I totally agree - Apple was stupid to get rid of the MagSafe connector. But then, that didn't require a dongle, so it doesn't fit with the New Apple's vision for the future.
Being careful with the power cable is all good, but let's be honest - If I really thought someone would trip over the cable, I would find a different place to plug it in. The magnetic connector is all about preventing an accident from becoming a catastrophe.
As far as not having data capability, I guess I don't see that being an issue. I never had (or needed) data running through the power cable for my MacBook Air, and as a practical matter, if you have the cable run to an outlet where it might get caught on something, you won't be having data running through it anyway. On the flip side, for those who are worried about data loss if a magnetic data cable were to come disconnected, how much data would you loose if the computer flew across the room?
This looks like a much nicer form factor than the Griffin cable. Given the fact that the primary purpose for at least one of the USB C ports is to charge the computer, it would be nice to be able to leave it plugged in. The Vinpok design lets you do that, providing you're careful.
Some of you are fixed on the ports. Magsafe was about the connector not the port. I don't think anyone suggested that having a dedicated power port was desirable over the multi-function USB-C ports. They were disappointed that the dedicated cable from the power brick did not have a breakaway connector. That right, even though it is a USB-C cable, when it is connected to the brick it is dedicated to power only. I'm all for the new ports, I just want a cable from the brick that breaks away.
All Apple needs to do here is make a cable with some sort of Magsafe connector. Sell it as an optional accessory. Throngs would rejoice.
And no, putting the breakaway part on the power brick end would not work unless the force moment was right at the brick. Most of the time the force moment is closer to the computer. If your foot snags the cable and it pops off at the brick, it can still pull the computer to the floor. My 2010 MBP sits next to me on the sofa all night. The power cable hangs over the sofa edge and is connected at all times. I get up and down to take care of the dog, get food, drink, pee - whatever all night long. I'm old and sometimes my foot drags the power cable. Magsafe saves me all the time. I plan to get a new 2017 MBP Touchbar very soon and am not looking forward to a lack of Magsafe. This new product looks promising. Oh, and those complaining that this connector is directional - so is my Magsafe. It only attaches one way, with the cable trailing off the backside of the the MBP. Okay, yes you CAN connect it the other way, but it covers the ports when you do that.
A "dedicated cable from the power brick" is the wrong way to go. It's better to have the cable detachable from the PSU, and if you want a magnetic, breakaway connector you now have many options in which to choose so there should be absolutely no bitching if your "Magsafe was about the connector not the port" comment was accurate.
Some of you are fixed on the ports. Magsafe was about the connector not the port. I don't think anyone suggested that having a dedicated power port was desirable over the multi-function USB-C ports. They were disappointed that the dedicated cable from the power brick did not have a breakaway connector. That right, even though it is a USB-C cable, when it is connected to the brick it is dedicated to power only. I'm all for the new ports, I just want a cable from the brick that breaks away.
All Apple needs to do here is make a cable with some sort of Magsafe connector. Sell it as an optional accessory. Throngs would rejoice.
And no, putting the breakaway part on the power brick end would not work unless the force moment was right at the brick. Most of the time the force moment is closer to the computer. If your foot snags the cable and it pops off at the brick, it can still pull the computer to the floor. My 2010 MBP sits next to me on the sofa all night. The power cable hangs over the sofa edge and is connected at all times. I get up and down to take care of the dog, get food, drink, pee - whatever all night long. I'm old and sometimes my foot drags the power cable. Magsafe saves me all the time. I plan to get a new 2017 MBP Touchbar very soon and am not looking forward to a lack of Magsafe. This new product looks promising. Oh, and those complaining that this connector is directional - so is my Magsafe. It only attaches one way, with the cable trailing off the backside of the the MBP. Okay, yes you CAN connect it the other way, but it covers the ports when you do that.
A "dedicated cable from the power brick" is the wrong way to go. It's better to have the cable detachable from the PSU, and if you want a magnetic, breakaway connector you now have many options in which to choose so there should be absolutely no bitching if your "Magsafe was about the connector not the port" comment was accurate.
