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Despite the visual appeal of their products, Apple normally does a very good job with prioritizing function over form except in this case with the charger wire

Despite the visual appeal of their products, Apple normally does a very good job with prioritizing function over form except in this case with the charger wire being so fragile and thin. I know I'm not the most careful and delicate person in the world, but the failure rate here is ridiculous compared to other similar products I own. The end of the cable gets frayed every single time. Otherwise, Apple makes ridiculously durable products that I use for years on end. It's just weird that their charger's wire almost seems purposefully designed to break in this manner. This isn't just a minor annoyance and monetary concern where I'm just annoyed at having to buy a new charger every year or so - there's a real safety issue here with this wire being so fragile - it could be both a shock and fire hazard. Shame on Apple for ignoring this very real problem with their product.

DarkTree 11y ago
Honestly, I've never had the frayed problem with my macbook chargers, even with 2 years of use. However, I have had to buy 2 chargers since my original one because they will stop working after a couple of years. That's quite frustrating.
- robin_reala 11y ago
  I’ve never even had that. Sold a heavily used 2008 MacBook with its original charger last month with no signs of fraying or problems. I’m yet to have a charger die on me in any way.
  - trymas 11y ago
    I've seen that from some models made in ~'08-'09, the cables do not fray. I have 2013 rmbp 13" I have handled my charger with great care avoiding as much twisting ant touching as possible, and after around 20 months, cable isolation just tore up by touching it.. It seems that cable isolation is made of such plastic, that it completely degrades after some time..
    - masklinn 11y ago
      Haven't had the issue with computer cables, but had the exact issue with iphone cables. The plastic apple uses for their cables is just weird, with friction or stress (just the stress of looping it around) it seems to gain a slightly rubberised texture, bulk up and ultimately come apart over time. I do have hints on that on a magsafe cable-end, close to the magsafe where the little plastic clip usually sits there's a lot of friction and the cable has gone dark-gray, whereas on the rest of the cable the clip can just slide along.
      - trymas 11y ago
        +1 they are weird compared to other cables.. Compared to any other cable in the market Apple's cables feel, look and handle way different. When charger cable is new it feels rather hard and inflexible. But later especially in areas where you touch cable the most, it starts changing colour and starts feeling like old rubber eraser and after some more time cable starts falling apart, just like old dry rubber eraser would do.. Apple want's matt white cables, when usually they are glossy black. I have some super sturdy audio cables (very flexible, resistant to twisting, friction and sharp angles, etc.) which are matt black, wonder how hard it is to make such cable white?
- blhack 11y ago
  Same here. Never had a frayed end, but have had the magnetic connector get really dirty, which causes it to either get REALLY hot when charging, or just stop charging completely. One time I just bought a replacement connector/cable, disassembled the power supply, and soldered the new cable in place. That worked for a while. The second time I just bought a new charger. (Well: two new chargers, actually. The first, which was listed on amazon as made by apple, never worked [I believe it was counterfeit, since some very small details differ from the official charger], so I bought a new one at best buy).
  - jacobolus 11y ago
    The magnetic connector attracts any little bits of iron oxide lying around. It’s easy to clean with a q-tip soaked in alcohol though.
- austenallred 11y ago
  I've had the same problem. That being said, I've never had a pair of headphones that didn't short out, so maybe I'm just not good to my cables.
strictnein 11y ago
Yep. Every single charger we've owned has had to be replaced after a year or two. The only thing worse are the Apple USB cables. Complete junk.
- cjensen 11y ago
  I have seven year-old chargers which work fine. Neither you nor I are unicorns: there are plenty of others for whom it breaks constantly or never breaks. I'd love to know what it is we do differently.
  - lxmorj 11y ago
    Wrap it and unwrap it multiple times per day. Simply having two and keeping one at the office and one at home will 4X the lifespan of your charger, since you aren't wrapping it daily. I also Sugru mine like this on both ends of the cable: http://d1u2s20mo6at4b.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/apple-power-adapter-enhanced-with-sugru.jpg http://d1u2s20mo6at4b.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/appl... I'm considering making a mold so the Sugru looks nice when done and selling robustified chargers on Shopify. I already have a shipping business (MonthlyBoxer.com) so that part is easy. Thinking perhaps about offering a discount for returning the broken charger to us for refurbishing, so we can offer both new and refurb chargers. Anecdotally the Sugru doubles the life of the charger cables (and makes your charger much more identifiable). I'd need to charge $99 to make it work, but it's fairly cheap to throw together a site and reply to the myriad forum posts saying "where can I buy a better Macbook charger" with a link to gauge interest.
