Why Magsafe2?

[Mrbobb]

I thought the last iteration Magsafe was the epitome of power plug design, why change perfection?

Old magsafe was low profile, barely sticks out, now magsafe2 blah! just like any old in-the-way (am exaggerating a little) plug.

I went to Frys to play with this plug(s) and the old magsafe snaps off easily but the new magsafe2 it took some effort. Shouldn't the plug be easy to snap off for safety purposes, distracted human, kids, pets etc.?


Why SAFE? is't not a security device???

 

[dcorban]

This has been rehashed many times here.

Original Magsafe cable frayed too easily.
Redesigned Magsafe didn't detach from system easily enough.
New Magsafe solves both issues as well as reducing thickness to match a USB port.

 

[sasparilla1]

i think they went back to the original Design (but thinner) because its easier to attach.

 

[mmomega]

I thought the last iteration Magsafe was the epitome of power plug design, why change perfection?

Old magsafe was low profile, barely sticks out, now magsafe2 blah! just like any old in-the-way (am exaggerating a little) plug.

I went to Frys to play with this plug(s) and the old magsafe snaps off easily but the new magsafe2 it took some effort. Shouldn't the plug be easy to snap off for safety purposes, distracted human, kids, pets etc.?


Why SAFE? is't not a security device???

The new Magsafe harder to pull off than the "L" design? I beg to differ.

I have all 3 designs of Magsafe and the Magsafe 2 is by far and away easier to remove. Almost on the verge of too easily.

The original design being 2nd easiest to remove ( the "T" shape ) and the "L" shape being the toughest to remove even though it isn't that hard to break the connection.

This is just my experience from using it daily.

 

[Mlrollin91]

The new Magsafe harder to pull off than the "L" design? I beg to differ.

I have all 3 designs of Magsafe and the Magsafe 2 is by far and away easier to remove. Almost on the verge of too easily.

Problem is its too easy now. Any little movement and the MagSafe pops right off. Half the time I don't notice it until my battery starts draining.

I'm using my old MBA charger with the adapter and it works a lot better than the charger that comes with the new MBA. For whatever reason the adapter has a stronger magnetic pull that the charger itself.

 

[jdechko]

Half the time I don't notice it until my battery starts draining.

And the problem is what exactly? It's not like disconnecting the power adapter causes the laptop to completely shut down.

 

[Mlrollin91]

And the problem is what exactly? It's not like disconnecting the power adapter causes the laptop to completely shut down.

2 problems actually.

1, if I plan on leaving for class and my battery isn't fully charged it won't make it through 6 hours of class.
2, I don't want it to discharge? I have it plugged in for a specific reason so if it's draining when I don't want it to it can lead to problems like my first point. I don't want to waste charge cycles if I don't have to. I may have 1000+ but still why waste it.

Overall I think it's just a pain. May be my OCD but still.

 

[dyn]

You want to read up on what a charge cycle actually is. It is not what you are seem to be thinking Also, the Air has a microcontroller that will regulate the battery cells. There is definitely some OCD in your workflow but also some incorrect knowledge about the technology.

The only real problem is not having a fully charged notebook. However, it remains to be seen how big of a deal this actually is. A lot of colleges/universities/etc. make sure there are lots of areas where you can charge your notebook. There are also quite a few classes where all one needs are plain old pen, paper (=Analogue notebooks ) and books. Using your notebook wisely will also preserve a lot of power.
When I was a computer technology student we had charge points everywhere and a battery that lasted not more than 3.5 hrs. Notebooks back then were not very common but they were on the rise due to Intels Centrino platform. Nowadays it has gotten far more easy. There are even universities that mainly use notebooks. They have managed to save a lot of money because they could cut back in the amount and scale of computerlabs. Everything is more aimed at notebook use.

 

[Mlrollin91]

You want to read up on what a charge cycle actually is. It is not what you are seem to be thinking Also, the Air has a microcontroller that will regulate the battery cells. There is definitely some OCD in your workflow but also some incorrect knowledge about the technology.

The only real problem is not having a fully charged notebook. However, it remains to be seen how big of a deal this actually is. A lot of colleges/universities/etc. make sure there are lots of areas where you can charge your notebook. There are also quite a few classes where all one needs are plain old pen, paper (=Analogue notebooks ) and books. Using your notebook wisely will also preserve a lot of power.
When I was a computer technology student we had charge points everywhere and a battery that lasted not more than 3.5 hrs. Notebooks back then were not very common but they were on the rise due to Intels Centrino platform. Nowadays it has gotten far more easy. There are even universities that mainly use notebooks. They have managed to save a lot of money because they could cut back in the amount and scale of computerlabs. Everything is more aimed at notebook use.

I do know what a charge cycle is, but if it's unplugged unintentionally it begins to use up that charge cycle which in turn will eventually add to the depletion of the battery health. I understand the technology, it's just my OCD that adds to the frustration.

