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What's been your biggest beef with 2012 MBAs? For me it's Magsafe 2...

Jobsian

Jobsian

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jul 30, 2009
853
98
Let me level with you, the constantly disconnecting Magsafe 2 has become so maddening that I'd just flat out prefer to be electrocuted.

What I'm trying to say is that I hope Magsafe 3 is physically soldered onto the next Air and tripping over the cord leads to me blissfully passing away without having had to endure the sustained low-grade irritant of Mag2 disconnects.
 
I imagine that'd go against the original design intent. :p
 
In early July I ordered an Air, which came with a defective screen and a very loose magsafe connection, sounds like what you are describing. Thursday my new Air came, and the connection seems to be a much stronger magnet, very similar to my old 2007 Macbook. Appears they are making different strength magnets.
 
The issue isn't the magnets, it's the shape of the connector. There are two ways it can come loose; front to back and up and down.

The L shaped connector was very resistant to both. The new connector is resistant to front to back but has almost no resistance to up and down. Combine that with the new connectors larger size which makes it more prone to being caught on things and, IMO, it is a step backwards.
 
Jobsian said:
Let me level with you, the constantly disconnecting Magsafe 2 has become so maddening that I'd just flat out prefer to be electrocuted.

What I'm trying to say is that I hope Magsafe 3 is physically soldered onto the next Air and tripping over the cord leads to me blissfully passing away without having had to endure the sustained low-grade irritant of Mag2 disconnects.
Click to expand...

I do love the way you put that. I find that on a windy day the slightest breeze blows the magsafe out of the computer. I sit next to the pool, and like you, hope to just soon be electrocuted.

But seriously, yeah, annoying. I have 2 of the 2012 MBA's (1 13" and 1 11") and they're ultra lose compared to previous models. It's funny when people say "I think it's stronger" because that clearly indicates they don't own the product, because nobody who owns it thinks that way. My GUESS is that this is by design because at less than 3 lbs, the old magnet and connector was so strong a kick to the cord would still take down the computer, so they had to make it easier to break-away so it still served the purpose. Just my guess, but who knows. Just gotta be a little more careful where I set it so the cord doesn't accidentally fall off.
 
kodeman53 said:
The L shaped connector was very resistant to both. The new connector is resistant to front to back but has almost no resistance to up and down. Combine that with the new connectors larger size which makes it more prone to being caught on things and, IMO, it is a step backwards.
Click to expand...

But that was the problem with the L-style connector. It was resistant to both, and thus wasn't coming off at all.
 
KPOM said:
But that was the problem with the L-style connector. It was resistant to both, and thus wasn't coming off at all.
Click to expand...

Mine came off plenty of times, when it was supposed to, e.g., I snared the cord, I tried to carry the MBA off my desk and forgot it was charging, etc.
 
I have lost devices, like printers, because of tripping over the power cord. MagSafe has already saved my MBA a number of times. I like it. Perhaps I got a "strong" magnet. Don't know. But, IWFM. It works for me.
 
My magsafe 2 will only come off from up/down and not front/back. All in all it is much stronger than the L-shaped one my 2011 MBA had.
 
Jobsian said:
Let me level with you, the constantly disconnecting Magsafe 2 has become so maddening that I'd just flat out prefer to be electrocuted.

What I'm trying to say is that I hope Magsafe 3 is physically soldered onto the next Air and tripping over the cord leads to me blissfully passing away without having had to endure the sustained low-grade irritant of Mag2 disconnects.
Click to expand...
This is quite ironic. I saw the title of the thread and also came to vent about Magsafe connector on the new 2012 MBA's, but actually have the opposite complaint. The 13" MBA is so light, that there's been a couple times where someone has tugged the cord, and the laptop has started sliding off the table. It's to the point where I don't dare leave my laptop plugged into power if I'm not near it, or it's in a room where no one will be.

This is my first Air after having had a couple different MBP's. I absolutely hated the L-shape connector, because it would only fall out if pulled in one of the directions. So if I moved it from my lap to the table, I would have to swap the direction of the cord. The T-shaped connector for the MBP's was/is my favorite. It is the easiest shape to pull out to prevent an accident, but with a heavy enough computer that stays put.
 
I think the magsafe port should've been taller than wide, the opposite of how it's currently designed. Think about it: That way there's less resistance from left-to-right and more resistance to up-down. The reason is because laptops are usually pulled or snagged in a left-to-right motion, but everyday motion usually goes up and down (so when you sit it on your lap it doesnt disconnect). Plus, even if you were to snag your computer "upward" and it doesn't disconnect, the laptop would just fall back on the table anyway.

