
Customer Reviews and Ratings for Apple 85W MagSafe Power Adapter - amima
http://store.apple.com/us/reviews/MC556LL/B/apple-85w-magsafe-power-adapter-for-15-and-17-inch-macbook-pro
======
beloch
The problems most people experience with these are probably caused by Apple
not placing adequate stress relief on the cable where it meets the block or
magnetic connector. Apple does this with all their cables because Jobs didn't
like the look of stress relieved cables. This is the price you pay for a
pretty power adapter!

This is a design decision that Apple should probably revisit.

Edit: Some people have said that proper stress relief would increase Apple's
costs. Below is a link to some off-the-shelf cable stress-relief parts. I
guarantee that Apple would _save_ money during manufacturing if they used
parts like these instead of the custom stuff they use now. The only downside
is that their cables would look like everybody else's properly stress relieved
cables instead of something uniquely Apple.

[http://www.cable-strain-relief.com/](http://www.cable-strain-relief.com/)

~~~
pokpokpok
short-lived accessories like this and iphone charging cables are very
profitable. stress relief might cut the number they sell in half.

~~~
thedrbrian
I still think it's a problem of user error. In this house we've got first gen
iPod touch cables in daily use , a vintage iPad 2 cable which is fine and 4
lightning cabled devices that are fine. I think a lot of people just yank on
the cable rather than the connector.

~~~
weland
When you are designing consumer electronics, there is literally no such thing
as user error. Except for people who are in love with their gadgets and take
care of them as if they were their children, no one is going to pay attention
to how they handle something as trivial as a cable.

If users yank on the cable rather than the connector, the correct solution is
to make the cable more durable, not to educate users on the intricate details
of cable handling.

~~~
hamburglar
I wouldn't call it user error to abuse your cables to the point of failure
(they should totally be tougher), but I'm also realistic: many companies cheap
out on the cables, and it's difficult to tell from looking at them whether
they're cheap or not, so if you want them to last, you have to assume they're
fragile and be careful with them. This attitude has gotten me far with my MBP
power adapters, which have both been working flawlessly since 2010 despite a
lot of other people apparently having theirs fall apart.

------
UVB-76
Bear in mind the selection bias in effect.

People are generally more likely to review a product, especially one as
mundane as a replacement power adapter, if they have had a negative experience
with it.

One of, if not the most common, reasons for purchasing a replacement power
adapter will be due to a failure of an original adapter, leading to negative
experiences.

~~~
JanSt
Mine burnt through last year (after three years) and i didn't review it. A
friend of mine has got her third in two years and didn't review either. This
is exactly what happens:

"I've had two adapters break on me, the wire somehow shorts out and melts near
the "square". Really poor design, love the computers but the adapters are
terrible." (one of the reviews)

The wire is super thin, i'm not saying it's planned obsolescence, but it's
close.

edit: english

~~~
hkphooey
You can buy a replacement cord for less than 10 bucks.

[http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-
alias%3D...](http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-
alias%3Daps&field-
keywords=magsafe+replacement+cord&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Amagsafe+replacement+cord)

Having said that, I wouldn't feel comfortable opening the power adapter and
rewiring a new cord... I'm sure it's easy and safe, but still...

~~~
JanSt
Yeah I'm not that much of an electronics guy.. ;-)

------
keerthiko
Another issue I have with the magsafe is that in any country with more than
110V outlets (~70% of the world), there's significant charge leakage into the
macbook body if you don't connect with a 3-prong adapter.

I use a US macbook power adapter (Type-B) and a travel adapter. My Type-D
(India) is only 2-prong, but my Type-G (Singapore) one is 3 prong. Anywhere I
wind up using the Type-D, I get continuous minor shocks through my palms as I
use my computer =/

This seems to be the case for every magsafe adapter and every macbook air
(sample size = 3, different revs bought from different outlets 2012-2014).

Is this normal? I don't recall experiencing this on any other device I've used
which is rated "110V - 240V" paired with a Type-B-to-D adapter

~~~
alex8022
I get the same thing in the US, but much less noticeable. I get a tingling
feeling in my hands / palm using the 2 prong adapter. Since it was unexpected,
I searched a little bit and it seems to happen to everyone. (13-in MBA 2012)

~~~
slantyyz
>> I get a tingling feeling in my hands / palm

Is this when touching the chassis of the laptop?

I occasionally get that on both my Macbook Pro and my Surface Pro.

------
cr3ative
I would estimate I own about 10 magsafe chargers. Some are nearly 6 years old.
None have frayed and all are in regular use, including moving them about with
the laptops. I'm not particularly careful with my electronics, either.

Also - who goes to leave a positive review of a charger? There's clearly some
selection bias happening with the reviews.

