Bloody Apple Magsafe chargers.

£65 a pop for these shit heap chargers. They seem to survive just long enough to be out of warranty before the cable splits apart and they crap themselves. Is there any point moaning to apple (or currys where I bought this replacement? )

Would it be too much to ask that Apple might design a charger that lasts longer than 18 months?

Never had a problem with the two i used with my previous laptop, or the current one. Are you treating them poorly?

yeah i’ve seen ppl have trouble with theirs but mine lasted a good 5 years of being carried round in a messenger bag every day…

I have to do the purchasing for my lab and they need to be regularly replaced, especially for students/researchers who travel a lot, frustrating there’s no cheaper options out there

The cable splitting is well documented but 100% down to user handling. No harm emailing/phoning Apple though to ask if they will replace it FOC; worst they can do is say no. When you get a new one reinforce the area that splits with gorilla tape or sugru or something seeing as you lack the delicate touch 🙂

they need to be regularly replaced

They don’t have to be replaced, it’s just the fact that they aren’t particularly robust coupled with people treating them as if they are! I have a 7yr old one which is still fine.

Sugru round each end. and pack it properly with thick cable round block then long cable round the 2 feet that open out.

I have never had a problem with mine, but my daughter regularly destroys them.

I’m kind of at a loss as to how you mistreat a charger. Plug it into wall connect to device. That’s about it. I’ve never had to replace a charger for any other device, ever.

EDIT: I see they are up to £69.99 now 👿

[Quote]I’m kind of at a loss as to how you mistreat a charger.[/quote]

I once left the lead of my Blackberry charger dangling out of my backpack, and it then promptly wrapped itself around my rear wheel. It snapped surprisingly cleanly 😯

I’m kind of at a loss as to how you mistreat a charger. Plug it into wall connect to device. That’s about it. I’ve never had to replace a charger for any other device, ever.

i think with these it’s usually that people wind the cable around the block before they chuck it in their bag. which usually adds a bit of tension onto the cable (which is quite thin). Doesn’t help that the block has a couple of handy brackets for you to loop the cable onto. Best to ignore them IMO

hmm – I use and travel with my Retina MacBook every single day – after three years, the cord does have a slight split in the cable but it is braided underneath so no chance of it getting worse.

I’d say it has had a very hard life and coped admirably well.

Rachel

doris5000

i think with these it’s usually that people wind the cable around the block before they chuck it in their bag. which usually adds a bit of tension onto the cable (which is quite thin). Doesn’t help that the block has a couple of handy brackets for you to loop the cable onto. Best to ignore them IMO

I think mine has left the house twice. I never wind it around the block I just leave it in a drawer. A very large drawer with nothing else in it. Except perhaps, magsafe eating mynocks.

Maybe that’s where you’re going wrong? It’s sad and lonely…

I’d be less worried about the charger then and concentrate on getting an exterminator or exorcist as having ruled out the obvious (your ham-fisted oafishness) occam’s razor obviously suggests you have rats or a poltergeist. Or possibly both.

+1 for sugru

Mine have been fine. You haven’t been using it for sex games in the hotels have you?

Blimey! Curious to see what you get for a £65 charger, I have just done a little Googling.

1.5/5 stars from 278 reviews on the Apple website. Zoiks!

http://www.apple.com/uk/shop/reviews/MC461B/B/apple-60w-magsafe-power-adapter-for-macbook-and-13-inch-macbook-pro

Description seems to indicate it has been specifically designed for travelling about with:

…..will disconnect if it experiences undue strain and helps prevent fraying or weakening of the cables over time.

…..Designed to be the perfect travelling companion, the adapter has a clever design that allows the DC cable to be wound neatly around itself for easy cable storage.

Although some people do seem to have an uncanny ability to wreck electrical equipment. My Sister-in-Law blows up kettles, toasters, washing machines, TV’s with frequent frequency.

As an Apple outsider, the fact that it has a special magnetic connector making it unique (is it unique?) in the laptop power supply market place leads my suspicious mind to wonder if they have done this to stop you buying any old cheap replacement PSU, rather than their £65 seemingly fragile one.

