewed.
We do have the occasional fraying mid-cable and at the magsafe connector joint (probably 5, less than 10 out of those 100), but I don't remember any of us had any problem at the adaptor side. Probably important to mention, none of us wrap the cable around the adaptor, we just gently round them up so they fit in the backpacks.
Also I haven't seen any fraying since our last magsafe1 got replaced with a magsafe2 machine.
The only design flaw I can see on the power adaptors is that - with those flaps - they actually encourage users to wrap them and eventually ruin the plastic outer shell of the cabling.
While most of us do have respect for our machines, the work horses as they are, we don't treat them as princesses either. Every 2 years all machines get renewed.
We do have the occasional fraying mid-cable and at the magsafe connector joint (probably 5, less than 10 out of those 100), but I don't remember any of us had any problem at the adaptor side. Probably important to mention, none of us wrap the cable around the adaptor, we just gently round them up so they fit in the backpacks.
Also I haven't seen any fraying since our last magsafe1 got replaced with a magsafe2 machine.
The only design flaw I can see on the power adaptors is that - with those flaps - they actually encourage users to wrap them and eventually ruin the plastic outer shell of the cabling.
On the contrary for me, I've only experienced this issue when I had one of the old T-Shaped plugs on an old G4 Ti Powerbook. I got the fraying right at the T. I've never had this issue before nor since. I managed to get mine replaced by Applecare even though the guy told me that the kind of damage was the kind they wouldn't cover.
I suspect that the reason why that one frayed and perhaps why they moved away from the T-Shape is because I always used that laptop plugged in and the direction to the outlet was somewhere that would cause the the cord to flex just a little and slowly break down if I got more than a few feet away from the outlet.
No need for this if you wrap the cable a certain way. Instead of simply wrapping tightly around the hinges, I do a one loop perpendicular to the hinges first while giving an extra cm or two to reduce stress on the end, then tie the rest of the cable normally around the hinges. Never have an adapter issue since my first Macbook (the black one).
That may be effective, but it's ugly. That's not supposed to be the Apple way. Apple needs to do better. This shouldn't even be an issue.
I baby my electronics.
So far, this charger is the longest-lasting one I've owned, at three years. The others, even when winding them loosely and forming a loop at the base, start fraying after a year or two. I was able to extend the life of one by wrapping the fraying portion in electrical tape and keeping it permanently at my desk (never wrapping and unwrapping)... until it started to smoke.
And it's always at the brick end. I've never had a problem with the MagSafe end.
By the way, iPod/iPhone cables are similarly frail.
So far, this charger is the longest-lasting one I've owned, at three years. The others, even when winding them loosely and forming a loop at the base, start fraying after a year or two. I was able to extend the life of one by wrapping the fraying portion in electrical tape and keeping it permanently at my desk (never wrapping and unwrapping)... until it started to smoke.
And it's always at the brick end. I've never had a problem with the MagSafe end.
By the way, iPod/iPhone cables are similarly frail.
Yes, but look at the way the guy in the video does it: very quickly, very tight and he seems to be holding the cable tight between thumb and forefinger, so the table is getting twisted at the same time. That's going to knacker any cable in time.
Those were badly designed: the body of the plug was quite small, the magnets were quite strong, it was very tempting to pull them off by the cable rather than "snap" them off properly. The newer L-shaped connectors gave you a natural lever to 'snap' the connector away from the magnets. The MagSafe 2 plugs have gone back to the T-shape, which seems a pity, but the magnets above and below the connector are smaller and they lend themselves to being 'snapped' vertically away from the magnets.