    - amartya916 11y ago
      I've done the same for my chargers as well (as in using Sugru). I love your idea of making a mold for better finish as well as selling the "robustified" chargers. I think there will be a market for this, but best of all, I think you can pull this off on demand too (in a way?). I also think the $99 charge is fair. A quick back of the envelope calculation is as follows: $80 for 85 watt charger on amazon [0] + $3 * 2 for Sugru on both ends of the cable [1] + $5.95 for USPS priority 3 day shipping [2] ~= $92 With this supply chain (if it can be called that), you can still estimate shipping the charger to the end consumer within 6 days (2 days with Prime shipping with Amazon + 3 days for USPS). I did not factor in the Prime membership and the mold in the costs though, but it can be factored in fairly easily. Also, I chose to use USPS shipping costs, naturally your mileage will vary because your company/business probably has higher costs (cool service by the way, and congrats :)) [0] 85 W charger: http://amzn.com/B004L6MLPQ http://amzn.com/B004L6MLPQ [1] Sugru 8 pack: http://amzn.com/B00EU7DBNM http://amzn.com/B00EU7DBNM [2] Small flat rate box from USPS: http://pe.usps.com/text/dmm300/Notice123.htm#2517977 http://pe.usps.com/text/dmm300/Notice123.htm#2517977
AnthonyMouse 11y ago
> Shame on Apple for ignoring this very real problem with their product. The cynic says they like it this way. By the time the charger goes bad the battery is already degraded and fixing both of them is so expensive that you might as well just buy a new device.
jsmith0295 11y ago
I've found it hardly happens at all if you avoid wrapping the cable. I just toss mine in my bag, and it's hardly worn at all.
- pshc 11y ago
  Yeah. I do wind mine, but I leave a length of loose cable first to avoid applying tension where the cable enters the brick. I believe the fraying happens when people pull laterally on the strain relief. (It's still Apple's fault, of course.) See: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201600 https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201600
  - brazzledazzle 11y ago
    I do the same. But I did have one fray at the end that plugs into the Mac once, so failures do happen.
specialist 11y ago
The low volt cable must also be replaceable. Just like the wall power cable. It'd add another connector and SKU, which may be why they attach the thin cable permanently. But so what? I buy Shure ear buds because the cable is replaceable.
- oaktowner 11y ago
  Great idea. Would be far cheaper to replace that than the whole charger. (Though that's probably exactly why Apple won't do it).
  - lh7777 11y ago
    This feature already exists on the USB-C MacBook charger. I'm sure it'll be years before the whole line is updated, but I don't see they wouldn't. USB-C can carry up to 100 watts -- the biggest MacBook Pro MagSafe adapter is only 85 watts.
bbatha 11y ago
Leaving a loop before wrapping the small end largely fixes the problem with the cables. Like so [1]. Though I shouldn't have to do it the first place. 1: http://www.tested.com/tech/5480-how-to-properly-coil-a-macbook-power-cord/ http://www.tested.com/tech/5480-how-to-properly-coil-a-macbo...
- ericd 11y ago
  I never wrap up my cables, it's still happened to every single one (about 4).
jdietrich 11y ago
In fairness, Apple's post-sale service is exemplary IME. I've had two power supplies and a battery replaced under warranty. In all cases it was a straight swap at an Apple store, no questions asked.
twerkmonsta 11y ago
I had an Apple charger fray and light my office on fire. Not much damage beyond burned carpet, but that was only because I was in the room and caught the fire immediately. After calling the company and escalating the issue up to a vice-president, they did nothing but replace the charger. It seriously disturbed me how unconcerned they were of a potentially deadly safety problem. It turned me off of Apple as a company and potential employer. Never wanted to work there after that.
- tomcam 11y ago
  You're smart not to work there. Lousy place for someone who wants a decent wage and a 40-hour week. As for their ignoring your problem... I'm afraid I might do it too. This comes from a formerly idealistic person. If they admit to a problem, they open themselves up to lawsuits. I have been sued before and I learned that telling the truth was not in my favor. Feel a little bad to admit this, but there you are.
- imh 11y ago
  I had a similar problem and couldn't even get them to replace the damned thing. They said it was 'normal wear and tear' or something. It was absolutely infuriating that they called a clear fire hazard normal. So then I got an off-brand charger and never looked back.
mrmondo 11y ago
I'm one of those annoying people that has never had MacBook charger perish or fray, until very recently I still had a 2011 MBP and its original charger was fine. But yes I've seen people with dangerously broken chargers before, I have noticed they're often people with cracked phone screens - I wonder if they're perhaps people that are either more physically active with their hardware or perhaps more careless with looking after it.
- jegutman 11y ago
  I have a cat. None of my other charging cables are vulnerable except my macbook pro one. I've already lost two! Even if they made it easier to replace just the cable that goes from the adapter to the macbook it would be a big win for me.