~~~
tptacek
Our office has probably on the order of 40 magsafe chargers, and my home has
at least 10 (not all of which are functional). The chargers fray and short
out. They always have, and they continue to do so even in the most recent RMBP
iteration.

This has been a continuous weakness with Apple chargers across every product
line I've used back to the TiBook. They are pretty, and they are very
functional, but they are not resilient.

~~~
rdl
I believe there were more bad ones in 2008-2011 than today; I haven't yet had
a MagSafe2 adapter fail, and I saw child mortality on the T-shaped and
L-shaped magsafe1 connectors after 3-6 months. The "yellowing and then die"
seemed particular to one batch of insulation; regular fraying, sure.

~~~
tptacek
I have one RMBP MS2 adapter that only works if the cable is positioned just
right (ie, I can charge from it overnight on a table, but it's ineffective on
my lap).

The new ones definitely do seem to be better.

~~~
rdl
Oh yeah, I have that problem too :( It's even worse when you have a speck
hardshell case on it.

Most of my personal (~10) 85W collection is T and L shaped magsafe1 with the
$10 adapter and magcozy ([http://www.amazon.com/Cozy-Industries-MagCozy-
Clear/dp/B00ER...](http://www.amazon.com/Cozy-Industries-MagCozy-
Clear/dp/B00ERVP4DG)) shock cords to attach them, because sometimes someone
visits and needs a magsafe1. Those are even more sensitive to positioning.

(Great "life hack" is leaving chargers wherever you're likely to sit. I keep
one in each bag, two on each desk, two at the couch, two in bed, one in the
car.)

Twin adapters at desks in an office also works great, and of course conference
rooms full of them. I was so annoyed when Lenovo went from 14V to 20V on the
thinkpads.

------
bananas
I've had problems with so many Apple products over the years that I've stopped
buying them. The last thing I bought was a 2011 MBP (hefty top line i7). Total
waste of money. It was an insurance replacement for the 2010 one that
literally caught fire when a drink was spilled under the edge of it. No
product should fail in that manor. Current MBP periodically white screens and
hangs and you have to turn it off for an hour (nvidia GPU problem).

On my third magsafe adapter. The first one just stopped working. The second
one burned out about five inches from the magsafe connector. The second one
resulted in a fairly large argument at the genius (idiot) bar because it was
out of the limited warranty. After explaining how dangerous this is (I'm a
qualified EE) loudly in front of other customers they replaced it.

Oh and the amount of shit I've had to deal with when incompetent Apple store
staff decide the only option is to nuke the machine for even the simplest
software problem. Fortunately within my circle of contacts they've learned to
come to me first rather than start again every time.

Back to the original point though: one exploding MBP, two dead magsafe
adapters, a dead logic board in a 2006 iMac, several frayed 30 pin cables, mac
mini external power supply blew up and a dead cinema display panel, file
system corruption in 2 OSX releases, £200/pop repair bill for iPhones if you
drop them, the joke that was the iPhone 4, iOS constant upselling, iWork being
a total piece of stink, iCloud periodic data loss. Ugh.

No more. Paying a premium for this is illogical.

Buying refurb Lenovo kit and bottom end windows phones. With the leftover cash
I'm throwing it at my mortgage instead. Better investment.

Edi: to add insult to injury, the alloy they use for MBP and Air machines
contains nickel so any unfortunate people with a nickel sensitivity come up in
blisters using these machines.

Design over engineering. That is all.

