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Apple is killing off MagSafe, one of the MacBook’s best features
- raarts 10y agoCompletely agree. I need to replace my macbook air, but am seriously stumped: no more 12 hr battery, no more magsafe, a much higher price, and can't even stay on the MBA because the 16GB I was hoping for did not appear on the MBA. Really. Don't know what to do now. I can't switch to Windows, don't want to go back to Linux. I feel like Apple has left me.
- toomuchtodo 10y agoI'm buying 1-2 refurbished current gen Macbook Pros, and just hoping those and my current one will last me the next decade or so (its all solid state, so hopefully it will).
- frou_dh 10y agoI usually regret stockpiling hardware. When the time arrives to crack out a spare, the market/situation has likely changed again and that golden SKU is no longer the worldbeater it once seemed. I think Steve Gibson (SpinRite guy) mentioned that he has a freezer drawer full of Palm Pilot PDAs, that seemed a good idea at the time.
- khattam 10y agoJust buy an old one after your current one breaks if you love Magsafe so much. I'm sure many will be willing to sell their old 2015 Macbook pros when one with wireless charging comes out in 2023.
- toomuchtodo 10y ago* MagSafe * USB * Not needing a $25 adapter just to charge my iPhone * Thunderbolt for my two Thunderbolt displays Hopefully the used supply of MBP will stay deep for years.
- daughart 10y agoYou don't need a $25 adaptor, just a $25 cable! http://www.apple.com/shop/product/MK0X2AM/A/usb-c-to-lightning-cable-1-m?fnode=97&fs=f%3Dcable%26fh%3D458e%252B45c4 http://www.apple.com/shop/product/MK0X2AM/A/usb-c-to-lightni... Seriously though the next iPhone/iPad will surely going to use USB-C also and ditch Lightning, which will dramatically simplify the connector situation going on at Apple.
- gambiting 10y agoIf they were going to do that, then iphone 7 would have released with USB-C. At the moment I guess they don't want to break compatibility with every iPhone accessory on the market - but then again, they were never a company that cared about breaking standards, so I have no idea why the hesitation now.
- sandGorgon 10y agotry the dell xps 13 with fedora 24. you will be amazed!
- mikestew 10y agoIt's the only thing that makes me hesitate replacing my current MBP. Seriously, I can live with whatever ports the put on it, remove a headphone jack, I don't care, but don't take my MagSafe. It's not often that the MagSafe earns it's keep, but when you've got 70kg of dogs wrestling in the living room, sometimes MagSafe alone is worth the price of admission.
- otterley 10y agohttps://griffintechnology.com/us/breaksafe-magnetic-usb-c-power-cable https://griffintechnology.com/us/breaksafe-magnetic-usb-c-po...
- mikestew 10y agoBecause sometimes an upvote isn't enough: thanks for the pointer, that would be an acceptable compromise for me.
- anentropic 10y agoWell... if you have the new MBP and the new LG display then this won't do (assuming you charge the MBP from the display as intended) That Griffin adapter is "power only, no data" We need the equivalent but as a full-featured TB3 connector
- otterley 10y agoIn such a situation, both your computer and your monitor are likely to be on a desktop, relatively near one another, so the chance of sudden accidental separation is much lower.
- mahyarm 10y agoThis + 6 (vs 4) total ports and it will be pretty good.
- h1d 10y agoWhy wouldn't Apple make this their default offerings? Then they'd rather be applauded for keeping sanity over changes. This is getting typical of Apple.
- nomel 10y agoThere are many third party solutions, like the Griffin Breaksafe. It eats a port, but that's better than the MacBook flying onto the ground. :-\
- robert_foss 10y agoFor people not stuck in Apple lock-in, USB-C charging is definitely a positive thing. Have you laptop charge using you phone adapter, or the other way around. Currently on my desk I have 2 laptops and one phone, all of them are USB-C capable. Was the magsafe connector ever anything more than a marketing gimmick? Do you fall over your laptop power chord daily? Weekly? Has is ever occurred?
- rashkov 10y agoOther people have walked into my power cord repeatedly. Every time I was thrilled at mag safe and praised it.
- jlawer 10y agoYes, because my phone charger is going to supply 90W.....
- zimpenfish 10y agoMacBook Pro only needs 61W - https://www.apple.com/macbook-pro/specs/ https://www.apple.com/macbook-pro/specs/ Admittedly, your phone charger is probably going to struggle with that too.
- h1d 10y agoI don't see a reason not to have it thus asking how frequently MBs get tripped is moot.
- gambiting 10y agoThe problem with USB-C for everything is that your phone charger will not provide enough power to charge your laptop quickly, or even allow it to work. 10W phone charger is not going to sustain a MacBook Pro, and charging its battery would probably take 20 hours or more. I've got a small tablet(Asus Transformer) that has a regular Micro-USB charging port, but charging it with my phone charger takes ~15 hours from zero. It's cool that you can do that, but it's bad experience for the customer. As for the magsafe connector - absolutely! if you have kids/pets around, magsafe connector will save your laptop almost daily.
