Apple may bring MagSafe back to MacBooks. That’s why it’s a terrible idea

Digging Mac rumors can be an ungrateful task. They tend to be filled with as much idle speculation and projected wish fulfillment as true information. But some Mac leaks and rumors are worth noting. Last week, just like CES 2021 Mark Gurman, as well as analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, claim that it was getting started new MacBook Pro laptops coming in 2021.

The idea of ​​new 14-inch and 16-inch models with Apple’s M1 chips on the arm may not shock anyone, nor that Apple’s secondary screen from Touch Bar is on its way.

But more importantly, at least for Mac followers who have been around for years, are the rumors that the MagSafe connector is back – a proprietary, breakable magnetic power plug that was part of the MacBook line since its launch in 2006.

MagSafe’s phasing out began with the late, complained 12-inch MacBook in 2015, where it was swapped with a USB-C power connection, but a handful of older models held on until recently. We have complained about its loss and try to get up with solutions
on replace it.

Then Apple started use the MagSafe name again in 2020 for a range of magnetic phone charging accessories, but there are few similarities beyond the name.

The classic MagSafe was a brilliant design that comes off safely when you step on it. This probably kept every MacBook safe from at least a few tumbles off the table. But there were also problems. Because they were so unique, the loss of an old MacBook powerstone (or almost any laptop before the laptop before the USB-C era) meant the hunt for a replacement, and your options were usually an expensive official model or an often unreliable result.

Modern MacBooks all use USB-C ports to charge, which the cable cannot safely disconnect (at least not by design). But they have one unmistakable advantage over MagSafe: no matter what modern, ordinary laptop I put in – a Dell XPS 13, HP Specter, Acer Swift, Lenovo ThinkPad, Asus ZenBook, etc. – there’s a good chance that its own USB-C power cable will work with the MacBook, and vice versa.

Apple’s laptops are 30W, 61W and 96W. Most laptops are 45W, or 60W, and I have mixed and connected for the past few years. Try hard enough and you will eventually find an edge case where charger A does not work with laptop B but other than devices like laptops (which only recently started supporting USB-C charging), it’s rare that you’ll run into a problem.

For me, that means I’m going to end up one year working mainly at home, and not have to worry about which laptop is in which room. It is honestly liberating.

The iPad Pro and Air now have USB-C charging, just like the Nintendo Switch to the Oculus Quest. Having it in MacBooks has always been a surprising move, and perhaps one that was too good to be true.

If Apple can figure out a way to bring MagSafe back without losing the standard USB-C connection of the power port, I’m for it. If it means going back to own power bricks, MagSafe should probably stay dead.