Best replacement for MacBook Air MagSafe 2 cable (OEM or 3rd party?)

My MagSafe 2 cable for my 2012 MacBook Air stopped working. Took it into Apple store where I had bought my MacBook Air, and sure enough it was the excessive cat chew marks that had degraded it*. Can some old pros give me some advice on whether or not I should bite the bullet and pay $80.00 at the Apple store for a new one, or are there 3rd party alternatives that work reasonably well? I have already been told that I might as well get a 85 watt cable in case I get a MacBook Pro in the future (That is a possibility!).

On a very related note, are the power cables repairable? I don't have much sodering knowledge, but I work in a place that does. Is it straight forward? Perhaps for the price of a beer I could solve the problem.

*Money for repairs will be coming out of the cat's allowance! I have also bought some spray that supposedly puts cats off chewing. Hopefully that will work out...

Solution 1:

The Apple cables appear to be designed to safely melt without starting a fire in cases where the internal insulation breaks down in case of crushing, slicing, piercing (kittens are even worse than cats in this regard) or simply worn out due to repetitive bending in the same spot.

I've seen people decide to use cords when lightly damaged - sealing the cable with electrical tape. Since the voltage is low on the MagSafe side of the cord, this is more a heat/fire risk than a shock risk. The MagSafe board on the Mac usually protects your hardware from any sort of short - and it also is replaceable if it's fusing blows.

I have on rare occasion seen some nice third party adapters that work with MagSafe connections - but none yet on MagSafe 2. I have seen far, far more dangerous adapters than safe ones.

The worst part of counterfeit adapters is that they typically carry the same "safety" markings as a quality electronics adapter. Also, some have high quality plastics and similar weight so you may have to be very observant to tell a good knockoff from a genuine part. Unless you are using the adapter in an environment where a small fire could reasonably be contained without undue risk to finances or life, you might avoid using a third party adapter if you are not skilled at evaluating electronics for build quality.

• http://www.righto.com/2015/11/macbook-charger-teardown-surprising.html?m=1

The article above explains how the Apple charger is engineered with a processor in the MagSafe connector and a main processor that's equivalent to the original Macintosh - you're getting a computer inside every Apple charger as well as dense and highly safe design shown on the left and a knockoff design on the right.

I've been well served by buying Apple adapters in terms of reliability and safety, despite the higher cost. I know many that have had good luck with quality third party adapters, but wanted to explain the why some third party adapters are dangerous to use and not even close to equivalent to Apple's product.

Solution 2:

My 2¢: Purchase OEM.

Apple's chargers (along with everything else, it may seem) are remarkably expensive, but of anything, from what I have seen, there is a reason for it. When it comes to the life-blood of the computer, charging it with something that could potentially harm the entire system is quite a risk. It would be sad to save ~$40 only to have $1000+ worth of equipment fail for some reason.

Unrelated iPhone charger review (but maybe related):

www.phonearena.com

iFixit message post:

www.ifixit.com/what-kind-of-charger

Neither of those links are very impressive, but you may find what at least some people think about Apple's chargers interesting.

For the new charger (either OEM or third party), I wouldn't worry too much about the higher wattage, unless the price is almost exactly the same, or the higher wattage unit is more available. If you purchase a Macbook Pro, it will come with a power cable as well.

Solution 3:

Its probably not your cat. I blamed someones dog for my first cable failure, but with repeated failures, I learned that its just the rubber getting cut open by metal shielding wires poking out due to fatigue failure. The cables are simply poorly designed; the rubber is too flexible, putting a strain on the metal its never going to be able to cope with.

Building adaptors isn't rocket science, and my half-priced knockoff works just fine. But if you don't trust them, nor want to reward apple with another $80 for poor design; you can buy magsafe replacement cords on ebay, and attaching a new cord only requires a little bit of soldering. If that doesn't faze you, its the cheapest option.

Solution 4:

Having read all the posts and knowing as much as I know about Apple power supply circuits, I would prefer to build my own power supply.

Apple power circuits are at best on the weak end of the spectrum and apart from being super innovative in proprietary protection are fairly basic and low end. It is all relative nonetheless. If one's benchmark is fake Hong Kong, Taiwan or China power supplies (The likes of Bestec, etc), then Apple power devices are much preferred.

However, neither the efficiency, neither, the stability, nor the reliability of Apple power supplies is anything to look at with admiration. Yes, the cable is designed to melt when short circuited, so is a plain fuse, and more intelligent power supplies have short circuit protection in addition to a fuse as a contingency against a general failure. Even the most basic power supplies have thermal protection, which is present in an Apple adaptor but it is pushed to the limit so that other elements may fail before it is activated.

Apple power adapters and accessories are a case of point in economics, like OEM spare parts on a car. No replaceable 50c fuse is there but replaceable $80 adaptor. Why trigger thermal protection before general failure? Because it is suboptimal economics.

Apple, can use top of the line power supplies with modular cables, however, sales of high margin accessories will decline and about 20% of market cap will be axed.

A user can build their own power supply, which even with the balance of risks is far more attractive.

Think of the intellectual capital that you will build by creating something far more perfect than the fat executive bonus and and outrageous return on capital behind the pretenses of innovative designs. This pragmatism and not ideology.

In fact, one adds a lot more value to the global economy by improving faulty designs (Bill Gates will probably agree) than labor, supplier and service provider arbitrage.

Case in point was Apple's founder and despite his anger at Google, his approach and philosophy was never to take impossibilities for granted.

Unless for some insane reason I opt in to believe the OEM marketing fluff, I am far from convinced that I should not build my own power adaptor to replace the intentionally flawed OEM device! My approach has a lot of risk, but if successful it's return increases with each subsequent Apple device that I own.

Something that Apple can no longer be indifferent to and maybe realize that such a symbiotic outcome may actually be on par with the high margin but subpar accessories sold, and refocus the company on innovation, not rent seeking from tied products!