  - mrmondo 11y ago
    Have you tried spraying the cable with a feline repellant? I find they work quite well to stop indoor urination. Edit: also try wiping the table with eucaliptis oil as they often don't like the smell on their paws / mouth.
    - jegutman 11y ago
      No problem with urination, just pawing / chewing. I should try the eucalyptus oil.
  - johnmaguire2013 11y ago
    My cat destroyed mine just last night. :( He has, admittedly, destroyed some headphone cables already, but $15 + some soldering is nothing compared to $80 for my Macbook charger.
    - radoslawc 11y ago
      Just a vent and kind of warning: I've got cat for 1.5 year, and this confirms my impression that they are horrible animals to be pets. Clawing everything, chewing on expansive stuff, peeing, vomiting, defecating on bed, sofa, chairs. If you're considering having cat, please think twice.
Bud 11y ago
I support around 300 Macs for work. In my extensive experience, the deal here is that people are FAR too rough and careless in winding up those charger cables over and over. Apple HAS implemented strain relief here and done their best to make the points of failure less vulnerable. Here's a tip: Instead of yanking the cable at a 90-degree angle and winding as tightly as possible, let the cable come out of the charger naturally, perpendicular to the charger, make a small loop, and then wind the rest of the cable gently around the two plastic hooks that are provided. If you do this, the charger will last a LOT longer. The simple fact is that there is no way to make a wire that gets twisted and yanked and bent at a 90-degree angle, and which will nevertheless last forever. That's just not a thing we can do. Another tip is: own 2 of these chargers, one for home and one for walking around, so that you don't have to wrap up your only charger over and over, every day.
- jeffcox 11y ago
  I've owned Macbooks consistently for about 6 years now, I always use that little loop technique when winding the cord. I've never had a charger fray or fail on me.
  - DanBC 11y ago
    I use the loop technique. I've had two cords self-destroy. I'd need some persuading that the rubbery sleeving was chosen for purely engineering reasons, and not mostly "it feels nice".
    - knowaveragejoe 11y ago
      The sleeving was chosen because the springy quality makes it easier to untangle.
  - engi_nerd 11y ago
    This seems to be very much a "your mileage may vary" thing. I always used that same technique and went through 4 chargers before I finally got sick of the darn things. Then there are a lot of people like you who think that people like me must have hammers or wire dikes for hands.
miketuritzin 11y ago
I bought one of these about a year ago because I got sick of paying $80 for new Macbook chargers, and it has worked really well so far: http://pythoncords.com/ http://pythoncords.com/ The idea is to reinforce the place that usually breaks. I'm not affiliated with this company in any way, just a happy customer.
- Zelphyr 11y ago
  Interesting idea but really, you can do this without buying anything extra. Just make sure the cord is perpendicular to the charger and then loop it down after about an inch or two before wrapping it. I've been doing this for awhile without fail.
- thegayngler 11y ago
  I do this very thing myself and it just frays the cable in a different spot.
makeitsuckless 11y ago
It's so weird. Everything I have by Apple still works and still looks good. But all my Apple data and power cables are held together with Sugru.
pmelendez 11y ago
> Otherwise, Apple makes ridiculously durable products Except for the first USB cables for iPhone5, those things only last a few months. First time I have had to buy three cables for charging one device within a year.
- d_v 11y ago
  Did you know those are covered under your iPhone warranty? As long as you have a warranty (including AppleCare, so up to 2 years), they will replace the USB cable and headphones for free.
  - pmelendez 11y ago
    Didn't know that until it was too late... It did surprise me that they were so bad that year.
WalterBright 11y ago
The strain relief would be more effective if it was tapered instead of ending abruptly. A stiffer sleeve will reduce the bending moments on the conductor, and a higher gauge for the conductor will make it last longer.
dereg 11y ago
While it does suck that all of Apple's chargers fray so easily, however I don't see it as a reason to be cynical about their products. In this case, Apple seems to be prioritizing environmental friendliness over function here. The cables are so weak because they have specifically removed PVC from their charging cables. http://www.apple.com/macbook-pro/environment/ http://www.apple.com/macbook-pro/environment/ > The greatest environmental challenge facing the computer industry today is the presence of arsenic, brominated flame retardants (BFRs), mercury, phthalates, and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) in products. Apple engineers have worked hard to eliminate BFRs and PVC from MacBook Pro circuit boards, internal and external cables, connectors, insulators, adhesives, and more.
- kalleboo 11y ago
  Filling up landfills with tens of thousands of broken chargers probably makes that decision a net negative to the environment...
- DanBC 11y ago
