10 ms·

I'll believe it when I see it. I could believe them getting rid of the touchbar, but bringing back magsafe? I'm sticking with my 2015 MacBook until it's irrep

I'll believe it when I see it. I could believe them getting rid of the touchbar, but bringing back magsafe? I'm sticking with my 2015 MacBook until it's irreparable, and I do like the magsafe port, but is there really any point in going back after moving to USB-C? I think I just like magsafe because it's cool more than that it actually has some sort of superiority over USB-C. I've tripped over the USB-C cable to my work laptop(2018 model) a handful of times and somehow the cable always manages to unplug without flinging the laptop across the room or damaging the USB components themselves. It doesn't seem like going back to magsafe would achieve anything.

Klathmon 6y ago
I wonder if the "MagSafe" they are talking about is the new magsafe wireless charging on the iphone 12? It would be nice to be able to have a charging pad for my laptop rather than needing to mess with wires at all. Speculation time! I wonder if they will be able to put a magsafe wireless charging spot both under the laptop, and on top next to the trackpad! They could let you charge your iphone from your laptop, and charge the laptop via some fancy new magsafe pad. In fact I wonder if this could include some of the "air power" tech that was reportedly cut a while back?
- jsheard 6y ago
  > Speculation time! I wonder if they will be able to put a magsafe wireless charging spot [...] on "top" next to the trackpad! Apple patented that idea just recently: https://www.theverge.com/2021/1/5/22215413/apple-patent-device-wireless-charging-iphone-macbook https://www.theverge.com/2021/1/5/22215413/apple-patent-devi...
  - duluca 6y ago
    This would be amazing, when traveling becomes a thing again. It sucks to maintain so many charging devices in a hotel room
  - nrp 6y ago
    Apple patents are an evergreen topic for tech journalists, but Apple never announces features or products through patent filings. If you're seeing a public filing for a patent from Apple on a thing that they aren't currently shipping, that means it's something they have no plans to ship.
- leetcrew 6y ago
  if so, I will be very interested to see how they manage the thermals. wireless charging for a laptop will dump a lot more waste heat into the chassis than it does for a phone.
- Brendinooo 6y ago
  The Apple Pencil 2 and Magic Keyboard case attach to an iPad extremely well. Wouldn't be hard to imagine the new MagSafe being somewhere in the same spot as before but not having any kind of "port" that juts out or in.
Joeri 6y ago
It will not be the magsafe of old. I could see them making a magsafe adapter similar to the iphone’s, that snaps onto the back of the screen on either side.
- whywhywhywhy 6y ago
  could even mean a magsafe charging area for your phone/airpods too
  - jhayward 6y ago
    That was my assumption just upon reading the title.
  - dvtrn 6y ago
    Someone recently found a patent filing from Apple suggesting this very possibility https://www.patentlyapple.com/patently-apple/2021/01/apple-has-been-granted-a-pair-of-2-way-charging-patents-for-a-future-macbook-pro-that-could-recharge-idevices-and-more.html https://www.patentlyapple.com/patently-apple/2021/01/apple-h...
- soheil 6y ago
  This makes most sense to me as the induced charging area needs to be big enough for it to work so I think that would rule out the sides as the place where the magnetic charger would snap on. But this raises another issue what happens when the charger is snapped on the back of the screen and the screen angle is adjusted, will there be a wire hanging off the screen that moves with it as I lower or raise my screen? Seems a bit un-Apple-like.
- ardy42 6y ago
  > It will not be the magsafe of old. I could see them making a magsafe adapter similar to the iphone’s, that snaps onto the back of the screen on either side. What would even be the point of something like that? It makes no sense, and would introduce a lot of unneeded complexity and inefficiency. Wireless charging only really makes sense on the bottom of devices. The value proposition is to give you a place to easily set the thing down and get power. Wireless charging for a laptop would mean the "antenna" is on the bottom of the machine, which you place on a desk-sized charging pad.
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
yourabstraction 6y ago
I'm doing the same with my 2015, it really was the pinnacle of MBP design. Mine still works flawlessly, and typing on it is such a joy.
wlesieutre 6y ago
My favorite part of my touchbar MBP is that it uses USB-C charging. MagSafe is neat, but I don't miss the $80 proprietary charger with a cable that's fixed to the brick and will probably fail if you do anything other than leave it sitting at a desk. Could this be talking about an iPhone 12 style magsafe with a large pad? Not sure how that would work, you'd have to set your computer on top of it to have enough contact area. Couldn't go on the back of the screen (too thick), so I'm not sure where else it would be. And can it do a high enough wattage? A thin connection like the pencil charging along the side of the computer perhaps, but I'm even more skeptical of wattage with that approach, and it'd mean yet another special cable. It's certainly true that Apple has been on a big magnets kick lately. MagSafe for iPhones, Pencil charging on the iPad, the Magic Keyboard mounting, and the Apple Watch charger all come to mind.