Mine broke in short order and it’s never left my desk. Crap design.

In your face STW!

I ate mine for breakfast the other day, bloody thing.

I agree £65 is a lot 🙄

As an Apple outsider, the fact that it has a special magnetic connector making it unique (is it unique?) in the laptop power supply market place leads my suspicious mind to wonder if they have done this to stop you buying any old cheap replacement PSU, rather than their £65 seemingly fragile one.

there’s also this….

http://www.righto.com/2014/05/a-look-inside-ipad-chargers-pricey.html

As an Apple outsider, the fact that it has a special magnetic connector making it unique (is it unique?) in the laptop power supply market place leads my suspicious mind to wonder if they have done this to stop you buying any old cheap replacement PSU, rather than their £65 seemingly fragile one.

It’s not as if magnets are expensive (they aren’t); it’s more to do with not wanting to burn your house down and possibly die.

Cheaper “fake” chargers are available but they are fundamentally different inside:
http://www.righto.com/2014/05/a-look-inside-ipad-chargers-pricey.html

(yes that is for genuine vs fake iPhone charger but the point is still valid – there is actually quite a lot of stuff in the real ones.)

EDIT: 🙂 pipped by 34s… that’ll teach me to type unnecessarily long replies!

allthegear – Member

hmm – I use and travel with my Retina MacBook every single day – after three years, the cord does have a slight split in the cable but it is braided underneath so no chance of it getting worse.

I’d say it has had a very hard life and coped admirably well.

Rachel

Firstly I wouldn’t say that’s ‘admirable’. No other laptop charger I’ve ever had has this kind of problem because they have those proper ugly-but-functional strain relief knobbles.

And yes there is a way it can get worse, mine was looking like yours for a while, now I have to waggle it when I plug it in, or it says “Not Charging” up in the menubar.

Managed to destroy two so far and I’m on my fourth Macbook.

In 12 years of owning Apple laptops and lots of travelling, I’m alright with that.

(However I suspect if work hadn’t paid for the last one I suspect I’d be less ‘alright’)

Mine have been fine. You haven’t been using it for sex games in the hotels have you?

Your name is Michael Hutchence and I claim my £5. 😈

65 quid aint much, without it my 1500 quid laptop would be a ornament

I’m onto number 7 now. All but the latest replaced under warranty. Theres a reason they have changed the design and materials several times- they have all been shit.

doris5000 – Member

there’s also this….

zilog6128 – Member

It’s not as if magnets are expensive (they aren’t); it’s more to do with not wanting to burn your house down and possibly die.

Cheaper “fake” chargers are available but they are fundamentally different inside:

True. But I wasn’t referring to decidedly cheap, crap, counterfeit chargers.
I mean, if my laptop PSU fails I can find a perfectly well made, suitable PSU with the same connector & load rating. Just because it is not an ‘Acer’ one, does not mean it will be badly made & likely to burst into flames.

But, if the only choice to Apple users is an expensive Apple one, or a counterfeit, explody one – then Apple have a tidy little earner in replacement parts…..?
Devil’s advocate and all that – it just seems to me to be a lot of money for a PSU, which is a fairly well understood technology and this one doesn’t seem to do anything (apart from tie the user to Apple replacements) that other PSU’s do.

I have a couple with no issues, one over five years old. I did lose one when rabbits bit through the cable, but not really an Apple issue

All ours have lasted as long as the MacBooks (5+ years) without any issues….

Do electrical goods not have a 2 year warranty in the eu? That is a proper question rather me trying to be smart and pretending it is a question…

I got a non genuine one off ebay which has been great.

They give you everything you need to look after it properly. Make a small bit of flex before you coil it around the flip out lugs and by the time you get to the end the little clip will attach to the rest of the cable and keep the connector out of trouble. All it needs is a bit of mechanical sympathy.

Try a Dell Precision laptop charger for comparison. It’s about the same price, doesn’t have the nice magnetic thing or the cable management, weighs a ton and is the size of a house brick.

Buy a pack of Sugru and mould it around the ends where the cable splits. Job jobbed.