  That cable has an external insulation, which is the weird rubbery stuff that frays. The internal wires are also insulated. What are they insulated with? By mixing different types of insulation Apple have just made it harder for people to reclaim and recycle the PVC. Recycling the PVC is possible because people scavenge the copper wire.
radoslawc 11y ago
That looks to me as smart way to earn some aftersale money. Notice that it's not MacBook that's breaking so it's not sending wrong message that they break often. Charger is still nothing compared to price of whole set. Third party chargers I'd assume are detected by ton of electronics inside MagSafe plug and motherboard and charge slower or not at all. Bonus points: for cable breaking you can always shift blame to customer "bad handling".
- kalleboo 11y ago
  Third party chargers are aggressively pursued with the MagSafe patent. One company made external Mac batteries by buying up Apple MagSafe chargers and chopping off the cable and STILL got destroyed by Apple's lawyers for "violating" the patent.
  - radoslawc 11y ago
    Haven't heard about it, thanks. Reminds me absurd lawsuit about Mike Rowe Soft domain, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_vs._MikeRoweSoft https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_vs._MikeRoweSoft same amount of crazy.
whyenot 11y ago
The charger wire in my Apple charger shorted out a few months ago, in the process melting part of the plastic housing which dripped on to my bed spread. If I hadn't been sitting nearby and noticed, it could have easily started a fire. This is the third Apple charger brick I have owned that has failed. It's always the charger wire that frays and fails. The cost does add up -- 3*$60 + new bed spread.
deleted 11y ago
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rasz_pl 11y ago
>Otherwise, Apple makes ridiculously durable products No they dont. Keyboards are another example of design for fail, not to mention they are unfixable (40? rivets, glued together?). The way they design laptop pcbs encourages common failures, like fragile thin critical connections (charging/one wire circuit) near the open edge of the case resulting in very common water damage destroying ONE trace/via and killing whole laptop. apple will charge you $750 for new logic board at this point. Apple thermal design was abysmal until very recently, situation got better only thanks to Intel delivering cooler parts, not by Apple improving own products. Core2 macbook with Nvidia? 99% cooked to death. Vent holes are sacrilege, just like first Mac 128K had no fan. You want to know how bad apple designs laptops? visit https://www.youtube.com/user/rossmanngroup https://www.youtube.com/user/rossmanngroup
fpgeek 11y ago
It's not just the charger wire. I have a clear example of Apple prioritizing form over function in the charger itself: In 2011, my wife and I bought new laptops (a MacBook Pro and a ThinkPad) around the same time - based on the same Intel chipset and with similar CPUs (might have been one speed tier apart). The setup was power-hungry, so my ThinkPad came with a proverbial charging brick - big and bulky, but it kept the laptop fed no matter what. Her MacBook came with a standard Mac charger (much smaller and lighter). But if she used her laptop when plugged in, it didn't charge much (if at all). And if she did something particularly demanding, the battery could even drain (fortunately, she didn't do that too frequently). This seemed odd and I remember coming across an explanation online (while researching something else): It was just physics. My ThinkPad charger was something like twice as powerful as her MacBook charger, but they were both feeding roughly similar internals. Given that Lenovo concluded my ThinkPad needed the more powerful charger, it's not at all surprising her weaker MacBook charger couldn't keep up with her laptop. On any list of functional requirements for a charger, I'd say "not letting the battery drain while plugged in" has to be pretty high on the list, so...
- Scoundreller 11y ago
  I think the charger was defective. Possibly frayed wiring in the cable which lead to excessive voltage drop.
vbezhenar 11y ago
I own 2 macbooks, iPhone 4S, iPad 3 and I had iPod Video (battery dead, but should work otherwise). Every iDevice had broken cable after about 1 year. One macbook have broken cable. Other macbook have broken cable, but it still work, not sure, how long. I started to apply pen springs to the cables, it seems to help a little bit. I'm sure that it's intentional design, so Apple can sell more of their ridiculously priced accessories. Integrated chips in their accessories, making them harder to replicate, seems to approve that hypothesis.
arikrak 11y ago
Only Apple can continue charging $80 for a charger that's so defective. Yo can buy a smartphone for the same price that lasts longer.
donkeyd 11y ago
I've hear they fray easily because their cables are made of bio degradable plastic. However, I doubt it's impact is positive if it causes for chargers to be thrown out after only a couple of years.
fabulist 11y ago
You might try wrapping a layer of strong tape at the part that keeps fraying while it is still functional to reinforce it.
mcv 11y ago
My problems are not with the wires fraying. I mean, they do, but that's easily fixed with some insulating tape. My problem is that after a while, they just stop working for no discernible reason. One of mine gave a big spark when it stopped working. The other just stopped charging.

