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Comment by hoorayimhelping | Hacker News Reader

I think I understand why they got rid of old magsafe (it was very thick and was probably a limiting factor in how slim the computers are) but I can't believe they didn't create a new one. That was one of the greatest usability features of any piece of hardware, ever.

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To me, MBPs long ago reached the point where additional thinness provided no utility, or at least, was greatly outweighed by the utility of having more or better ports.

Yes. I continue to hope they make a slightly thicker Macbook with a battery that lasts twice as much (~20-24 hours). I'd buy it in an instant, since it would mean I don't have to carry the charger with me everywhere I go.

I still hope they'll put the pro back into Macbook Pro - larger form factor, bigger battery, bigger screen, more key travel for heavy typing, etc.

Isn't the limiting factor the max battery size that is allowed to be brought on an airplane? Nobody wants a laptop that can't come on the plane with them.

100 watt-hour limit on batteries, you must ask for permission to fly with anything larger and if it isn't installed in a device / it's a spare it must be in checked baggage.

The 13" MBP has a 54Whr battery, the 15" an 83Whr battery.

https://www.casa.gov.au/standard-page/travelling-safely-batt...

https://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_offices/as...

https://www.apple.com/au/macbook-pro/specs/

U.S. DOT: Spares, max 2, are forbidden in checked baggage.

Lines 7-8: https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/safe-travel/batteries

In your FAA document, page 2, line 3.

Note that, generally, batteries must be in carry-on baggage, not checked.

I believe the battery capacity is limited by restrictions on the size of batteries that you are allowed to take on flights.

I love USB-C, you know you can use both the 19W and 29W charger on both the 13” and 15” MacBook?

Carrying a charger in your backpack is worse than having a laptop that weighs 500g more?

The weight is likely a wash. Its 2 different items so more opportunities for one being lost/broken. It’s easy to forget the charger. A charger is only useful if you have a place to charge. And finally, a charger means a cable sticking to an outlet, potentially out in public, which isn’t just more annoying than simply having the laptop, but increases the risk of damage.

I’m finding it hard to see a scenario where I would prefer a charger over a little additional weight on the laptop itself.

Yeah the 2014ish Retina MBPs are thin enough and the latest ones don't even feel any thinner.

Having both near me, the 2018 feels much thinner/lighter than the 2014.

But guess what? It doesn't really matter. I'd still pick the 2014 chassis if it was specced the same as the 2018.

I much prefer the new chassis simply because it's noticeably less of a pain to carry around while retaining the same performance.

I do hope the next chassis will fix the keyboard and maybe even add back the sd-card reader, not to mention introduce top spec non-touchbar models.

The silliest part is that the newest MBPs are plenty thick enough to accommodate the magsafe connector, but Apple likes to play games by making just the edge thin and hiding the other half of the machine's thickness in a big bulge underneath.

If they just extended the bulge a centimeter out to the edges it wouldn't look as slim but it would easily be able to fit magsafe, USB-A, HDMI, and maybe even RJ45.

I'm hoping this is what happens in the next redesign which should be coming soon. The iPad Pro already went for a flat edge design, so hopefully that gets carried over to the MBP.

More than that, I hate that they got rid of the charge indicator on the cable, which they easily could have kept even with USB-C charging. The old-old MacBooks with the 5 dot battery indicator were awesome, I hate having to pick up my laptop, open it, wait for the screen to turn on and then wait for the OS to update the power indicator in the status bar. That used to be visible from across the room with the old cable.

The reason the keyboard is defective is because they made it thinner and moved to a new design because the old key mechanism wouldn't fit.

Let's add a few millimeters back and give us MagSafe and the old keyboard.

The white insulation around the cable tended to wear out extremely quickly, especially with any kind of heat. It discolored, then started to come apart, especially at spots where Apple did not provide appropriate strain relief.

I think between 2013 and 2018 I went through three replacement MagSafe 2 adapters at $75 a pop.

The MagSafe idea I miss. Their implementation? No.

I find the original Apple cables generally very short lived these days. I bought a USB-C to Lightning cable to charge my phone when the Touch Bar MBP came out, and it's already come apart (< 2.5 years). Similar with the USB-C power cable. I mean, it's just $19 + $35 to replace them, but still.

I wonder whether it's related to the push to be more environmentally friendly.

Did you mean to ask whether Apple are making their cables fall apart more easily in an effort to make the more environmentally friendly?

That's an interesting take. I don't think it holds up because their charge cables have been falling apart before the charger reaches end of life for at least as long as I've been using MacBooks, so 13 years.

I'm thinking this is probably related to them going PVC and Phtalate free. While the avoidance generally could be seen as laudable from a environmental perspective, it might have been counter productive in this particular instance, especially since the cable itself can't be replaced without replacing the entire charger.

It really has to be a nightmare trying to optimize cables for environmental friendliness, especially in an environment where the looks are so important. I don't know about all the options as I'm not in the business, especially for white cables there simply doesn't seem to be many, or even any reasonable option.

Notably, the newer generation of chargers seems to have replaceable cables. Maybe that's the least bad?

https://snapnator.com/

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