But it already IS a dedicated cable. The cable becomes dedicated when you plug it into the brick. It can no longer (while connected) pass data. I was not in any way suggesting anyone wants a dedicated cable - I certainly don't. The cable BECOMES dedicated while it is charging - it undergoes a state change if you will. This was in response to the person who thought we should have a breakaway cable that also is passing data - a stupid idea. The cable is already detachable from the brick - have not looked at one?
Some of you are fixed on the ports. Magsafe was about the connector not the port. I don't think anyone suggested that having a dedicated power port was desirable over the multi-function USB-C ports. They were disappointed that the dedicated cable from the power brick did not have a breakaway connector. That right, even though it is a USB-C cable, when it is connected to the brick it is dedicated to power only. I'm all for the new ports, I just want a cable from the brick that breaks away.
All Apple needs to do here is make a cable with some sort of Magsafe connector. Sell it as an optional accessory. Throngs would rejoice.
And no, putting the breakaway part on the power brick end would not work unless the force moment was right at the brick. Most of the time the force moment is closer to the computer. If your foot snags the cable and it pops off at the brick, it can still pull the computer to the floor. My 2010 MBP sits next to me on the sofa all night. The power cable hangs over the sofa edge and is connected at all times. I get up and down to take care of the dog, get food, drink, pee - whatever all night long. I'm old and sometimes my foot drags the power cable. Magsafe saves me all the time. I plan to get a new 2017 MBP Touchbar very soon and am not looking forward to a lack of Magsafe. This new product looks promising. Oh, and those complaining that this connector is directional - so is my Magsafe. It only attaches one way, with the cable trailing off the backside of the the MBP. Okay, yes you CAN connect it the other way, but it covers the ports when you do that.
A "dedicated cable from the power brick" is the wrong way to go. It's better to have the cable detachable from the PSU, and if you want a magnetic, breakaway connector you now have many options in which to choose so there should be absolutely no bitching if your "Magsafe was about the connector not the port" comment was accurate.
But it already IS a dedicated cable. The cable becomes dedicated when you plug it into the brick. It can no longer (while connected) pass data. I was not in any way suggesting anyone wants a dedicated cable - I certainly don't. The cable BECOMES dedicated while it is charging - it undergoes a state change if you will. This was in response to the person who thought we should have a breakaway cable that also is passing data - a stupid idea. The cable is already detachable from the brick - have not looked at one?
Dedicated, to me, sounds like a requirement that it can only be used with the PSU, like all the PSUs with dedicated cables that came before it. Having the USB-C-to-USB-C cable detach means it's not dedicated to only be used in that way. In fact, I was able to use that cable to plug in my 4th gen Apple TV to the my 2017 MBP so I could add hte tvOS 11 Profile so I could download the betas. I'm a big fan of the PSU no longer having a dedicated cable and that the cable can have many uses with the new setup. If the lack of a magnetic connector becomes an issue in the future then I'll gladly buy one of these 3rd-party options—and then place it at the PSU end.
Soli said: I'm a big fan of the PSU no longer having a dedicated cable and that the cable can have many uses with the new setup. If the lack of a magnetic connector becomes an issue in the future then I'll gladly buy one of these 3rd-party options—and then place it at the PSU end.
I am so with you on that. The removable, generic USB-C cable on the PSU is a long overdue feature. How many power supplies have we all had to purchase at Apples high prices only because the cable frayed? Shit, I've been replacing entire power bricks since I had my dearly departed 12' Aluminum Powerbook. At least with that power cord scheme I was able to buy generic power supplies instead of the Apple ones.
In many ways this "innovation" of having a replaceable power cord on an Apple power supply negates much of the annoyance of Magsafe going away. And like you say, there are now breakaway options so it seems we are all good.
Oh, and those complaining that this connector is directional - so is my Magsafe. It only attaches one way, with the cable trailing off the backside of the the MBP. Okay, yes you CAN connect it the other way, but it covers the ports when you do that.
Well, the difference there is, you're handling an L-shaped connector and don't have to think at all about which way to orient it. Whereas this product appears as unintuitive as USB-A, where there's a 50/50 chance you're holding it 180 degrees wrong, and you can't tell until you try it out, or look very closely first.
Also, Apple went back to the T-shaped connector with MagSafe 2, unblocking the ports and restoring the full reversibility, presumably because that's more convenient.