DarkTree 11y ago

Honestly, I've never had the frayed problem with my macbook chargers, even with 2 years of use. However, I have had to buy 2 chargers since my original one because they will stop working after a couple of years. That's quite frustrating.

robin_reala 11y ago
I’ve never even had that. Sold a heavily used 2008 MacBook with its original charger last month with no signs of fraying or problems. I’m yet to have a charger die on me in any way.
- trymas 11y ago
  I've seen that from some models made in ~'08-'09, the cables do not fray. I have 2013 rmbp 13" I have handled my charger with great care avoiding as much twisting ant touching as possible, and after around 20 months, cable isolation just tore up by touching it.. It seems that cable isolation is made of such plastic, that it completely degrades after some time..
  - masklinn 11y ago
    Haven't had the issue with computer cables, but had the exact issue with iphone cables. The plastic apple uses for their cables is just weird, with friction or stress (just the stress of looping it around) it seems to gain a slightly rubberised texture, bulk up and ultimately come apart over time. I do have hints on that on a magsafe cable-end, close to the magsafe where the little plastic clip usually sits there's a lot of friction and the cable has gone dark-gray, whereas on the rest of the cable the clip can just slide along.
    - trymas 11y ago
      +1 they are weird compared to other cables.. Compared to any other cable in the market Apple's cables feel, look and handle way different. When charger cable is new it feels rather hard and inflexible. But later especially in areas where you touch cable the most, it starts changing colour and starts feeling like old rubber eraser and after some more time cable starts falling apart, just like old dry rubber eraser would do.. Apple want's matt white cables, when usually they are glossy black. I have some super sturdy audio cables (very flexible, resistant to twisting, friction and sharp angles, etc.) which are matt black, wonder how hard it is to make such cable white?
blhack 11y ago
Same here. Never had a frayed end, but have had the magnetic connector get really dirty, which causes it to either get REALLY hot when charging, or just stop charging completely. One time I just bought a replacement connector/cable, disassembled the power supply, and soldered the new cable in place. That worked for a while. The second time I just bought a new charger. (Well: two new chargers, actually. The first, which was listed on amazon as made by apple, never worked [I believe it was counterfeit, since some very small details differ from the official charger], so I bought a new one at best buy).
- jacobolus 11y ago
  The magnetic connector attracts any little bits of iron oxide lying around. It’s easy to clean with a q-tip soaked in alcohol though.
austenallred 11y ago
I've had the same problem. That being said, I've never had a pair of headphones that didn't short out, so maybe I'm just not good to my cables.

strictnein 11y ago

Yep. Every single charger we've owned has had to be replaced after a year or two. The only thing worse are the Apple USB cables. Complete junk.

cjensen 11y ago
I have seven year-old chargers which work fine. Neither you nor I are unicorns: there are plenty of others for whom it breaks constantly or never breaks. I'd love to know what it is we do differently.
- lxmorj 11y ago
  Wrap it and unwrap it multiple times per day. Simply having two and keeping one at the office and one at home will 4X the lifespan of your charger, since you aren't wrapping it daily. I also Sugru mine like this on both ends of the cable: http://d1u2s20mo6at4b.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/apple-power-adapter-enhanced-with-sugru.jpg http://d1u2s20mo6at4b.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/appl... I'm considering making a mold so the Sugru looks nice when done and selling robustified chargers on Shopify. I already have a shipping business (MonthlyBoxer.com) so that part is easy. Thinking perhaps about offering a discount for returning the broken charger to us for refurbishing, so we can offer both new and refurb chargers. Anecdotally the Sugru doubles the life of the charger cables (and makes your charger much more identifiable). I'd need to charge $99 to make it work, but it's fairly cheap to throw together a site and reply to the myriad forum posts saying "where can I buy a better Macbook charger" with a link to gauge interest.
  - amartya916 11y ago
    I've done the same for my chargers as well (as in using Sugru). I love your idea of making a mold for better finish as well as selling the "robustified" chargers. I think there will be a market for this, but best of all, I think you can pull this off on demand too (in a way?). I also think the $99 charge is fair. A quick back of the envelope calculation is as follows: $80 for 85 watt charger on amazon [0] + $3 * 2 for Sugru on both ends of the cable [1] + $5.95 for USPS priority 3 day shipping [2] ~= $92 With this supply chain (if it can be called that), you can still estimate shipping the charger to the end consumer within 6 days (2 days with Prime shipping with Amazon + 3 days for USPS). I did not factor in the Prime membership and the mold in the costs though, but it can be factored in fairly easily. Also, I chose to use USPS shipping costs, naturally your mileage will vary because your company/business probably has higher costs (cool service by the way, and congrats :)) [0] 85 W charger: http://amzn.com/B004L6MLPQ http://amzn.com/B004L6MLPQ [1] Sugru 8 pack: http://amzn.com/B00EU7DBNM http://amzn.com/B00EU7DBNM [2] Small flat rate box from USPS: http://pe.usps.com/text/dmm300/Notice123.htm#2517977 http://pe.usps.com/text/dmm300/Notice123.htm#2517977