~~~
eddieroger
Your mileage may vary. I've had mostly no problems with any of the Apple
products I've owned over the last few decades, and for those occasions where I
did, they were quick and happy to replace them - from overnight shipping of a
box and next day return in the time before the Apple Store to store-based
fixes with loaners.

~~~
pfisch
The defect rate in cameras on iphones and ipads is just through the roof. We
have like 4 ipads in this office and at least 2 of them have one camera that
puts out garbage quality pictures. Ditto on one of our iphones. Our old iphone
4 had serious reception issues, the 4s doesn't connect to wifi since iOS 7.
Our Mac has a line of dead pixels and of course the monitor is also the
desktop because that makes sense. Oh and I've gone through 1 power adapter
that cost like $80 for some reason. I have lost track of how many mini
display(whatever the macs use?) to hdmi cables have failed. Of course all of
this stuff costs way above what it should....

------
natch
I've had five or six of these replaced by Apple, for free.

You have to see someone at the Genius Bar, for which it's best to get an
appointment.. very easy especially if you have the Apple Store app.

A few times I've been rejected, and they've said: "we recommend you buy a
replacement, the cost is $79, they're over on that shelf." But each of those
times, I tried again with a different Genius (on a different day) and got the
replacement.

Usually it's either the magsafe head itself which doesn't seem to want to
connect well, or the cord right next to the magsafe, which frays or splits
open.

Generally I baby my cords but a couple of them have been abused by other
people.

Overall I'd say this is the single most problematic Apple hardware I've ever
encountered, but then I'm still happy because generally Apple has handled the
situation well, other than a few "bad apple," so to speak, Geniuses who were
not willing to help.

~~~
MAGZine
My experience was over and over again "oh, your notebook is out of warranty,
not going to replace it, go spend $80".

So now at the end of one year, I'll damage it intentionally so they can
replace it. I'm done with paying $80 for a cable that lasts little better than
a year.

------
jen_h
Mine frayed and shorted after less than a year. Like any Apple product owner,
this wasn't the first time an Apple cord fell to pieces, and at one point in
the past (before October 2011), I even brought it back to the Apple Store and
they replaced my cables no questions asked, great service.

This time, however, when I brought my adapter and cables into the store for
them to look at (kind of an inconvenience, don't live near one), I was told by
a Genius that no one has problems with their laptop adapters and phone cables,
no one in the store has ever had a problem with them, no one ever brings them
to the store frayed, and that I must abuse my hardware and there was nothing
they could do to help. I actually had to resort to pulling up a link to the
class action suit to prove him wrong, absolutely terrible experience. With
manager assistance, they reluctantly agreed to replace it since they saw my
computer was one week off AppleCare, but added notes to my account to ensure
that they would never do it again...and stressed that power adapter frays
aren't in the scope of AppleCare.

I was really surprised and disappointed by the whole experience - and can only
assume that there's massive pressure from above to avoid replacing them as
they're so expensive and that results in Genius staffers acting incredulous
and telling stories when you show them your long, thin fire hazards
(frustrated during the exchange, I made a comment about how the knockoff
iPhone cords are so much more reliable and less fire-hazardy, and he then made
a point to closely inspect my frayed-Apple cords to ensure that they weren't
knockoffs like I was some kind of fraudster, oof).

Anyway, reinforced those things immediately (still frustrated on a daily - the
brick gets boil-an-egg hot and sneezing will cause the adapter to pop out) and
I'll be doing what I can to avoid visiting ye olde Apple Store in the future.

------
gnufied
I nearly had to purchase my Adapter as well, but I fixed it with Sugru (The
wires frayed where it connects to MPB) and it seems pretty solid now . $10 for
$80 adapter not bad.

EDIT:
[http://drwsxce6xtjnu.cloudfront.net/stories/image1s/1296/lar...](http://drwsxce6xtjnu.cloudfront.net/stories/image1s/1296/large/35.jpg)

------
dbroockman
I assume most of the people who go to that review page are the ones with bad
experiences? Otherwise, who would review a power adapter?

Listen in on the phone conversations a plumber has and you'd get the
impressions that no one's pipes work.

