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June 23, 2006

hardware

MagSafe could have saved my Powerbook

Posted Jun. 23, ’06, 6:14 AM PT by Derik DeLong
Category | Hardware

Snocap Like many laptop users, I carry my computer around my house. Mine isn’t huge, but there are a lot of stairs. I’m lazy, so when I’m carting the Powerbook around, it’s usually still open with the power cord hanging from it in kind of a loop. Given these two facts, it shouldn’t have been a surprise when my cat, running up the stairs after me, ran into the cord full force, ripping my precious Powerbook from my hands. (Don’t worry, she’s fine.)

Luckily, it landed on carpet and stayed in one piece. It did mess up the power pin again (I had a previous accident where the Powerbook was jerked by the power cord). It really makes me wish I had MagSafe power connectors as this would have been a non-issue in both cases. If I stay this clumsy, I may have to upgrade to a MacBook earlier than I planned.

MagSafe: it’s kitty proof.


11 Comments

Jason said:

Unfortunately, when I was a Mac Genius at an Apple Store, I used to see alot of people who would do this. One seemingly little known fact is that plugging or unplugging the power supply from the wall while it is still connected to a laptop can send small power spikes to the Power Management Unit (PMU) which can damage the laptop. If it is done repeatedly this can cause permanent damage.

June 23, 2006 6:37 AM
Nicolaj Nielsen said:

Yep, magsafe saved my MacBook yesterday. Cute kitty, by the way....

June 23, 2006 7:08 AM
exnihilo said:

That your kitty? She's adorable!

June 23, 2006 7:38 AM
Derik Author Profile Page said:

Thanks guys, that is her. :) She's a little bigger now (hence why she knocked it out of my hands with ease).

Jason, do you have a knowledge base article describing this? It's not that I don't believe you, but I've just never heard it before. That might explain why now my display has started not working again. The last time this happened, I sent it out to get looked at and they couldn't reproduce. Then it was fine until this morning.

June 23, 2006 9:44 AM
Dan Frakes Author Profile Page said:

Jason: I know that used to be the case with older PowerBooks -- Apple even had Knowledge Base articles about it. The concert wasn't necessarily hardware damage, but that it could corrupt the Power Manager. However, I haven't seen such a warning from Apple about any of the more recent laptops.

June 23, 2006 1:55 PM
Kellie said:

Yes, I was told by a Genius at the Apple store that I should always unplug the power cord from my computer first, THEN unplug it from the wall. And I could always plug it into the computer first, and THEN plug it into the wall. He told me this after my original PB power adaptor went *poof* after only a couple of months.

Adorable kitty!

June 23, 2006 3:42 PM
Corey said:

So why doesn't some enterprising Mac accessory manufacturer make a small socket adapter so that old Powerbooks/iBooks could use a MagSafe power adapter? (Of course there would be electrical issues since the MBPro power supply is higher wattage.) So then why not a two-piece adapter for old laptops and power supplies? You could make a little magnetic coupler for both the power plug and the socket. Of course Apple probably has it patented...

Still a nice idea, I think. On paper, anyway.

June 24, 2006 8:43 PM
CCGYHSC said:

Sorry, this is really silly. A little change in one's habit can save you not only from broken power pins but a damaged computer or damaged LCD. This is a really silly habit that one can choose to change.

June 25, 2006 10:18 AM
Derik said:

Could changing my habits have saved my Powerbook this time? Probably. However, there's still the possibility that the cat could still do the same thing while it sat on a table.

I wish MagSafe had appeared a long time ago.

June 25, 2006 11:11 PM
Jason said:

Nope, sorry there aren't any PUBLIC KB articles about it, but Apple does have private articles (and private additions to public articles) available to support personnel which describe the issue.

Dan, you are right that the issue is that it will corrupt the PMU. However another issue that Apple support is reminded of repeatedly is that you can only reset the PMU a finite number of times (and they don't tell us the number - only that it is in the hundreds) before it cannot function correctly any longer.

June 26, 2006 6:48 AM
Hal said:

In the future, try putting some clear rubber feet (which can be got at Wal-Mart). They grip the surface and prevent this sort of accident. My power plug pulls out before my PowerBook 12" even moves.

August 21, 2006 9:52 PM

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