I was at a community college for the last two years, 75% of my classes needed a laptop or iPad. Pen and paper just wouldn't cut it. And out of the 24 classes I took their, only two of them had outlets. I had to really preserve my battery so going to school and finding out I only have 70% charge, I would be in a world of trouble.

Regardless, it's not the end of the world, but it would be nicer to have a stronger magnetic connection, especially because the surface area of the magnet is about the same, it's longer but narrower.

 

[2IS]

And the problem is what exactly? It's not like disconnecting the power adapter causes the laptop to completely shut down.

I nominate this as one of the top 10 stupid posts on MR.

Typically when a laptop is plugged in, there's a reason behind it. My 4 year old niece even knows this.

 

[SuperRob]

Magsafe 2 is only easy to pull off if you pull the plug up or down. It's actually very difficult to remove laterally (left, right, or straight out). Not sure if it's an improvement or not, as I don't have a frame of reference (the 2012 Air is my first Mac laptop), but it feels secure without being a pain to remove.

 

[dyn]

I do know what a charge cycle is, but if it's unplugged unintentionally it begins to use up that charge cycle which in turn will eventually add to the depletion of the battery health. I understand the technology, it's just my OCD that adds to the frustration.

And with that explanation you have just shown that you do NOT know what a charge cycle is Apple defines it as such:

A charge cycle means using all of the battery’s power, but that doesn’t necessarily mean a single charge. For instance, you could listen to your iPod for a few hours one day, using half its power, and then recharge it fully. If you did the same thing the next day, it would count as one charge cycle, not two, so you may take several days to complete a cycle. Each time you complete a charge cycle, it diminishes battery capacity slightly, but you can put notebook, iPod, and iPhone batteries through many charge cycles before they will only hold 80% of original battery capacity.

Check out "Standard Charging" on the official Apple batteries page. You don't need to leave the charger till it finishes the charge.

I was at a community college for the last two years, 75% of my classes needed a laptop or iPad. Pen and paper just wouldn't cut it. And out of the 24 classes I took their, only two of them had outlets. I had to really preserve my battery so going to school and finding out I only have 70% charge, I would be in a world of trouble.

Lol, aim at notebooks but not expand the amount of outlets, that's just silly and stupid

Regardless, it's not the end of the world, but it would be nicer to have a stronger magnetic connection, especially because the surface area of the magnet is about the same, it's longer but narrower.

Problem with that: it doesn't disconnect as easy so the magsafe doesn't work as advertised which causes a legal problem. Not that easy unfortunately I think the best way is getting hold of at least the wire whenever you want to move your notebook.

 

[Mlrollin91]

And with that explanation you have just shown that you do NOT know what a charge cycle is Apple defines it as such:

Like I said, I do know what a charge cycle is. If it unplugs and drains 30% three days in a row, thats using almost a charge cycle. I've always known that. And thats my point, if it does that once a day, thats a little over two additional charge cycles a week. Which in the end will eventually lead to depleted health of the battery just because the magsafe won't stay connected.

Lol, aim at notebooks but not expand the amount of outlets, that's just silly and stupid

Completely agree. It was ridiculous. My older sister went their 10 years before me and she said they had hardly any outlets, and told me that by now they should have redone everything... But that is not the case. It was such a stretch with taking 5 classes in a single day. Almost 8-9 hours and no outlets except in the library to charge.

 

[jdechko]

I nominate this as one of the top 10 stupid posts on MR.

Typically when a laptop is plugged in, there's a reason behind it. My 4 year old niece even knows this.

Gee, thanks.

And typically, a laptop has some sort of battery backup that allows it to function for some period of time without being tethered to the wall. My 2-year-old son knows this.

All I'm saying is that there's a lot of people complaining about Apple's design decision with the new MagSafe. They wouldn't have changed it on a whim. I'm sure there's been a ton of testing on the design.

I can see how it could be a problem for some people if they need every last drop of battery power. But it's not like 5 min of being unplugged is the end of the world like some people make it out to be.

Then again, this is MacRumors, where the problems aren't nearly as big as some people make them out to be.

 

[Mrbobb]

Alright, stop the argument. This is a POWERFUL computer, am sure you can configure it to make a loud noise when it switches to battery.

While am sure they did the change for a reason, I still like the old angled plug for purely aesthetic reason.

 

[calvol]

Mag2 looks like a mouse ear sticking out. Where was Ive's on this design review?

 

[2IS]

Gee, thanks.

And typically, a laptop has some sort of battery backup that allows it to function for some period of time without being tethered to the wall. My 2-year-old son knows this.

All I'm saying is that there's a lot of people complaining about Apple's design decision with the new MagSafe. They wouldn't have changed it on a whim. I'm sure there's been a ton of testing on the design.

I can see how it could be a problem for some people if they need every last drop of battery power. But it's not like 5 min of being unplugged is the end of the world like some people make it out to be.

Then again, this is MacRumors, where the problems aren't nearly as big as some people make them out to be.

The OP never said it was unplugged for 5 minutes