------
absconditus
Apple settled a class-action lawsuit over their power adapters, which makes it
much easier to receive a free replacement these days, but they seem to refuse
to fix the design of the cords.

~~~
CamperBob2
I don't know what I find more amazing -- that Apple's power cords don't start
fires and kill people on a regular basis, or that Apple isn't sufficiently
worried that this will happen to hire competent engineers to design better
ones. It's one of life's great mysteries. The same story appears on the front
page of one news site or another at least once a year, and Apple does nothing.

------
archagon
I've had 3 adaptors break over the past few years due to fraying near the
computer-side plug. For some reason, they seem to be much more susceptible to
damage by twisting than all my other cables. Perhaps it has something to do
with the plastic material and frequent coiling. Really a shame, since I love
everything else about my Macbook.

~~~
MAGZine
Same here.

The most annoying part is that I'm very gentle with the cable--I coil all of
my cables[0] so as not to cause undue stress on the conductors inside of the
wire

[0]
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pEd7ru24Vx0](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pEd7ru24Vx0)

------
slantyyz
It's amazing how much Apple sweat the details on the magsafe plug on the
computer side but so little to part that goes into the wall.

It's near impossible to use the two prong plug in many situations (i.e.
crowded power bars, outlets that are too far for the short thin wire to
reach), so I have to carry the unwieldy 3 prong extension with me all the
time, and it doesn't wrap so nicely around the brick in the same way the thin
wire to the laptop does.

In all fairness, the Surface Pro's power brick can be just as stupid. Too
short on both ends.

~~~
larrys
"so I have to carry the unwieldy 3 prong extension with me all the time"

You can get one of those short 1 foot lightweight cord extenders (search
amazon for "cord extender")

~~~
slantyyz
The thing is, the length of the 3 prong extension cord is a good length (4
feet?).

The power cord problems occur most when I visit a client who puts me at a desk
where the power outlet is not in a convenient place and is full of other junk
that I can't just unplug. One foot is not going to cut it, and and a four foot
cord is just going to be as unwieldy as Apple's 3-prong, which came with my
computer.

The only two laptop manufacturers that I've ever had issues for cord length
are Apple and Microsoft (Surface Pro).

------
keeran
I would guess that if Apple removed those stupid fold-out cable wrap points
they would see a significant drop in failure rates.

------
ogwyther
This has been a problem since 2007. I went through 3 chargers on my Macbook
Pro back then.

Bizarre for a company that usually adhere's to high manufacturing standards.

~~~
martydill
Heck, it's been a problem since 2002. My G3 800 iBook's power adapter
literally went up in smoke.

------
milesf
I've made all of mine last by wrapping them correctly. Haven't destroyed one
yet since.

This video seems to recommend the way I do it
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5x5szE3XHb8](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5x5szE3XHb8)

~~~
pseudonym
Same. I have 4 adapters floating around right now (my laptop, wife's laptop,
work-provided laptop and the spare 85 adapter I have kicking around) and none
of them have had a single issue in the 1-3 years I've had them.

------
pinaceae
What the fuck are people doing with those power adapters?

I am using the 45W magsafe 2 on a MBA - traveling, unplugging and packing up
on a daily basis. frequently changing the outlet adapters from US to various
EU and Asia.

Have been doing this since 2012 on this MBA - works like a charm. magnet is
strong and stays in place. no cable issues at all.

same reviews though. baffling.

------
raverbashing
I think most people don't give a rat's ass about how they treat their adapters

Maybe the Apple ones are slightly less forgiving about being mistreated,
still, most of them will fail eventually

I've never had a charger failure like the ones described, either Apple or
other PC charger (however, I had the power connector fail on a previous
notebook)

------
crazygringo
Same happened to mine, fraying near the MagSafe head. I tried taping it up
with electrical tape, but it would only work for a couple weeks at a time. I
finally covered it with white Sugru, and it's been going strong for more than
a year now. It's pretty silly you have to do this, but at least it's a cheap
fix.

------
sdegutis
I've gone through two or three power adapters in the last three years. They
fray pretty quickly, and I've learned that you should always handle them by
the thicker cord, being very careful not to put any pressure on the thinner
cord.

But that's not the biggest problem with these things. I foolishly bought a
unibody rMBP, which means it'll become a desktop-only laptop in just a year or
two, once its battery runs fully out. Plus I can't upgrade most of the
components, I'll just have to buy a new computer.