I'd say this still looks pretty nice, but they haven't quite nailed the convenience of the MagSafe people know and love. An X-shaped pin arrangement would have truly nailed it.
But it already IS a dedicated cable. The cable becomes dedicated when you plug it into the brick. It can no longer (while connected) pass data. I was not in any way suggesting anyone wants a dedicated cable - I certainly don't. The cable BECOMES dedicated while it is charging - it undergoes a state change if you will. This was in response to the person who thought we should have a breakaway cable that also is passing data - a stupid idea.
Not necessarily. Well, yes, if it's plugged into a power only brick, but there are other options that would make a breakaway cable that also passed data not "a stupid idea." I'm currently typing from a MacBook that has only one USB-C cable plugged into it (because, of course, it only has one port) and it is being charged, projecting to a second monitor, and connecting to ethernet, an external hard drive, and an external optical drive. In my setup I'm not at risk of a cord snag, but it could be useful to others using a dock setup like me (although the concerns about data corruptions due to accidental disconnects are something to consider). Of course, the MB Pros have multiple USB-C ports and so it's not so important in that case, but for MacBook owners who want magsafe and data at the same time, something like that could be desirable.
Skipping ahead because I got tired of reading so many stupid posts on the same subject...
How many of you unplug external hard drives without first ejecting them from the desktop? Show of hands... Some thumb drives seem to handle that ok. And I've accidentally disconnected an external HD once or twice. But I've also had to run DiskWarrior to get things sorted. It could have been worse. So I don't make it a practice or advise doing so.
Running data through a magnetic connector designed to disconnect... What could possibly go wrong. Or maybe you think it's ok because you have up-to-the-second backups... Or that nothing really bad will actually happen?
MagSafe was great. I hated that it was dropped and that the cable was not replaceable like that of the USB-C PSU for my MacBook. (Apple hasn't been great with PSU cables for their 'Books over the years.) It was power-only by happenstance, in that there was no need for it to carry data. That USB-C can do both fits Apple's minimalist design ethic, but at the cost of MagSafe. They could have kept it and used USB-C for data. But they didn't.
The VinPok adapter is a nice implementation to my eye, than the Griffin offering. And where I don't need data transferred, it might be useful. It would be great if I had two USB-C ports. 'Losing' the bi-directional orientation of the connector would be a bit of a let-down. Assuming that's the case, I have to think the devs had a solid reason for this that the forum engineers just aren't aware of.
Having a disconnect at the PSU is marginally better than nothing. But stepping on the cable, getting it wrapped around or between your legs, a child pulling on it, or any number of misadventures could easily still result in a 'Book being pulled off a table or other surface, even after the disconnect. So not a great design. Still better than data through a magnetically connected port.
I tried to suggest to them in 2011 that they make ALL of their connectors magsafe like (usb, charging, headphone, EVERYTHING)
but of course they won't listen to outsiders.
LOL, yeah that's the reason...
I even offered to sign away all rights to anything Apple related for the rest of my life for FREE...
OMFG. OK, sometimes there is entertainment gold in stupid posts.
To those who made cogent posts that I missed by skipping ahead— apologies.
hopestillflies said: Not necessarily... there are other options that would make a breakaway cable that also passed data not "a stupid idea."
Please explain how passing data through a 'breakaway' cable would not be a stupid idea. Then give an example of an industry that makes a practice of doing so, or a company that produces such a consumer product.
I'm not aware of either and would be interested in learning how and where this would would be a safe and practical practice. (Not too redundant, I hope.)
At the risk of repeating myself across threads, I'd like to point out that the USB-C power plug pulls out with only slightly more force than MagSafe. I've tripped on the cable twice, and both times the connector popped out with no ill effects.
Apple had a fantastic invention in the magsafe connector. I tried to suggest to them in 2011 that they make ALL of their connectors magsafe like (usb, charging, headphone, EVERYTHING)
but of course they won't listen to outsiders. I even offered to sign away all rights to anything Apple related for the rest of my life for FREE (though I preferred a hamburger lunch per year).
Incidentally, they don't listen to employees either if they are the peasants in AHA. Sigh; tried that too.
