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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

AIBU to think mac charger cords are rubbish and overly prone to fraying

62 replies

Pangurban · 22/06/2015 00:47

I have had to buy my second charger for a macbook air today. I do not do anything to the cords, but they have frayed where the lead attaches to the computer. The rubber is really soft and could be reinforced more. Do apple not make them stronger for a reason?

Git Assistant in apple store today kept saying to me 'oh mine has never frayed'. Well, bully for him.

Any ideas on how to reinforce it? Tape or a biro sleeve? At 65 blasted quid, it should already be reinforced by apple.

OP posts:
Preciousbane · 22/06/2015 08:00

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

SelfconfessedSpoonyFucker · 22/06/2015 08:04

I very rarely coil my cables or wind them around something, perhaps that is part of it.

Gemauve · 22/06/2015 08:04

Have had a PowerBook for years, iPad mini and iPhones and never had a problem with the Chargers.

The Powerbook chargers are different: the charging connector is a fairly standard jack plug. The issue is the more recent Magsafe chargers for Airs and Pros, which are very weak where the cable joins the charging head.

OllyBJolly · 22/06/2015 08:05

Agree -pretty rubbish. I travel a lot so my charger is constantly being coiled, recoiled, and plugged into random sockets. Right now I have duct tape around the cable but will have to buy another one soon.

Gemauve · 22/06/2015 08:05

We both have iPads and the chargers have frayed, do you think it's safe to use electrical tape?

Surely all Apple iPod/iPad devices since forever have been a mains plug with a USB connector on it, plus a cable with a USB plug at one end and a 30pin dock or Lightening connector at the end? Those cables are a quid, just replace it.

SoupDragon · 22/06/2015 08:08

We need to buy chargers every 6-8 weeks

To need to replace them that often, I really think it must be partly due to how you use and look after them.

SoupDragon · 22/06/2015 08:11

Those cables are a quid

Shit ones are a pound. I've tried them and they often won't charge an ipad.

SoupDragon · 22/06/2015 08:12

An ipad/iphone charger is a plastic outer case over a metal mesh case which covers bog standard plastic coated electrical wires. If its the outer casings that have frayed, electrical tape is fine.

sherbetlemonD · 22/06/2015 08:19

YANBU at all. I've had my MacBook 3 years and in the first 2 years I went through 3 chargers at about £70 each.

Brought a £8 fake one on eBay last year and no problems what so ever.

I do love my apple products- but they don't half rip you off.

Fluffyears · 22/06/2015 08:42

Get a cheap pen with a blocky thing (dunno right name) take it apart and slide the spring inside over you cable. This stops it bending at a severe angle and snapping inside. They charge £15 for a new cable but I just moan and bitch till they give me one for free. I'm on
My third free cable and I don't a use them but DP keeps stealing mine and not using it properly. I.e bending it or pulling it out using cable rather than plastic bit or pulling I-pad towards him by cable.

TheMotherOfAllDilemmas · 22/06/2015 08:44

Soupdragon, I agree. I treat my chargers with a lot of care, DS not so much. But even when DS was not meddling with my iphone/ipad chargers. They wouldn't compete with the reliability of any other charger, not in a million years.

Patapouf · 22/06/2015 09:21

I have never had a problem with one and have been using them for at least 3 different devices since 2007!!

unlucky83 · 22/06/2015 09:50

I thought that to cut down waste generation companies were being forced to make all chargers compatible - like they did with earphones - so usb to miniusb. I love that chargers are compatible - means that we can all share a charger (less clutter on display) with spares in a drawer if we need to charge more than device at the same time.
But from this Apple products still need special chargers? And not only do you need special ones but they are crap anyway -just adding to waste/landfill...Angry
Not a fan of Apple for several years now - think they are now like the Microsoft of the late 90s ....waiting for the back lash.... or for them to be 'encouraged' in the courts....
Remember seeing something about how we are encouraged to be 'consumers' - to keep buying things and Apple were one of the biggest culprits.
So one of their products - battery wasn't replaceable so when it died you had to bin it and get a new one. Apple said that they couldn't make it replaceable without compromising the design - on the program they could - if they wanted to! It might have been this - or another Apple product with a single 'special' security screw on the outside of the case -impossible to open up to try and repair without the correct driver bit -which was not readily available. Once you got the case off inside were all standard screws and it could be repaired.
Finally google how to replace an Iphone battery ...it isn't easy, you need to undo multiple screws and use special tools - probably better to pay Apple to do it for you (£60ish) and for an older phone it might not really be worth doing...might as well just buy a new one...