AnthonyMouse 11y ago

> Shame on Apple for ignoring this very real problem with their product. The cynic says they like it this way. By the time the charger goes bad the battery is already degraded and fixing both of them is so expensive that you might as well just buy a new device.

jsmith0295 11y ago

I've found it hardly happens at all if you avoid wrapping the cable. I just toss mine in my bag, and it's hardly worn at all.

pshc 11y ago
Yeah. I do wind mine, but I leave a length of loose cable first to avoid applying tension where the cable enters the brick. I believe the fraying happens when people pull laterally on the strain relief. (It's still Apple's fault, of course.) See: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201600 https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201600
- brazzledazzle 11y ago
  I do the same. But I did have one fray at the end that plugs into the Mac once, so failures do happen.

specialist 11y ago

The low volt cable must also be replaceable. Just like the wall power cable. It'd add another connector and SKU, which may be why they attach the thin cable permanently. But so what? I buy Shure ear buds because the cable is replaceable.

oaktowner 11y ago
Great idea. Would be far cheaper to replace that than the whole charger. (Though that's probably exactly why Apple won't do it).
- lh7777 11y ago
  This feature already exists on the USB-C MacBook charger. I'm sure it'll be years before the whole line is updated, but I don't see they wouldn't. USB-C can carry up to 100 watts -- the biggest MacBook Pro MagSafe adapter is only 85 watts.

bbatha 11y ago

Leaving a loop before wrapping the small end largely fixes the problem with the cables. Like so [1]. Though I shouldn't have to do it the first place. 1: http://www.tested.com/tech/5480-how-to-properly-coil-a-macbook-power-cord/ http://www.tested.com/tech/5480-how-to-properly-coil-a-macbo...

ericd 11y ago
I never wrap up my cables, it's still happened to every single one (about 4).

jdietrich 11y ago

In fairness, Apple's post-sale service is exemplary IME. I've had two power supplies and a battery replaced under warranty. In all cases it was a straight swap at an Apple store, no questions asked.

twerkmonsta 11y ago

I had an Apple charger fray and light my office on fire. Not much damage beyond burned carpet, but that was only because I was in the room and caught the fire immediately. After calling the company and escalating the issue up to a vice-president, they did nothing but replace the charger. It seriously disturbed me how unconcerned they were of a potentially deadly safety problem. It turned me off of Apple as a company and potential employer. Never wanted to work there after that.

tomcam 11y ago
You're smart not to work there. Lousy place for someone who wants a decent wage and a 40-hour week. As for their ignoring your problem... I'm afraid I might do it too. This comes from a formerly idealistic person. If they admit to a problem, they open themselves up to lawsuits. I have been sued before and I learned that telling the truth was not in my favor. Feel a little bad to admit this, but there you are.
imh 11y ago
I had a similar problem and couldn't even get them to replace the damned thing. They said it was 'normal wear and tear' or something. It was absolutely infuriating that they called a clear fire hazard normal. So then I got an off-brand charger and never looked back.

mrmondo 11y ago

I'm one of those annoying people that has never had MacBook charger perish or fray, until very recently I still had a 2011 MBP and its original charger was fine. But yes I've seen people with dangerously broken chargers before, I have noticed they're often people with cracked phone screens - I wonder if they're perhaps people that are either more physically active with their hardware or perhaps more careless with looking after it.