- BugsJustFindMe 6y ago
  > 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).
  - kube-system 6y ago
    Physics might not, but the tech spec might.
  - wlesieutre 6y ago
    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.
ehsankia 6y ago
I don't really see the issue, since the laptop will still be chargeable by USB-C anyways, unlike iPhone's with a single port. I believe Microsoft also uses their own charger port but also have power delivery USB-C port. As long as they add more ports, best of both worlds, really.
elliekelly 6y ago
What I miss about the MagSafe was that it would bump off if I adjusted my computer on my lap or my bed where USB-C bends and eventually breaks. I’ve never needed to replace any of the MagSafe chargers on old MacBooks and I must be on my third or fourth USB-C cable.
- nomel 6y ago
  There are many third party mag-safe like "adapters" for USB-C, that fairly flush in the port. It does require that port being a dedicated charging port though.
killjoywashere 6y ago
Imagine a USB-C compliant version of MagSafe. That would be awesome. not sure if the physics work out (can you efficiently push that many bits through a magnet like that?)
- whazor 6y ago
  Yes, I have a magnetic adapter which works very well. Apple could integrate the magnetic ports on both sides and still have 4 usb c ports (which you could still charge the MacBook with).
- raarts 6y ago
  Yes, they exist and I use it. Works quite well.
  - sgerenser 6y ago
    For data transfer or just charging? I’m sure they work for charging but I think the questioner was wondering if you could actually run 10Gbps through the magnetic adapter.
    - raarts 6y ago
      No, I just use it as a MagSafe replacement.
bbu 6y ago
My broken usb c charger cable plug and port tells a different story. Please bring back a MagSafe style charging connector.
8ytecoder 6y ago
Surely I can’t be the only one whose usb-c charging port is kinda loose and have to double check to make sure it’s taut? My personal 2015 Pro on the other hand chucks along fine.
novok 6y ago
They can just have both charging methods tbh
ericsoderstrom 6y ago
The USB C connection on my laptop loosened over time. To the point that the cable now just falls out unless I keep the laptop completely still. Having a magnet in there to keep the cable in place would be nice. No reason you couldn't use a magnet with a USB-C connection though, best of both worlds and whatnot
- colomon 6y ago
  Huh, that happened to my Galaxy S9 phone, but I haven't noticed issues with my MBP. Geez, something else to worry about...
  - cozzyd 6y ago
    It's also possible you have lint in your connector. Try poking around for a while with a thin non-metal object (e.g. toothpick). If you keep your phone on your pocket you'll need likely get lint in there with time.
phillco 6y ago
I imagine they wouldn't remove the ability to charge over USB-C, but simply add a new MagSafe port. This would effectively free up an extra port when traveling, and you could still use USB-C charging from hubs, monitors, or third-party chargers.
- rm445 6y ago
  This sounds very plausible. I have a Dell Windows laptop with an ordinary barrel charger port which can also be kept charged by a dock plugged into the USB C port. It seems a good arrangement. I haven't tried charging the laptop from a USB C wall wart rather than a dock, but it seems plausible it would work and it could be a handy feature if you forgot the charger somewhere.
908B64B197 6y ago
> I could believe them getting rid of the touchbar Either they should get rid of it or add it to more products. Devs can't rely on a touchbar being present since as soon as you plug in an external keyboard it's un-reachable or simply not there for Apple's desktop offerings. I'd love it if Apple sold an external keyboard with a touchbar, because there are genuine uses for it.
coldtea 6y ago
>I'll believe it when I see it. I could believe them getting rid of the touchbar, but bringing back magsafe? They already brought it back in the sense of reusing the trademark for their snap-on charging. They might want to expand on the use of the name, plus it's removal has often been lamented by users and in reviews. The new magsafe might even be similar to the iPhone/iPad tech (e.g. one can imagine it snap to the back of the screen).
high_density 6y ago
well I really like the idea of "connecting everything - keyboard, monitor, and even power" of usb-C... but it's a security nightmare. One rogue device can pretend to be a keyboard + monitor, and can run some commands without user knowing. though I expect apple to put usb-c port for ordinary people / people who don't like to buy magsafe (I ran over them with my chair several times, resulting in 5 replacements...)