Many other ideas available too if they weren't so arrogant---better cable plugs to reduce tangling (NO ONE does it, and it is so simple and zero additional cost).
Make a laptop lapable rather than burning our personal parts off from the laptop heat?
Make ports MUCH easier to plug into; also essentially zero cost to implement.
Since they can't seem to get the ports off of the back of Macs (beauty over function), how to make them easily locatable when you can't see them. 3 ideas ranging from simple to implement at ~zero cost, but not ideal. And two others, one of which would work with "last years" machines
Investment cast the case; it is stupid to mill them all; but they FINALLY thought of that on their own.
Polish (br grinding as now) with zero dust---don't blow up any more factories. The solution in China a few years ago was bigger fans; how prosaic.
Anyone who assembles laptops with the number of screws that they do needs a consultant.
Present laptop cases are slick and asking to be dropped; DO SOMETHING
LOL. Apple is too arrogant to overrule their own designers and engineers every time they get an unsolicited missive from some random armchair engineer on the internet.
It’s one of the most lauded features by both Mac and non-Mac users. Even people that hate Apple often mention that one feature as being great. No one calls it a gimmick. No one complains that it’s proprietary. No one complains that the cable is permanently attached to the PSU attached. No one even complains that it doesn’t carry data, yet that’s a complaint with 3rd-party options doing the same… fucking... thing.
Soli- You are on a fucking roll with your comments as of late. I've always enjoyed your commentary but every... single... fucking... one of them has had some zinger in them that lands a solid punch! Keep up the good fucking job!
Skipping ahead because I got tired of reading so many stupid posts on the same subject...
.........
I tried to suggest to them in 2011 that they make ALL of their connectors magsafe like (usb, charging, headphone, EVERYTHING)
but of course they won't listen to outsiders.
LOL, yeah that's the reason...
I even offered to sign away all rights to anything Apple related for the rest of my life for FREE...
OMFG. OK, sometimes there is entertainment gold in stupid posts.
To those who made cogent posts that I missed by skipping ahead— apologies.
In my (much lower legal stakes) world of graphic design, most legit design agencies refuse to use freely distributed fonts as a matter of policy. They will go so far as to contact the font creator and ask them how much they need to pay to get the creator to write a license specifically permitting the use of their font in commercial work.
With our litigious society, there is no way a big corporation is going to take something offered for free. Not even a small corporation is willing to do this in my niche.
At the risk of repeating myself across threads, I'd like to point out that the USB-C power plug pulls out with only slightly more force than MagSafe. I've tripped on the cable twice, and both times the connector popped out with no ill effects.
Yes, this.
Coupled with the fact that you can connect the cable on either side to avoid tangle risk, I've found the lack of MagSafe a coomplete non-issue.
This product is superfluous, adds unnecessary complexity, and will be a raging success. They'll sell a couple thousand, maybe.
Soli said: I'm a big fan of the PSU no longer having a dedicated cable and that the cable can have many uses with the new setup. If the lack of a magnetic connector becomes an issue in the future then I'll gladly buy one of these 3rd-party options—and then place it at the PSU end.
I am so with you on that. The removable, generic USB-C cable on the PSU is a long overdue feature. How many power supplies have we all had to purchase at Apples high prices only because the cable frayed? Shit, I've been replacing entire power bricks since I had my dearly departed 12' Aluminum Powerbook. At least with that power cord scheme I was able to buy generic power supplies instead of the Apple ones.
In many ways this "innovation" of having a replaceable power cord on an Apple power supply negates much of the annoyance of Magsafe going away. And like you say, there are now breakaway options so it seems we are all good.
A couple months ago my the cable frayed at the MagSafe end of the cable. I have an Apple Store a block away so I walked over and picked up another for $79+tax. I also ordered a solder kit from Amazon, and using the shrink tubing I have for Lightning cables, was able to fix my original MagSafe cable. I now have two so It means less wear and tear on both as I move my MBP between my two most common locations.
I don't expect anyone else to be soldering cables, and if this was more than just for power it would be considerably more difficult to accomplish. Even the solder kit cost more than what Monoprice charges for a 6 foot USB-C(m)-to-USB-C(m) cable that supports up to 100 watts of power. Plus, you can black, which I think looks better with the Silver and Space Grey MBPs.