jegutman 11y ago
I have a cat. None of my other charging cables are vulnerable except my macbook pro one. I've already lost two! Even if they made it easier to replace just the cable that goes from the adapter to the macbook it would be a big win for me.
- mrmondo 11y ago
  Have you tried spraying the cable with a feline repellant? I find they work quite well to stop indoor urination. Edit: also try wiping the table with eucaliptis oil as they often don't like the smell on their paws / mouth.
  - jegutman 11y ago
    No problem with urination, just pawing / chewing. I should try the eucalyptus oil.
- johnmaguire2013 11y ago
  My cat destroyed mine just last night. :( He has, admittedly, destroyed some headphone cables already, but $15 + some soldering is nothing compared to $80 for my Macbook charger.
  - radoslawc 11y ago
    Just a vent and kind of warning: I've got cat for 1.5 year, and this confirms my impression that they are horrible animals to be pets. Clawing everything, chewing on expansive stuff, peeing, vomiting, defecating on bed, sofa, chairs. If you're considering having cat, please think twice.

Bud 11y ago

I support around 300 Macs for work. In my extensive experience, the deal here is that people are FAR too rough and careless in winding up those charger cables over and over. Apple HAS implemented strain relief here and done their best to make the points of failure less vulnerable. Here's a tip: Instead of yanking the cable at a 90-degree angle and winding as tightly as possible, let the cable come out of the charger naturally, perpendicular to the charger, make a small loop, and then wind the rest of the cable gently around the two plastic hooks that are provided. If you do this, the charger will last a LOT longer. The simple fact is that there is no way to make a wire that gets twisted and yanked and bent at a 90-degree angle, and which will nevertheless last forever. That's just not a thing we can do. Another tip is: own 2 of these chargers, one for home and one for walking around, so that you don't have to wrap up your only charger over and over, every day.

jeffcox 11y ago
I've owned Macbooks consistently for about 6 years now, I always use that little loop technique when winding the cord. I've never had a charger fray or fail on me.
- DanBC 11y ago
  I use the loop technique. I've had two cords self-destroy. I'd need some persuading that the rubbery sleeving was chosen for purely engineering reasons, and not mostly "it feels nice".
  - knowaveragejoe 11y ago
    The sleeving was chosen because the springy quality makes it easier to untangle.
- engi_nerd 11y ago
  This seems to be very much a "your mileage may vary" thing. I always used that same technique and went through 4 chargers before I finally got sick of the darn things. Then there are a lot of people like you who think that people like me must have hammers or wire dikes for hands.

miketuritzin 11y ago

I bought one of these about a year ago because I got sick of paying $80 for new Macbook chargers, and it has worked really well so far: http://pythoncords.com/ http://pythoncords.com/ The idea is to reinforce the place that usually breaks. I'm not affiliated with this company in any way, just a happy customer.

Zelphyr 11y ago
Interesting idea but really, you can do this without buying anything extra. Just make sure the cord is perpendicular to the charger and then loop it down after about an inch or two before wrapping it. I've been doing this for awhile without fail.
thegayngler 11y ago
I do this very thing myself and it just frays the cable in a different spot.

makeitsuckless 11y ago

It's so weird. Everything I have by Apple still works and still looks good. But all my Apple data and power cables are held together with Sugru.

pmelendez 11y ago

> Otherwise, Apple makes ridiculously durable products Except for the first USB cables for iPhone5, those things only last a few months. First time I have had to buy three cables for charging one device within a year.

d_v 11y ago
Did you know those are covered under your iPhone warranty? As long as you have a warranty (including AppleCare, so up to 2 years), they will replace the USB cable and headphones for free.
- pmelendez 11y ago
  Didn't know that until it was too late... It did surprise me that they were so bad that year.

WalterBright 11y ago

The strain relief would be more effective if it was tapered instead of ending abruptly. A stiffer sleeve will reduce the bending moments on the conductor, and a higher gauge for the conductor will make it last longer.

dereg 11y ago

While it does suck that all of Apple's chargers fray so easily, however I don't see it as a reason to be cynical about their products. In this case, Apple seems to be prioritizing environmental friendliness over function here. The cables are so weak because they have specifically removed PVC from their charging cables. http://www.apple.com/macbook-pro/environment/ http://www.apple.com/macbook-pro/environment/ > The greatest environmental challenge facing the computer industry today is the presence of arsenic, brominated flame retardants (BFRs), mercury, phthalates, and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) in products. Apple engineers have worked hard to eliminate BFRs and PVC from MacBook Pro circuit boards, internal and external cables, connectors, insulators, adhesives, and more.

kalleboo 11y ago
Filling up landfills with tens of thousands of broken chargers probably makes that decision a net negative to the environment...
DanBC 11y ago
That cable has an external insulation, which is the weird rubbery stuff that frays. The internal wires are also insulated. What are they insulated with? By mixing different types of insulation Apple have just made it harder for people to reclaim and recycle the PVC. Recycling the PVC is possible because people scavenge the copper wire.

