replacing Apple magsafe 85W charger with a normal laptop PSU possible?

[FransW]

I just modified a 19V 3Amp laptop power supply (switcher) with a cheap Chinese Magsafe 2 connection and my MacBookPro Retina 15" does not have any problem with this power supply.
However, it does not charge the batteries as could be expected due to the 1-wire communication protocol and IC absence.

So anyone who wants to run his Macbook independant from the batteries can follow this example.

Regards, Frans

[Electro Detective]

FWIW, I have always found the Apple charger cables to vary in quality, and rarely the charger internals at fault unless driven over by a forklift

Finding breaks and or applying heatshrink to reinforce weak spots and the sometimes splitting and fragmenting cable sheathing makes for a working Magsafe charger,
that won't be as flexible to handle nor win any beauty contests        but saves money, petrol and waiting frustration 

If I was to get a new Magsafe charger (unlikely so far due to DIY fixit) I would get a verified original with warranty,
some of the knockoffs are iffy in all respects   

[tooki]

Agreed. The power supplies themselves are top-notch, but the “environmentally friendly” PVC-free cords just suck, they’re too stiff, and the insulation eventually gets warped and brittle. (On one MagSafe cord I have, the outer jacket seems to have stretched longitudinally, seemingly several centimeters. Obviously it cracked and has splintered off. Even with heatshrink there’s only so much I can do though!)

[Electro Detective]

I've come across a few of these, and at first suspected cats or dogs chewing/clawing on them and or too much exposure to direct sunlight etc.   

It soon dawned the cable sheath/covering is literally flimsy, flakey crap, depending on which back alley 'HowLoKanUgO' factory churned it out for Apple Co.,
though in their defense I have also come across some that appear identical yet are top notch quality 

Usually if the wires are ok, I first I give it a good once over wrap around with good quality white electrical tape that won't goo when heat is applied,
then do one continuous (or partial) cover all with either white or clear heatshrink, and offer no apologies for the appearance and stiff handling.

They work great, and $5 worth of tape and heatshrink is a better deal IMO than a new charger whose internals may be worse than the previous batches   

...that Apple should HEAVILY discount or offer changeover rates for verified Mac owners who submit their knackered/faulty ones 

[tooki]

Obviously Apple isn’t using back-alley factories - making that kind of claim just makes you look stupid. Back-alley factories cannot churn out the volume and adherence to design spec that a company Apple’s size needs.

Look at Apple chargers, and the manufacturers are a who’s who of top-tier power supply vendors. But they’re doing them to Apple’s custom specs, and Apple’s specs dictate every detail of their design and suppliers. This includes the PVC-free insulated wire that Apple now uses, having phased out PVC for environmental reasons. But even more than with lead free solder, I wonder if this environmentally friendly insulation isn’t actually resulting in a net negative effect, given the added e-waste due to premature wire failure.

[tooki]

Took me a second to realize what you meant, since you left out “USB”, but yes, that would make total sense. The real proof will be in whether future products also migrate to USB-C or Lightning for charging. Right now most of their laptops still use MagSafe. (And I have to say, I really like MagSafe, it’s prevented so much charging port damage over the years!)

Now if only they’d make their USB cords and earphone wire out of wire that doesn’t fail when you look at it wrong...

[tooki]

Nah, that’s not planned obsolescence. (A term that’s frequently, and rather cavalierly, bandied around without understanding what it means.)

And I can easily prove that it’s not. How? Because the damned things frequently fail within the warranty period. Nobody is going to deliberately make things fail when they’re still on the hook to replace them!

[tooki]

And I can easily prove that it’s not. How? Because the damned things frequently fail within the warranty period. Nobody is going to deliberately make things fail when they’re still on the hook to replace them!

A cable costs Apple maybe $2 to make, and they sell it at $20. They can offer you one or two free replacements in the first year under warranty for the cost of $4, then in year two you have to buy 2 more at $40 total. Apple makes $40 for the cost of $8, good business plan.

Don’t be so naive. It’s not just $2. It’s also the logistics costs to get that replacement to you, the wages of the employee who processes it, the overhead for the store to do it in...

And for sure, if we are talking a MagSafe charger, which is the original subject of this thread, the cost of the replacement is going to be high enough to not wanna give them away, since they can’t just replace the cord.

Also, don’t forget that one of Apple’s biggest markets is Europe, where they must give a two year warranty by law.


So yeah, all in all, planned obsolescence simply doesn’t add up here — it doesn’t even pass a rudimentary sanity check. What really boggles my mind is that Apple tolerates the ongoing bad press about the cable quality. Surely that’d make them want to improve it, since it’s incongruent with the high build quality of the devices themselves.

[Jeroen3]

Does anyone have an unbiased test of Apple's silicon cables vs Standard PVC cable?

I think both cables fail after similar wear. But one fails on the externally (visibly) and one fails internally.

[Jeroen3]

I have not owned a macbook, but I do have iPhones. I have failed 1 out of 5 cables. The 30-pin variant. Due to it being on my desk and often plugged in and out, and pushed back when not in use. I think this is fair. But I have tossed many more USB B/Mini cables in the bin than I've owned Apple cables.

I also have had to re-splice my Dell power cord twice since 2010. I think that's fair as well. The abuse it takes being wound up tightly and put in a backpack more than 200 times a year is quite severe.

That's why I ask if anyone did a test instead of just rambling personal biased experiences like I just did.
Like this?

[helius]

One aspect that these discussions don't usually cover is that environmentally durable cables are not made in all colors. The UV- and ozone-protective additives that make cables last a long time without cracking are usually based on carbon black. This limits the colors industrial designers can select when durable cables are used; it isn't an accident that SJT flex cables are always black.
Like Henry Ford, you can have it in any color you want as long as it's black. Apple's charging cords are notably silver-gray or white.

[Jeroen3]

Now that you mention it. I remember having to throw away my iPod touch earbuds since the cable got all sticky and stuff.

[tooki]

Does anyone have an unbiased test of Apple's silicon cables vs Standard PVC cable?

I think both cables fail after similar wear. But one fails on the externally (visibly) and one fails internally.

I don’t know of any such comparisons. Somewhat hard anyway, since there aren’t a ton of cables that existed in both variants.

FYI, I don’t know what the PVC-free cables are made of, but it’s not silicone. The MagSafe, Lightning, and USB cords use something that goes brittle and splits longitudinally eventually. The earbuds use something very different that’s soft and tacky like silicone. But in both cases, it’s a thermoplastic.

On the Apple side, I've seen a lot of Lightning cable fails, but I've never has any devices, so I can't tell. But none of my MagSafe chargers for my 3 Apple laptops, one 2010 Air, one 2011 Air and one 2012 Pro, have failed. The cable, over time, develops rough and dirty surface, but nothing can't be fixed by alcohol rub.

Oh, I’ve definitely had MagSafe cables fail. (Even old ones with PVC insulation.) I have one PVC-free MagSafe with a giant heatshrink section to stop the insulation from fraying. (But of course the fault will eventually reappear at the end of the heatshrink.)

There’s tons and tons of reports of MagSafe cable failures, they’re notorious for it. So is failure of Lightning cables, but since they don’t cost anywhere near as much to replace, people don’t make quite as big a fuss about it.

[tooki]

That's why I ask if anyone did a test instead of just rambling personal biased experiences like I just did.
Like this?

That said, it’s extremely rare for them to fail mid-cable. That’s not the failure mode we are worried about. Where Apple cables invariably fail is at the strain reliefs.