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Comment by BugsJustFindMe | Hacker News Reader

> MagSafe is neat, but I don't miss the $80 proprietary charger with a cable that's fixed to the brick

No law of physics requires a cable with a magnet on one end to not be detachable from the brick on the other end. So while I too do not lament that the cable is no longer affixed to the bricks, I would like Apple to make a magsafe cable that is just not attached that is also not shitty (all those third party USBC attachments have terrible weak magnets that can't even hold themselves in place and I believe can cause power delivery problems).

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The other important aspect of USB-C versus MagSafe is that I have USB-C cables hooked up on charges all around my apartment. There's a multi-port charger at my desk, one in the living room, and another in my bedroom. Laptop uses the same charging cable from these as my iPad does. Sometimes I hook another charger up in my kitchen if I'm using my iPad for recipes and want to charge it while I cook. There's another a USB-C charger that lives in my bag, along with a USB-C cable which can also charge my iPad and a power bank.

Even if they make this a new cable with USB-C on one end and NewMagSafe on the other, it'd mean buying a whole bunch of new cables if I wanted to actually use it. And I'd need to buy a whole bunch of chargers too, because the ones I have are mainly a single USB-C port and a couple USB-A ports.

If they want to make yet another proprietary charging cable, fine. I don't really care as long as USB-C charging is still supported.

But the new MacBook would still have USB-C for peripherals right? So it could be, if those still would support USB-PD, that the new MacBook can be charged over magsafe or, if you happen to be near USB-C, using your 'legacy' USB-C charger for 'backwards compatibility'. That would be pretty sweet!!

One can hope

> I would like Apple to make a magsafe cable that is just not attached that is also not shitty

Bonus points if they make them in a flavor/odor that cats hate. Apple chargers are the only gear my cat has ever chewed on, and I'm not alone in that. I've had to replace 3 cords now. https://www.google.com/search?q=apple+charger+cat+chew

Weird. When my puppy was teething last year, he chewed the ends off a bunch of Apple USB-C and Lightning cables, but didn't touch any other cables (including our non-Apple USB-C and Lightning cables, of which we have plenty.)

Wonder if it's something like this:

https://www.prestigeimports.net/are-rodents-chewing-the-wiri...

Interesting you say that because I've been using a 3rd party USB-C to Magsafe connector to charge my Macbook and it works great. The magnet is even stronger than the OEM ones. Never had a problem with it.

Can you share the link for the cable? Would love to check it out.

This is the exact one I bought:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07F7BHZLK

I got it half expecting it to be a piece of crap, but I've been really happy with it so far. Mind you, the power source still needs to have a certain output to charge your Macbook, but it's allowed me to use the same USB-C charger that comes with newer Macbooks with my 2015 Macbook.

EDIT: I hope that was what you were picturing. I suppose someone reading my comment could have interpreted it as a magsafe-to-usb-c connector.

I was talking about the things that add magsafe charging while still allowing data transfer for current usbc macs. I'm simultaneously sad and happy to not be proved wrong. :(

This is what I use with my Intel 16” MBP and M1 Air.

Magnetic Thunderbolt3 USB C Adapter 24Pins USB-C Connector, Support PD 100W Quick Charge, 40Gbp/s Data Transfer and 6K@60Hz 4K@60Hz Video Output Compatible for MacBook Pro/Air and More Type C Devices https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0896QK2J5/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glc_...

I tried several of those and the magnets were all so bad that they couldn't even support the weight of the cable itself and would lead to fraction-of-a-second disconnects, which in one case led the mac to disable charging on the port (temporarily. the apple store fixed it but I don't know how).

At this point I don't think the reward is worth the risk. But I am glad to hear that at least some of them aren't terrible.

I use it to connect to the dock on my desk, so the cable weight wasn’t an issue, but I can see how the weight of the cable pulling down would disconnect the magnetic connector.

Physics might not, but the tech spec might.

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