Hacker News Reader

How do you explain the same split occuring on the Magsafe connectors? Those are designed to pop right out if you yank them by the cord, so very little strain is going to be put on the wire sleeve. I've seen a lot of Magsafes split in the exact way depicted in the picture.

In my extremely unscientific personal test, the iPod data cable actually came out of my iPhone with less force required than attempting to unplug the MagSafe cable from my laptop.

Of course, that wouldn't be the case when the pulling isn't completely in-line with the socket (although you can exert quite an amount of strain on a MagSafe cable by pulling it out sideways). I think it's too simple to assume that MagSafe wouldn't suffer from this problem.

The explanation given by the parent post rings true for me, certainly I've had these kinds of splits in plenty of cables with traditional "strain-relief" on. I think I'm going to stop unplugging things by tugging the cable. :)

i've notice that if you go at an angle it's easier to yank the magsafe cable. straight on it a lot stronger. I'm assuming ti's due to the angle making the force be applied to a small region and not the whole magnet.

That actually matches what I've observed. Namely that after 2 years of heavy use my magsafe has not had any issues with the connection.

I always remove the connector by tilting it first, instead of pulling. In fact I think there was something in the manual about this - though I can't find it at the moment.

My manual says: When disconnecting the power adapter from a power outlet or from the computer, pull the plug, not the cord.

But it doesn't say anything about tilting.

It's a magnet. Shearing / levering is easier than pulling. You're doing it, even if you're not thinking about it, just because you're not pulling perfectly straight. Intentionally tilting it away makes removing it a lot easier than doing so accidentally, though.

The new (90-degree) Magsafe connectors are a step back, in my mind, because if you pull in-line with the cable direction, they will not pop out. There is no leverage to torque it out of the socket and the force is taken up by the edge of the socket. I bet that if you pull in just the right direction, you can pull the cable off the connector before the connector comes out (if the laptop is kept stationary).

It looks nice, all shiny and aluminy though...

I've had several two MagSafe adapters break at the adapter side rather than the notebook side of the cable in the last 4 years. Apple uses the same sort of strain-relief on that end of the cable too.

That's probably from people using their laptop too far from the power outlet so the connector is under strain, rather than moving closer to the outlet or using the grounded extension. Or possibly from letting the adapter brick hang from the laptop, rather than setting the brick on the table or another surface.

While in the general case you may be absolutely right, my iPhone power cable suffers from this exact problem, and I have always removed it by grabbing the connector body, not the cable.

I know it's just one anecdote, and your assessment probably applies to a large number of these cases... but it doesn't apply to all of them.

I had the same incident on my ~2007 Macbook. The wires became exposed at the connector body slowly and finally failed on me. I wasn't aware I could return it (this was last year) and bought a new one. I had religiously pulled it from the body and it was practically a desktop with a 2nd monitor.

  > if I were to guess why Apple removed the buttons

Seems more likely that the ID people wanted a smaller connector, though that's just speculation.

I think there's a practical reason for smaller connectors, actually:

Shorter connectors mean less leverage. The shorter it is, the less likely it is to damage the internal plug / motherboard / case, which is essentially irreplaceable. Certainly in comparison with a far cheaper cord.

Good point.

This might have been one (of many) considerations when changing to the new Macbook power connectors. With the current design, there is no point in pulling straight on the cord as you described. The user must pull to the side of the strain relief, which allows it to do its job.

Has anyone had these problems with the new magsafe connectors?

I believe the new MagSafe connectors were redesigned partially to deal with strain problems. I forget where I read it but it made sense when I came across it.

As for the design, I'm inclined to agree with squidbot and say that the thread is a load of crap. It paints a poor picture of ID at Apple. I might be able to believe it at other companys but in the glimpse I've gotten into the design process at different keynotes, I find it hard to believe ID is so aesthetically siloed nowadays.

I'm sure ID passed deemed it as some sort of acceptable level of strain.

This article is true, if you look at how Apple designs their products, the look is always minimalistic. They will sacrifice features and function in favor of design. And in a way, this is really a big part of their success. Create attractive hardware and people will eventually appreciate the software.