Klathmon 6y ago

I wonder if the "MagSafe" they are talking about is the new magsafe wireless charging on the iphone 12? It would be nice to be able to have a charging pad for my laptop rather than needing to mess with wires at all. Speculation time! I wonder if they will be able to put a magsafe wireless charging spot both under the laptop, and on top next to the trackpad! They could let you charge your iphone from your laptop, and charge the laptop via some fancy new magsafe pad. In fact I wonder if this could include some of the "air power" tech that was reportedly cut a while back?

jsheard 6y ago
> Speculation time! I wonder if they will be able to put a magsafe wireless charging spot [...] on "top" next to the trackpad! Apple patented that idea just recently: https://www.theverge.com/2021/1/5/22215413/apple-patent-device-wireless-charging-iphone-macbook https://www.theverge.com/2021/1/5/22215413/apple-patent-devi...
- duluca 6y ago
  This would be amazing, when traveling becomes a thing again. It sucks to maintain so many charging devices in a hotel room
- nrp 6y ago
  Apple patents are an evergreen topic for tech journalists, but Apple never announces features or products through patent filings. If you're seeing a public filing for a patent from Apple on a thing that they aren't currently shipping, that means it's something they have no plans to ship.
leetcrew 6y ago
if so, I will be very interested to see how they manage the thermals. wireless charging for a laptop will dump a lot more waste heat into the chassis than it does for a phone.
Brendinooo 6y ago
The Apple Pencil 2 and Magic Keyboard case attach to an iPad extremely well. Wouldn't be hard to imagine the new MagSafe being somewhere in the same spot as before but not having any kind of "port" that juts out or in.

Joeri 6y ago

It will not be the magsafe of old. I could see them making a magsafe adapter similar to the iphone’s, that snaps onto the back of the screen on either side.

whywhywhywhy 6y ago
could even mean a magsafe charging area for your phone/airpods too
- jhayward 6y ago
  That was my assumption just upon reading the title.
- dvtrn 6y ago
  Someone recently found a patent filing from Apple suggesting this very possibility https://www.patentlyapple.com/patently-apple/2021/01/apple-has-been-granted-a-pair-of-2-way-charging-patents-for-a-future-macbook-pro-that-could-recharge-idevices-and-more.html https://www.patentlyapple.com/patently-apple/2021/01/apple-h...
soheil 6y ago
This makes most sense to me as the induced charging area needs to be big enough for it to work so I think that would rule out the sides as the place where the magnetic charger would snap on. But this raises another issue what happens when the charger is snapped on the back of the screen and the screen angle is adjusted, will there be a wire hanging off the screen that moves with it as I lower or raise my screen? Seems a bit un-Apple-like.
ardy42 6y ago
> It will not be the magsafe of old. I could see them making a magsafe adapter similar to the iphone’s, that snaps onto the back of the screen on either side. What would even be the point of something like that? It makes no sense, and would introduce a lot of unneeded complexity and inefficiency. Wireless charging only really makes sense on the bottom of devices. The value proposition is to give you a place to easily set the thing down and get power. Wireless charging for a laptop would mean the "antenna" is on the bottom of the machine, which you place on a desk-sized charging pad.

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]

yourabstraction 6y ago

I'm doing the same with my 2015, it really was the pinnacle of MBP design. Mine still works flawlessly, and typing on it is such a joy.

wlesieutre 6y ago

My favorite part of my touchbar MBP is that it uses USB-C charging. MagSafe is neat, but I don't miss the $80 proprietary charger with a cable that's fixed to the brick and will probably fail if you do anything other than leave it sitting at a desk. Could this be talking about an iPhone 12 style magsafe with a large pad? Not sure how that would work, you'd have to set your computer on top of it to have enough contact area. Couldn't go on the back of the screen (too thick), so I'm not sure where else it would be. And can it do a high enough wattage? A thin connection like the pencil charging along the side of the computer perhaps, but I'm even more skeptical of wattage with that approach, and it'd mean yet another special cable. It's certainly true that Apple has been on a big magnets kick lately. MagSafe for iPhones, Pencil charging on the iPad, the Magic Keyboard mounting, and the Apple Watch charger all come to mind.