radoslawc 11y ago

That looks to me as smart way to earn some aftersale money. Notice that it's not MacBook that's breaking so it's not sending wrong message that they break often. Charger is still nothing compared to price of whole set. Third party chargers I'd assume are detected by ton of electronics inside MagSafe plug and motherboard and charge slower or not at all. Bonus points: for cable breaking you can always shift blame to customer "bad handling".

kalleboo 11y ago
Third party chargers are aggressively pursued with the MagSafe patent. One company made external Mac batteries by buying up Apple MagSafe chargers and chopping off the cable and STILL got destroyed by Apple's lawyers for "violating" the patent.
- radoslawc 11y ago
  Haven't heard about it, thanks. Reminds me absurd lawsuit about Mike Rowe Soft domain, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_vs._MikeRoweSoft https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_vs._MikeRoweSoft same amount of crazy.

whyenot 11y ago

The charger wire in my Apple charger shorted out a few months ago, in the process melting part of the plastic housing which dripped on to my bed spread. If I hadn't been sitting nearby and noticed, it could have easily started a fire. This is the third Apple charger brick I have owned that has failed. It's always the charger wire that frays and fails. The cost does add up -- 3*$60 + new bed spread.

deleted 11y ago

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rasz_pl 11y ago

>Otherwise, Apple makes ridiculously durable products No they dont. Keyboards are another example of design for fail, not to mention they are unfixable (40? rivets, glued together?). The way they design laptop pcbs encourages common failures, like fragile thin critical connections (charging/one wire circuit) near the open edge of the case resulting in very common water damage destroying ONE trace/via and killing whole laptop. apple will charge you $750 for new logic board at this point. Apple thermal design was abysmal until very recently, situation got better only thanks to Intel delivering cooler parts, not by Apple improving own products. Core2 macbook with Nvidia? 99% cooked to death. Vent holes are sacrilege, just like first Mac 128K had no fan. You want to know how bad apple designs laptops? visit https://www.youtube.com/user/rossmanngroup https://www.youtube.com/user/rossmanngroup

fpgeek 11y ago

It's not just the charger wire. I have a clear example of Apple prioritizing form over function in the charger itself: In 2011, my wife and I bought new laptops (a MacBook Pro and a ThinkPad) around the same time - based on the same Intel chipset and with similar CPUs (might have been one speed tier apart). The setup was power-hungry, so my ThinkPad came with a proverbial charging brick - big and bulky, but it kept the laptop fed no matter what. Her MacBook came with a standard Mac charger (much smaller and lighter). But if she used her laptop when plugged in, it didn't charge much (if at all). And if she did something particularly demanding, the battery could even drain (fortunately, she didn't do that too frequently). This seemed odd and I remember coming across an explanation online (while researching something else): It was just physics. My ThinkPad charger was something like twice as powerful as her MacBook charger, but they were both feeding roughly similar internals. Given that Lenovo concluded my ThinkPad needed the more powerful charger, it's not at all surprising her weaker MacBook charger couldn't keep up with her laptop. On any list of functional requirements for a charger, I'd say "not letting the battery drain while plugged in" has to be pretty high on the list, so...

Scoundreller 11y ago
I think the charger was defective. Possibly frayed wiring in the cable which lead to excessive voltage drop.

vbezhenar 11y ago

I own 2 macbooks, iPhone 4S, iPad 3 and I had iPod Video (battery dead, but should work otherwise). Every iDevice had broken cable after about 1 year. One macbook have broken cable. Other macbook have broken cable, but it still work, not sure, how long. I started to apply pen springs to the cables, it seems to help a little bit. I'm sure that it's intentional design, so Apple can sell more of their ridiculously priced accessories. Integrated chips in their accessories, making them harder to replicate, seems to approve that hypothesis.

arikrak 11y ago

Only Apple can continue charging $80 for a charger that's so defective. Yo can buy a smartphone for the same price that lasts longer.

donkeyd 11y ago

I've hear they fray easily because their cables are made of bio degradable plastic. However, I doubt it's impact is positive if it causes for chargers to be thrown out after only a couple of years.

fabulist 11y ago

You might try wrapping a layer of strong tape at the part that keeps fraying while it is still functional to reinforce it.

mcv 11y ago

My problems are not with the wires fraying. I mean, they do, but that's easily fixed with some insulating tape. My problem is that after a while, they just stop working for no discernible reason. One of mine gave a big spark when it stopped working. The other just stopped charging.