Gemauve · 22/06/2015 13:34

But from this Apple products still need special chargers?

You're hardly going to get 60W or 75W out of USB. This was originally a discussion about laptop chargers, not phone chargers.

Charley50 · 22/06/2015 13:37

Haven't read thread so apologies if this has been suggested already but just buy cheap ones on eBay. Also if a smartphone screen etc gets broken you can get it fixed in high street independent mobile phone shops for a fraction of what you'll pay in the apple store.

googoodolly · 22/06/2015 13:42

We've had MacBooks in our family for the past few years and nobody has ever replaced a charger. The cables aren't that sturdy but if you look after them, don't wind the cables up and keep the bit that connects into the laptop on a flat surface (not bent up/down when charging) they seem fine to me.

unlucky83 · 22/06/2015 15:13

gemaurve I thought compatible chargers for laptops were supposedly on the way too though? If not they should be. I can think of no reason why not - a standard jack and a standard transformer - standard voltage, wattage and polarity ...makes more sense -can use an old one, share them/swap them around (and is less wasteful) - nothing about a charger is rocket science! If manufacturer's decide they really NEED Hmm different wattage/voltage/polarity they could be restricted to 2 or 3 types and clearly labelled Type 1 or Type 2 etc...

And people here are talking about Ipads and Ipods and Iphones -all of which could (should) be charged using a mini USB....and they all should have readily replaceable batteries...

Lilymaid · 22/06/2015 15:23

DS has had this problem with a MacBook charger but has always managed to get a (free) replacement within the guarantee period.

SistersofPercy · 22/06/2015 15:29

2012 MBP on 3rd lead and this one is currently taped up. DS has the same problem with his and has also had 3 leads. Mine never moves from the arm of the sofa so I'm at a total loss as to how it happens.

I tried to get a replacement on this charger but Apple refused to budge and deal with it as it came from MCC. They say its their problem. MCC want me to take charger into store but store is now a 2 hour trip away as DH no longer works near.

Fortunately about 18 months ago I went into our local Tesco extra and they were selling off MBP chargers at £7.99. I went into slight shock then bought all 5 that were on the shelf (3 macs in the family). I have 2 of them left so I can replace this knackered one myself but if you do buy one buy it from Apple directly or they will try their damnedest to wriggle out of replacing.

PomPomPingPong · 22/06/2015 15:31

sugru.com/guides/how-to-repair-a-laptop-charger

SistersofPercy · 22/06/2015 15:38

Heat shrink tubing does the same job at a fraction of the cost of sugru.

RiverTam · 22/06/2015 15:42

Blimey, what are you all going to them? We've had macs for years, and now iPhones as well - never had this problem.

Gemauve · 22/06/2015 16:32

I can think of no reason why not - a standard jack and a standard transformer

Magsafe connectors are nice, though: means your laptop doesn't plummet to the ground. Innovation improves usability.

standard voltage, wattage and polarity

Standard wattage? So the charger for a 11" Chromebook should be the same as for some nutter's 17" Alienware jobby?

And people here are talking about Ipads and Ipods and Iphones -all of which could (should) be charged using a mini USB

Au contraire. USB 2.0 can only deliver 500mA@5V, so can provide, maximum, 2.5W. Using that to charge iPads takes forever. Apple do some proprietary malarky which their laptops support to pull 2A out of USB 2.0 sockets (it was originally provided to support DVD drives out of a single port, I think) and the chargers do the same thing. The little mains charger supplied with an iPad has a USB A socket, but knows how to do the proprietary dance in order to get 10W and charge at a sensible speed. What's at the other end of the cable is irrelevant (whether it's Lightening or 30 pin dock or mini/micro USB), if it's limited to 2.5W it's going to take forever to charge a large tablet.

SoupDragon · 22/06/2015 16:45

And people here are talking about Ipads and Ipods and Iphones -all of which could (should) be charged using a mini USB

The Apple lightening connector is far superior in design to mini USB. They should make that the standard, not an inferior item.

Gemauve · 22/06/2015 16:50

SoupDragon I believe the USB C connector is at least reversible. Quite how in 2015 we are still living in a world of handed connectors, particularly ones where you you have stare directly along the axis of both plug and socket to determine which way they are aligned, is one of the mysteries of the world.

Another of the mysteries of the world is how it always takes three attempts to get a USB connector to mate. Surely there are only two possibilities?