Why do MacBook power cords fray so easily?

This is what the guy at the Apple Genius Bar told me when he replaced my first one at less than a year old. I practiced that religiously and now have to get this second one replaced, same exact problem, broken and fraying where the skinny cord meets the brick -- the weak link. Equals bad design. I am 59 years old, I have been using computers every day all day since 1978, I have had numerous laptops, my kids have had various laptops, this particular power supply is a bad design. If you aren't going to fix this weak link, then at least make it a plug in so WHEN it breaks we don't have to replace the entire power supply, just the skinny cord.

OGELTHORPE wrote:

I have three power adapters that are about 5, 3 and 1/2 yr old. No fraying on any of them.

Well, I've owned several PowerBooks/MacBooks, and I consciously try to baby the adapters to the point of not winding them up on the "ears" (I think that just strains them more). The power adapters in my first 10 years of Mac laptops never frayed (the non-white adapters), and yet I've seen the cords for these generations of white adapters fray and have had to rely on the mercy of Apple to replace a few of them. Thankfully Apple has done this free of charge even when slightly out of warranty.

As much as I like Apple designs in general, their recent power adapter designs are historically nearly as tragic as their mouse designs. From duck heads with sparky intermittent hinge connections to fraying cords, Apple could really do better.

Macbook Air... 9 months after purchase, fraying beneath the magnetic plug that attaches to power port.

My previous Macbook Pro, I lost count, I think I had 3 cords for that, same issue. Or was it 3 batteries... no, I think it was 4 batteries and 3 cords. Granted, the Macbook Pro lasted longer than PC laptops in terms of overall life expectancy... but still, it's the kind of design flaw you'd expect Apple to get handled, especially when we pay a premium for the design superiority that brings us to the brand in the first place.

It has become a yearly tradition to buy another power cord because the cable becomes frayed at the exact same spot as always. I'm tired of hearing that it is somehow related to how I handle the cable and how other people don't have this problem. If you don't, that is great and I am very happy for you. The perfect solution seems to be to buy 2 power cables and leave them at home/work and never move them around.

Apple refuses to admit there is a problem but there is NO way they are blissfully unaware of the issue. With Apple it is all about design and in order to fix the problem it would be aesthetically unpleasing. These things are bad design!! I have been a faithful Mac user since 2001 and I have gone through several rounds of laptop updates. I absolutely love my Macbook, I just wish that Apple would either redesign the power cable or admit there is a problem and warranty them appropriately. I already engage in weekly battles with my coworkers (I'm in IT) about Mac vs Windows and this certainly doesn't help my cause.

In my case the rubber cover of the cable first becomes sticky, then it becomes loose with respect to the metal cable, and finally it frays. Moreover it seems as if it becomes longer than the cable it covers. Now I have approximately 1.5cm of excess rubber. This is my third cable, and in all cases it happened exactly the same way. I do not wind the cable around the charder, i carry it is suitcase in a separate compartment. I cannot believe any extra precautions I would use for a device that is supposed to be portable.

Someone here suggested Chinese cable replacements. I have one. It dies not fray, but it seems they did something funny in terms of hacking the software of the integrated circuit inside the Magsafe connector. First my 60W charger presents itself as 45W, second a normal charger takes 1 second for the green light to turn on, the Chinese one turns immediately, and I find it to be a potential fire hazard (the 1 second is handy, as it switches on power when the cable sits firmly in the socket, without it one can get sparks.). So Chinese cables are not a solution, at least the one I have obtained.

Because Apple wants you to keep buying new cables and upgrading your old devices. They might lead the industry with design right now but unfortunately their strategies are cheap and not consumer friendly. Wouldn't you think billion dollar brand can make things more robust? Of course they can, but it will result in decrease sales. Unfortunately I'm an Apple user for now but thinking of switching to different brand. Have you also noticed iPhones failing when a new one released? I wonder why is that........

Careful with your charger and its cable

Do not make any hard bends or folds in your charging cable, or wind it tightly, always make either circles or loose loops when winding your cord up for storage. Also do not, as many people have seen, unroll your charger block from the magsafe end by letting the charger drop and unroll itself like a yo-yo, this is both hard on the charger and its connection points at both ends.

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1630

You are correct. It is a poor design. After getting VERY loud with the Genius during a full-house Saturday, I convinced him to give me a new cord. He found it in is heart to let everyone in the store know, that I would never get another for free.

I purchased my MacBook Air in 2010. In 2012 the cord went afray. In 2013 it began to go bad again.

To resolve the problem (without having to deal with the idiot savants) I took a piece of fuel line, approx. 3" long, split it down the middle, and encased 2 section of the power cable together so that they could not wiggle and fray.

I don't wind mine. It just hangs there. And frays.

I have three power adapters that are about 5, 3 and 1/2 yr old. No fraying on any of them. It is possible that the way you use it promotes the fraying or you just have received a faulty one. Do what Baby Boomer (USofA) suggests.

Ciao.

My MacBook Pro 13 is 2 years old now and my power cord has begun to fray close to the computer connection.

I think my trouble has been caused by the sharp outside edge of the screen lid rubbing against the cable.

Most power outlets I use are on my right so the cable runs parallel to the back of the computer then turns a sharp left to connect.

Am I right in thinking that the latest power supplies connect at right angles to the left hand edge of the case - that being so I imagine that will help prevent the problem.

Yeah, I'm on the third one in a year and a half. The odds are against it being me, especially as I use it sitting in bed nearly all the time - no cars running over the cord or hot things falling on it.

depends on how you wind it up when done, and a MAIN THING that splits cords open is not letting them unravel their in-line twists before winding them up.

winding while still twisted compounds the pressure on the inner wires towards busting out of the cable sleeve.

I am on my third "L" shapped power cord. All 3 have failed at the mag safe end (not the brick). I have tried making sure there is a "gentle" loop, running the power cable along the side (not towards the back). I do not wrap the cable up tight when done and i don't use the brick like a Yo-Yo.

the idea of running the cable on the side is stupid as it covers all the ports. i have to run presentations fromt the PB and need the ports when i do that. so i have to flip the power cable the other way when presenting.

i didn't have any of these problems pre-mag safe with the older power cables. i understand the benifit of the mag safe, but this is a design and quality problem. At $80 a unit i can't keep replacing the darn thing and they seem to fail just over a year or so after they are purchased.

the pattern i have noticed is the same. the last 6 inches of the cable prior to the magsafe starts to yellow and the plastic cable clip can no longer slide easily down the cable in this area. The cable then seems to loosen and swell; eventually the sheeth then splits. the cable now seems to twist slightly and deforms the power cable so as to become crooket and the outer sheeth now seems to be excessively long.

if i now counter twist and pull on the magsafe end, the cable sheething now returns to its proper lenght for the amount of sheething. it appears to me that this is being caused by metal fatique and the Negative braid cable is causing this to happen. I am wondering if shrink tape will fix this for me intead of buying yet another cable.