Filed under: Macworld, Portables
Hands on the Macbook pro: Magsafe
The most exciting thing about the new Macbooks (it is going to take me awhile to get used to that) is the new MagSafe power connector. I know, I know: that's not exciting. Let me tell you, you're wrong. This thing is rock solid. The connector is strongly connected to the MacBook, much more than the power cord for my Powerbook and it is also easy to disconnect.
As you can see from the photo above, the LED tells you when your MacBook is charged, or when it is charging.
It is the little things that make the biggest difference.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
olivier said 4:30PM on 1-10-2006
at least something exciting today!
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JK said 4:30PM on 1-10-2006
wonder if the Macbook has the "anti-drop" feature the late '05 PB's had?
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David said 5:15PM on 1-10-2006
Yes, it has the motion sensor.
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decibel said 6:12PM on 1-10-2006
Not sure if this is the right place to ask, but does anybody know if the power cord for the '05 powerbooks is "child safe"? In other words, if my 10 month old sticks the plug in his mouth, will he light up like a christmas tree?
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GOD said 11:06PM on 1-10-2006
I'm so glad they have scraped the old power connectors. I've had problems with the old ones deforming and such.
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tr said 11:53PM on 1-10-2006
to me, this truly was the most exciting thing about the macbook pro's. why? because it really sucks when your sister trips over the power supply cord when connected to your iBook, which then breaks the DC-in board, preventing the iBook from charging, and you have to crack that thing open and replace it. and while i was repairing it, i kept thinking "there has to be a better way to connect this..." and there now there is!
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Davidlow said 10:42AM on 1-11-2006
This matters much more for a Mac than for a PC. Since Macs aren't susceptible to sudden, random crashes (due to OS instability, viruses, software conflicts, driver/Registry/DLL conflicts) and since they have a longer useful life than PCs, the number one problem that will bring down your Mac is very different than the number one problem that will bring down a PC.
The biggest threats to your Mac are physical, and Apple is targeting these things because they're looking at records generated by their technical support team. I'll bet the number one problem bringing down Mac laptops was physically damaged hard drives, so Apple solved that problem with the inertial sensor. Now the number one is probably damaged power connections due to tripping, so Apple has acted to fix that, too.
On the PC side they have a LOT of other problems to work through before physical damage starts to look like a primary concern.
For my laptop, this magnetic connector would definitely make a difference. It would expand the options I have for its physical placement in different settings, and make me less nervous.
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