But that's fine. I think I'll go the "nerdy" way and buy an older Thinkpad and
just run Debian on it and just stay in emacs throughout my workday. Then I'll
be able to upgrade parts when needed, swap out the battery when it dies, and
be able to run linux on decently supported hardware.

~~~
natch
Don't underestimate the lengths the Genius Bar will go to keep your computer
happy. Especially if you have AppleCare, which you can still buy if you got
the machine less than a year ago. But even without AppleCare, their repair
prices have been getting ridiculously low, so I wouldn't assume a battery
replacement will be off the table.

------
rdl
I have replaced ~3 Mac power adapters for free at Apple stores by taking a
computer which has valid warranty coverage in, giving them the serial number
and a failed adapter, and saying "purchased at the same time" (when it was an
85W which failed, and an MBA13 which comes with the 45W was my only laptop
under applecare, or more recently, t-shaped vs. l-shaped vs. magsafe2 isses
with my rMBP15.

They never really complain; I honestly don't keep track of which adapters go
with which laptops in general, but they're all obviously made by Apple, and
failed due to manufacturer defect (yellowing and cracking of the plastic on
the DC feed), so it's in Apple's interest replacing them for ~$25 cost, rather
than annoying a $mm lifetime value customer.

------
mark_l_watson
+1 for this article of bad reviews. I would have difficulty counting the
number of replacement power adapters I have bought for my, my wife's, my grand
children's, etc. Mac laptops.

There is a reason Apple is such a profitable company: they exploit their
little walled garden.

Of topic, but I really fell out of love with Apple when I discovered that my
iTunes music library was unusable on my android phone. Converting all my music
from my $25/year iTunes Match account to Amazon Music Cloud was a nuisance,
but now I can play my music on all my devices.

------
larrys
Seems to be a rash of 1 star ratings in the past few months. Something doesn't
seem right.

While you could say that this is because of some manufacturing redesign or
batch problem, something about the reviews and the way they are written
(almost to similar) makes me wonder how accurate this info is. Nothing also
that there is no way to see if the reviewer has left reviews on anything else
in the Apple store. After all anyone with an Apple ID can leave a review.

------
numo16
I've never had much luck with laptop power adapters over the years (had to
replace every dell adapter I've ever had and a couple of aftermarket ones).
Had to replace the magsafe for my late 2008 macbook once, but I bought the
macbook and power adapter used, so I can't quite vouch for how well it was
treated prior to me owning it. Bought a cheap aftermarket magsafe adapter and
it's been running well for over a year now.

------
ghaff
I have had the cords fail where the thin cord attaches to the adapter. The
weird thing about the design to me isn't that the thin part of the cable can
fail at the bends--I understand trying to cut out weight and arguably going a
bit far--but that the big thick extension cable which you can swap out the
built-in plug for seems to have been designed for a server, not a laptop. I
never carry it with me for that reason.

------
compare
Most reviewers are clearly affected by the price. They're right, the price for
these adaptors seems exorbitant.

~~~
slantyyz
In fairness to Apple, first party adapters for most laptops are about the same
price.

The catch is that Apple's patented MagSafe prevents you from buying a
universal adapter from a reputable brand.

You can buy a knockoff (I have) from China (i.e., dealextreme), but you have
to be very trusting. I stopped using my knockoffs after they started getting
really hot. I only use them in a pinch for short periods of time now.

------
JonAtkinson
I've had the same problem with the last 3-4 Apple power adaptors.

I usually walk into an Apple store and start complaining noisily, in close
proximity to store staff who are demonstrating laptops to new customers. Then
I leave with my new, free charger.

------
dchichkov
What's wrong with the suggestion to put magnetic connector onto the brick and
have connectors on both sides of the cable?

Apple (and all the other manufacturers) did that with USB chargers, why not to
do the same with laptop chargers?

------
rcthompson
I never, ever use the fold-out thingies for coiling the cord, becauseI haven't
figured out a way to get the cord on there without severely stressing the
connection to the brick.

------
tn13
Had this been about Microsoft all the comments on this HN thread would have
been in a different tone.

