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Comment by mc32 | Hacker News Reader

USB-C usability on laptops for peripherals and especially power is bad. The connectors become loose and come out with little resistance. For charging even barrel connectors were better, but prefer the magnetic connectors.

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Magnetic really seems great for connections, I wonder why it isn't used more.

With nicer connectors, and non-standard connectors, there's usually additional manufacturing cost involved that makes for expensive plugs and cables. As such the standards get driven by every manufacturer wanting to save a few pennies on I/O, while acknowledging that some applications might prefer quick removal or a secure lock.

I have a pair of high-end AKG headphones that uses a "mini-XLR" connection. This is a non-standard variant of the popular 3-pin XLR used throughout pro audio equipment. When the provided cable that converts mini-XLR to 3.5mm TRS started failing, I went onto Amazon and found a generic $11 cable, but within a week of use it became clear that it was poorly made, with a metal cap acting as the only source of strain relief.

I've ordered another adapter, one that adapts the plug to 3.5mm without a cable, and it also costs $11. Not as bad cost-wise as some Apple device cables, but fingers crossed.

There being an Apple patent [1] involved doesn't help.

[1] - https://patents.google.com/patent/US7311526B2/en

Apple didn't make the first magnetic connector. It was already common for fondue sets. The patent is about Apple's particular implementation.

I suppose it wouldn't be that hard to work around if people really wanted to.

Unless Microsoft paid or has cross licensing agreements with Apple, they also use mag connectors on some of their hardware offerings.

Even Apple has stopped using it, though.

Rumor is that it had reliability issues (and I'm seeing that with my own MagSafe plug), but of course no official word.

I agree, I now have my first laptop with a USB-C and within months I'm terrified of someone coming by and grabbing the cable just hard enough at just the wrong angle to rip the connector off of it's contacts.

I looked into it a little since this seems like a ridiculously obvious design flaw (rely on SMT contacts for mechanical strength against yanking?) and I think at least the reasonable ones use a chassis mount USB receptacle there. I hope. I very much hope.

I’ve been using an aftermarket magnetic connector on my usb-c laptop for several months now. It consists of a low-profile adapter that just lives in one of the usb-c ports, and a bulkier conversion socket that plugs onto the end of my existing cable. So far, it’s been great! It has a weaker hold than my old MagSafe adapters, which is sometimes great and sometimes a hassle.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B07GPHSLX4

> The connectors become loose and come out with little resistance.

Seems to me on laptops that's a good thing, so if you trip over the cable the connector is more likely to come out, than the laptop crashing down?

I don't really ever move my laptop around while anything is plugged into it, so I think that's the right tradeoff.

USB C is no MagSafe.

Nobody's saying it is. But surely if USB-C is a little bit closer to MagSafe in terms of coming out a little more easily, that's a good thing?

Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good.

I think it's more like whitewashing - where the 'meh' is the enemy of 'better, and already exists and works'

The problem with USB C is that it carries data as well, so the easier you make it able to fall out the more likely it’s going to do so when you’re trying to run bits through it.

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