BugsJustFindMe 6y ago
> 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).
- kube-system 6y ago
  Physics might not, but the tech spec might.
- wlesieutre 6y ago
  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.

ehsankia 6y ago

I don't really see the issue, since the laptop will still be chargeable by USB-C anyways, unlike iPhone's with a single port. I believe Microsoft also uses their own charger port but also have power delivery USB-C port. As long as they add more ports, best of both worlds, really.

elliekelly 6y ago

What I miss about the MagSafe was that it would bump off if I adjusted my computer on my lap or my bed where USB-C bends and eventually breaks. I’ve never needed to replace any of the MagSafe chargers on old MacBooks and I must be on my third or fourth USB-C cable.

nomel 6y ago
There are many third party mag-safe like "adapters" for USB-C, that fairly flush in the port. It does require that port being a dedicated charging port though.

killjoywashere 6y ago

Imagine a USB-C compliant version of MagSafe. That would be awesome. not sure if the physics work out (can you efficiently push that many bits through a magnet like that?)

whazor 6y ago
Yes, I have a magnetic adapter which works very well. Apple could integrate the magnetic ports on both sides and still have 4 usb c ports (which you could still charge the MacBook with).
raarts 6y ago
Yes, they exist and I use it. Works quite well.
- sgerenser 6y ago
  For data transfer or just charging? I’m sure they work for charging but I think the questioner was wondering if you could actually run 10Gbps through the magnetic adapter.
  - raarts 6y ago
    No, I just use it as a MagSafe replacement.

bbu 6y ago

My broken usb c charger cable plug and port tells a different story. Please bring back a MagSafe style charging connector.

8ytecoder 6y ago

Surely I can’t be the only one whose usb-c charging port is kinda loose and have to double check to make sure it’s taut? My personal 2015 Pro on the other hand chucks along fine.

novok 6y ago

They can just have both charging methods tbh

ericsoderstrom 6y ago

The USB C connection on my laptop loosened over time. To the point that the cable now just falls out unless I keep the laptop completely still. Having a magnet in there to keep the cable in place would be nice. No reason you couldn't use a magnet with a USB-C connection though, best of both worlds and whatnot

colomon 6y ago
Huh, that happened to my Galaxy S9 phone, but I haven't noticed issues with my MBP. Geez, something else to worry about...
- cozzyd 6y ago
  It's also possible you have lint in your connector. Try poking around for a while with a thin non-metal object (e.g. toothpick). If you keep your phone on your pocket you'll need likely get lint in there with time.

phillco 6y ago

I imagine they wouldn't remove the ability to charge over USB-C, but simply add a new MagSafe port. This would effectively free up an extra port when traveling, and you could still use USB-C charging from hubs, monitors, or third-party chargers.

rm445 6y ago
This sounds very plausible. I have a Dell Windows laptop with an ordinary barrel charger port which can also be kept charged by a dock plugged into the USB C port. It seems a good arrangement. I haven't tried charging the laptop from a USB C wall wart rather than a dock, but it seems plausible it would work and it could be a handy feature if you forgot the charger somewhere.

908B64B197 6y ago

> I could believe them getting rid of the touchbar Either they should get rid of it or add it to more products. Devs can't rely on a touchbar being present since as soon as you plug in an external keyboard it's un-reachable or simply not there for Apple's desktop offerings. I'd love it if Apple sold an external keyboard with a touchbar, because there are genuine uses for it.

coldtea 6y ago

>I'll believe it when I see it. I could believe them getting rid of the touchbar, but bringing back magsafe? They already brought it back in the sense of reusing the trademark for their snap-on charging. They might want to expand on the use of the name, plus it's removal has often been lamented by users and in reviews. The new magsafe might even be similar to the iPhone/iPad tech (e.g. one can imagine it snap to the back of the screen).

high_density 6y ago

well I really like the idea of "connecting everything - keyboard, monitor, and even power" of usb-C... but it's a security nightmare. One rogue device can pretend to be a keyboard + monitor, and can run some commands without user knowing. though I expect apple to put usb-c port for ordinary people / people who don't like to buy magsafe (I ran over them with my chair several times, resulting in 5 replacements...)