Do you guys agree?
 
kodeman53 said:
The L shaped connector was very resistant to both.
Click to expand...
I felt the L shape was too resistant. I also hated how the cable was forced to exit the rear, which limited my positioning. Sometimes I had to reverse the cable so it faced the front, which blocked the USB port.
 
dcorban said:
I felt the L shape was too resistant. I also hated how the cable was forced to exit the rear, which limited my positioning. Sometimes I had to reverse the cable so it faced the front, which blocked the USB port.
Click to expand...
Yeah the USB blockade wasn't great either.

I just wish the vertical resistance was much stronger on this one. Because I use this laptop...on my lap, I get so many millisecond disconnects with weird results eg green light when it's actually charging, green light which doesn't turn off when I fully disconnect it. They're all temporary but it surely can't be good for the battery?
 
I think Apple went overboard with Mag2. The L-connector looks much more elegant coming off the Air straight back, rather than the Mag2 sticking out like a mouse ear. Alto, the MBA cannot be laid on that side (when couch surfing).
 
I must be honest, i dont have my macbook air yet, nor i know the past models... But yesterday i saw one for the first time (i dont live in usa and apple stores dont exist here, only "representants") and i muat say that i thought the conector would be a lot looser, in change i found it to be very tight, it just plugs snuggly and sits really hard in there, i dont know, as i said i've never seen a macbook air/pro to compare too.

I think is just brilliant...
 
The 2012 MBA was the first Apple product I ever bought.

I have a few gripes against the new laptop and it's not the physical build.

1. Finder sucks
2. No decent archive manager (like 7-zip for Windows and File Roller for Ubuntu)
3. Why does Apple have to hide ~/Library from me in Finder?

Overall I find the MBA from a build standpoint to be very well made, but OS X is just OK.
 
stchman said:
The 2012 MBA was the first Apple product I ever bought.

I have a few gripes against the new laptop and it's not the physical build.

1. Finder sucks
2. No decent archive manager (like 7-zip for Windows and File Roller for Ubuntu)
3. Why does Apple have to hide ~/Library from me in Finder?

Overall I find the MBA from a build standpoint to be very well made, but OS X is just OK.
Click to expand...

1. Totally agree, and the only way to make it better is to buy a 3rd party alternative. Super lame.
2. Totally agree, though iZip (free) (http://www.izip.com/) has worked ok for me so far. Basically, it mounts zip files as if they were "devices" in finder and you can manage the contents of the zip that way. It's not super elegant though.
3. This can be fixed with a terminal command, or by holding down "option" when clicking the "Go" menu in Finder.
 
Am i the only one who doesnt have any issue with the Magsafe 2??

granted this is my first mac so i have no prior experience with any mag safes

my magnet seems pretty stong, and ive never accidentally disconnected it
 
oneMadRssn said:
1. Totally agree, and the only way to make it better is to buy a 3rd party alternative. Super lame.
2. Totally agree, though iZip (free) (http://www.izip.com/) has worked ok for me so far. Basically, it mounts zip files as if they were "devices" in finder and you can manage the contents of the zip that way. It's not super elegant though.
3. This can be fixed with a terminal command, or by holding down "option" when clicking the "Go" menu in Finder.
Click to expand...

I'll ether have to live with Finder's shortcomings or buy PathFinder.

I will have to check out iZip, thanks.

I applied the "fix" to now see Library in Finder, just lame that Apple thinks I'm too stupid to have access to it.
 
My 2012 is just great. No issues at all. Smooth fast, and very stable I have had nothing but a very good experience.

But then again I'm not looking to pick it apart, something that some people do just because they can.

There is no perfect computer, the key is to just deal with whatever comes up, and then enjoy your new Mac. It's a computer, there are always little things here and there. It's just part of it. :)
 
kodeman53 said:
There's nothing 'wrong' with Finder. Some people don't think it works according to their personal requirements.
Click to expand...

Ok good. It's worked fine for me for the past 7 years. :)

I was at the Apple Store checking out ML the other day though. When I was on Safari I noticed the "delete" key doesn't take me to the last page. Boooo. I use that key all the time. Seems to be less energy than a 3 finger swipe. I'm going to have to learn everything all over again. :(
 
While web browsing, my hand is just resting on the trackpad. Moving it all the way to delete seems far more inconvenient.
 
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