Apple MagSafe power adapters: The best gets better!
It would be difficult to find a job where you see more broken power adapters than being a service technician. I’ve seen every brand, OEM and aftermarket, broken at one point or another. The one power adapter that seems to be the least problematic is the Apple MagSafe adapter.
When most power adapters break at the tip, bend, or get loose they tend to take the DC-in jack (fancy technical term for the input that your power adapter plugs into) with them. This means that not only is the power adapter a goner, but the jack on the computer is toast too, necessitating a costly repair.
The older-model MagSafe
The MagSafe more or less eliminated that problem, since it is fastened only by a magnet. There is nothing to break off inside of the computer and no interface that can become loose. That isn’t to say the MagSafe power adapter is bombproof, as they can break when used heavily. Once in a while someone will walk through the door with a MagSafe adapter with the cord pulled out from the brick or the head pulled off of the cord. A small price to pay for having the best power adapter available, right?
Apple didn’t leave good enough alone though, and they released an updated design. Granted, this isn’t breaking news, as the updated design came out in late summer 2010. However, a lot of people still don’t know about this and have hung on to their older power adapters thinking a new one may just fail in the same fashion. The new power adapter is reinforced with stiffer rubber around the MagSafe connector and at the base of the cable, as well as the cable itself having a stiffer and thicker rubber coating to prevent against rips and tears.
I haven’t seen any failures due to ripping or tearing with the new adapters yet, and don’t have reason to believe I ever will. If you ever had issues with your old MagSafe stop in and check out the new ones, they’re in stock at all left-click locations!
Comments
While I use my MagSafe
While I use my MagSafe adapter a lot, I really do baby them, careful not to twist or crimp the wires, nor to wind it up to tightly, drop it, or any of that. Regardless, I've had two fail since October. The first one I have no clue what exactly happened, but the second one seems to have somehow twisted its barrel loose to where you could rotate it freely. Luckily the local Apple Store replaced both of these free of charge, but wow... I agree that the design is MUCH safer for my MacBook Pro itself than a traditional cord would be, but if I had to pay a $61 replacement fee every single time the cord failed, I would be a very unhappy camper!
Hi Lee,
Hi Lee,
Hopefully you have better luck with this adapter, we've certainly seen a lot fewer broken ones once the newer style arrived. If you ever have any MagSafe issues (or computer woes in general) in the future give us a call or stop by, we would be glad to help you out!