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Apple’s new USB-C iPhone cables and dongles are predictably expensive
(www.theverge.com)
This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.
Gotta love the Macbook charger cables that wear down to exposed wires after a few years of normal use. Some will even give you a small sparky lightshow reminding you it's time to be a consumer again!
When I had a MacBook Pro with the 1st generation Magsafe, I went through 2 legit Apple chargers and 3 off brand ones in the 9 years I had the laptop. One of the off brand chargers even exploded! Well, a capacitor inside it exploded, but it was designed well enough that it didn't damage anything else or catch fire.
I've only ever had that one laptop, and I was using it in college so I was constantly plugging and unplugging it, so I have no idea how abnormal that cable use is.
Magsafe is super cool, and it definitely saved my computer from certain death several times, but damn it sucked buying those expensive chargers. It would've been nice just to buy the cable, not the whole damn charger.
I now use a USB-C to magsafe 1 adapter on my Mid 2012 MBP, free to replace the cable and charger at any time. Currently using a 65W PD brick and a nice long 10ft/3m cable 😁
The magsafe connector has saved my ass a bunch of times too LOL, my previous barrel jack laptop was yanked off tables more than a few times. Uni lectures were the worst as multiple people wouldn't see the charger on the floor and trip on it 🥲
I currently have an iPhone cable that is frayed at the neck of the iPhone connection end. It’s from repeated bending from completely normal use. I had to stop using it because it was actually making my iPhone hot and was having sluggish connection issues. This is now the 3rd cable to do this and that includes MacBook cables too.
Apple intentionally makes them cheap because they’re such an easy moneymaker for them. I have tons of old cables from other devices that have never had this issue, so I know this isn’t some isolated thing and I’m somehow the stupid one in the scenario. Their cables are terrible.
My 2011 MacBook Pro is on her original charger… I don’t know how you all take such poor care of your stuff.
Same. I’m still using my original lightning cable (USB-A and all) and it looks almost new other than some staining from use.
Same! I DO tape and heat-shrink the ends of my lightning cables now, though… after one of my cats decided my extra long one looked absolutely delicious.
Well, my secret is just to not have cats. Lol
It's the people who tightly wind their cords up every time they put it in the bag. I always just loosely put the charger in my bag to minimize stress on the ends of the cords.
My 14” MacBook Pro has a braided MagSafe cable. It took way too long but they did finally fix that problem.