- a-no-n 10y agoApple, as a laptop manufacturer, is done. The company is continuing to regress, having lost its edge (SJ). They're completely on the process bandwagon of requiring more accessories, having lost the beauty and functionality of clever, practical simplicity which advances the user experience, instead of making it crappier and inconvenient for change's sake. Tim Cook's gotta go, they need a more forceful visionary than a bean-counter. MacBook Pro's need to consider detachable displays, alternatives to keyboards, other modes of interaction, so on.
- jowiar 10y ago> detachable displays, alternatives to keyboards, other modes of interaction Add built-in always-connected internet and you have an iPad Pro. The software isn't there quite yet, but it's really damn close.
- aikah 10y agoTim Cook is fine. Ive need to quit.
- lostlogin 10y agoI haven't seen "Ive" at the beginning of a sentence before and it's surprisingly hard to parse.
- anentropic 10y agoAgreed he's beautifully designing a load of nonsense
- matthewmacleod 10y agoApple is what - the biggest single laptop manufacturer? It seems hyperbolic to describe them as "done".
- dogma1138 10y agoApple isn't the biggest laptop manufacturer. http://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/apple-2015-notebook-market-share/ http://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/apple-2015-notebook-m...
- totalZero 10y agoThis is good for people who want to use one simple docking connector. Still, every buyer who breaks his LCD screen after tripping over the power cord is going to resent Apple for this. It seems to me a poor choice. Many users share one charger between devices (for example, a study group in a dorm lounge). On the bright side, USB-C is a good standard and it deserves this kind of major love.
- jowiar 10y agoThe big advantage with Magsafe was when battery life was ~2 hours and it was a necessity to haul a power cord around all day and the laptop was primarily plugged in. Now? My power cord lives permanently at my desk -- I can't think of the last time my power cord was in a trippable location.
- brazzledazzle 10y agoYeah but unplugging for meetings is annoying enough with a magsafe. The real problem there that needs fixing is the meeting obsessed culture but in the meantime I have to do what I can to make things easier on myself.
- HugoDaniel 10y agoWorking in a laptop that is constantly in "power saving mode" is a painful experience. Even in a mac.
- rmason 10y agoWe just got over the huge uproar when Apple removed the headphone jack from the iPhone. Once this sinks in I think the dissent will be even louder. Not everyone uses headphones, but everyone eventually has to charge their laptop. When I think of the times I've been saved by MagSafe I shudder.
- andrei_says_ 10y agoSpeak for yourself ;) I haven't gotten over Apple crippling their devices (no standard audio output from an "audio" device, inability to charge while listening to music (on headphones), replacing bulletproof technology with much more complex, battery-operated tech, something I can only explain with the intention to monetize on what used to be a patent-free audio standard. I'm not over it and I'm no longer excited about supporting their vision with my money. Yes, I will likely move away from the iPhone which would be much easier if I could transfer the licenses for the apps I purchased. Same for the MacBooks. All I can say is that they look cheaper to produce, are impossible to service and upgrade and are actively eliminating useful features. Maybe I am no longer their demographic, I imagine these are the result of marketing research and so will sell better than I expect them to. Just not to me.
- bsder 10y agoThe lack of HDMI will be worse. I can count on there being an HDMI cable that works being within reach. I may have to yank one from a functioning display somewhere, but it is available IMMEDIATELY. That is not the case for Thunderbolt. Even IF something has a port, I can't guarantee the presence of a cable. So, I'm stuck with a Thunderbolt to HDMI dongle. And if that goes missing, I can't talk to a display. (But "Airplay" I hear you cry. I have tried to use Airplay at presentations almost a dozen times. Only ONCE did it actually work. The other times I had to plug in to HDMI.)
- lostlogin 10y agoI'm still sad about the second MagSafe - the first one was much better imho.
- Inconel 10y agoI really don't understand how companies go about making these decisions sometimes. MagSafe seems like such a simple and elegant solution to me. I understand that USB-C is the future and that with much better battery life I'm sure people aren't leaving their MacBooks plugged in as much as they were in the past, negating some of it's usefulness. I can also accept that on something like the 12" MacBook it might not work well since those are so light weight and thinness/compactness seems to be a selling point, so I get why it was removed. I would have loved to see Apple include MagSafe charging in addition to USB charging in these new rMBP's. I can't imagine it would have been much of an engineering feat to include both methods of charging and I doubt including a MagSafe charger would have added much cost. Personally I would be willing to lose a USB port in favor of keeping MagSafe.
- itazula 10y agoSomeone will create a magsafe adapter that lies relatively flat against the port.
- tmnvix 10y agoHypothetically speaking, if Apple had a patent on the 'magnetic power adaptor' and discontinued it in their own products, would this mean that nobody could produce such a thing. That seems like it would be a ludicrous situation.
- malcolmgreaves 10y agoYes - they can do exactly what you have described.
- brosephli 10y agoMaybe the MacBook is too light for MagSafe to work safely. Also the adapters tend to fray after a while.
- gambiting 10y agoIf apple stops using MagSafe currently, will their patent on it expire eventually?
- sirmiller 10y agoThank god they finally killed that stupid magsafe. Don't even want to know how many days of work/income I lost because it accidentally became unplugged and I left home on a dead battery.