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Comment by Majestic121 | Hacker News Reader

It does not stop innovation like MagSafe : https://www.amazon.com/Magnetic-Adapter-Connector-Transfer-C...

I'm not sure what you mean by 'unreasonably non-zero', but I've been sharing chargers between Macbook, XPS 13 and Thinkpad with no concern, + a charger from amazon.

Some charger are less powerful than others, so charge is not always as quick, but in real life it does not matter : it's still charging fast enough in any combination, and for the last year the only reason I have multiple chargers is to have one at home and one at work, but any laptop works well on all chargers.

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By the way, it’s been talked on HN a lot when USB c comes up, it you shouldn’t use those magnetic cables. The “magnetic disconnect” motion can cause arcing and static electricity that can theoretically damage the thing they’re plugged into. Especially if you leave the exposed pins on the device as you use it unplugged.

How did MagSafe historically handle this? The pogo pins may've been recessed, but they were still exposed to the elements.

There's communication between the device and the power brick. When the communication stops the power stops being delivered. Not sure how Apple is doing that these days with the MagSafe USB-C they have introduced on their laptops since you can plug the other end into any and all USB-C capable chargers.

I don't think an adapter is the kind of innovation HN users are looking for.

I've fried at least one USB-C device, a high-end wireless headset, seemingly by connecting it to a name-brand USB-C charger that had some kind of incompatibility with the headset.

Plus, even among Apple chargers, some USB-C chargers will support fast charging, and some won't, regardless of their rated wattage. Plus some will and will not support fast charging via a wireless charger (either a MagSafe wireless charger or an Apple Watch charger). There are a lot of charging incompatibilities in the current state of USB-C, even among devices from a single manufacturer.

You shouldn’t use a lower wattage charger so it goes.

I have seen it in some forums as well, but do you have any explanation links about why that may be ?

I have trouble finding relevant information that is not some random dude on a forum speaking very confidently one way or another without much data to back it up, and I don't see why that would cause any harm other than charging more slowly, eventually to the point of discharging if you consume a lot of power (which is a pretty tolerable downside).

I assume it's just people being impatient. Using a lower powered charger is arguably better for battery longevity.

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