Hacker News Reader

Comment by hu3 | Hacker News Reader

I'm still salty about the magsafe.

MagSafe was nice, but I'm a big fan of being able to use an industry standard $30 charger with 60W USB-C, 3x USB-A ports, and a removable charging cable.

Having to replace a whole $80 proprietary charging brick because the cable connection frayed was a pretty shitty deal.

Is it impossible to have a removable Magsafe cable?

Probably not, but Apple never made one.

The option we have now are magnetic breakaway USB-C nubs, but I've been hesitant to jump on that train because of stories about them breaking off in ports, short circuiting, or failing to connect properly. And especially if you have a 15" MBP with the 87W power brick, I don't think they can handle that amount of power.

Eventually I hope to see some well made versions of that from known good vendors, but even things like Griffin BreakSafe have crappy reviews right now.

I have collected 4 magsafe chargers from the various companies I've worked at because when I returned my laptop or got an extra, they never asked for the chargers back. It was very convenient, but now that I'm on the 2018 USB-C one, I have to throw all of them away via e-waste because I have literally no use for them.

You could try eBay or Craigslist for those.

Since Apple never licensed out MagSafe, the market has been full of poorly built counterfeits rather than anything from reputable manufacturers. That’s another thing I don’t miss.

Anyway, I’d bet there’s still some market for used MagSafe chargers to be used with older macs whose chargers have frayed.

there exist magsafe to usb3 converters.

Hah, the new Macbook laptop with only USB-C connectors: Slimmer and weights 2Kg less. But now you have to take with you 3kg of USB-C to everything (hdmi, mini-DP, USB-A, thunderbolt, ethernet, MicroSD, SD) adapters, each one costing you $15 at least. Oh, and this "feature" costs you $100 extra on the new MacBook laptop.

I hate Apple.

Same. When I bought the MacBook, that was one of those things I noticed as “of course it makes sense. Why doesn’t everybody do this?” Then Apple went ahead and took an axe to it. This was truly an idiotic move. Don’t add usbc if you can’t find a way to make it MagSafe!

Opposite here, the magsafe was a constant nuisance, always disconnecting. I like being able to drag the cord with the laptop.

And the laptop with the cord.

This is how you get frayed cords.

I liked the Magsafe connector. But with USB-C, I like being able to connect the power cable from either side.

Magsafe patent expires sometime around 2025 luckily.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com