They sell less expensive cables of that length, but I don't know how much power they can support.
PS: They sell a USB 2.0 cable that has USB-C male on both ends for a little over $2. I wonder if that would be sufficient for charging something like the 12" MacBook.
although the concerns about data corruptions due to accidental disconnects are something to consider
That is THE reason it would be a bad idea. We all had enough trouble with Firewire cables being accidentally pulled while transferring data. Why would anyone build a data cable designed disconnect on purpose?
Soli said: I'm a big fan of the PSU no longer having a dedicated cable and that the cable can have many uses with the new setup. If the lack of a magnetic connector becomes an issue in the future then I'll gladly buy one of these 3rd-party options—and then place it at the PSU end.
I am so with you on that. The removable, generic USB-C cable on the PSU is a long overdue feature. How many power supplies have we all had to purchase at Apples high prices only because the cable frayed? Shit, I've been replacing entire power bricks since I had my dearly departed 12' Aluminum Powerbook. At least with that power cord scheme I was able to buy generic power supplies instead of the Apple ones.
In many ways this "innovation" of having a replaceable power cord on an Apple power supply negates much of the annoyance of Magsafe going away. And like you say, there are now breakaway options so it seems we are all good.
A couple months ago my the cable frayed at the MagSafe end of the cable. I have an Apple Store a block away so I walked over and picked up another for $79+tax. I also ordered a solder kit from Amazon, and using the shrink tubing I have for Lightning cables, was able to fix my original MagSafe cable. I now have two so It means less wear and tear on both as I move my MBP between my two most common locations.
I don't expect anyone else to be soldering cables, and if this was more than just for power it would be considerably more difficult to accomplish. Even the solder kit cost more than what Monoprice charges for a 6 foot USB-C(m)-to-USB-C(m) cable that supports up to 100 watts of power. Plus, you can black, which I think looks better with the Silver and Space Grey MBPs.
They sell less expensive cables of that length, but I don't know how much power they can support.
PS: They sell a USB 2.0 cable that has USB-C male on both ends for a little over $2. I wonder if that would be sufficient for charging something like the 12" MacBook.
You can get just the MagSafe cable parts on Amazon BTW, not too difficult to replace though you have to crack open the main power unit's case which is glued shut. I did this without making it look too terrible.
Soli said: I'm a big fan of the PSU no longer having a dedicated cable and that the cable can have many uses with the new setup. If the lack of a magnetic connector becomes an issue in the future then I'll gladly buy one of these 3rd-party options—and then place it at the PSU end.
I am so with you on that. The removable, generic USB-C cable on the PSU is a long overdue feature. How many power supplies have we all had to purchase at Apples high prices only because the cable frayed? Shit, I've been replacing entire power bricks since I had my dearly departed 12' Aluminum Powerbook. At least with that power cord scheme I was able to buy generic power supplies instead of the Apple ones.
In many ways this "innovation" of having a replaceable power cord on an Apple power supply negates much of the annoyance of Magsafe going away. And like you say, there are now breakaway options so it seems we are all good.
A couple months ago my the cable frayed at the MagSafe end of the cable. I have an Apple Store a block away so I walked over and picked up another for $79+tax. I also ordered a solder kit from Amazon, and using the shrink tubing I have for Lightning cables, was able to fix my original MagSafe cable. I now have two so It means less wear and tear on both as I move my MBP between my two most common locations.
I don't expect anyone else to be soldering cables, and if this was more than just for power it would be considerably more difficult to accomplish. Even the solder kit cost more than what Monoprice charges for a 6 foot USB-C(m)-to-USB-C(m) cable that supports up to 100 watts of power. Plus, you can black, which I think looks better with the Silver and Space Grey MBPs.
They sell less expensive cables of that length, but I don't know how much power they can support.
PS: They sell a USB 2.0 cable that has USB-C male on both ends for a little over $2. I wonder if that would be sufficient for charging something like the 12" MacBook.
You can get just the MagSafe cable parts on Amazon BTW, not too difficult to replace though you have to crack open the main power unit's case which is glued shut. I did this without making it look too terrible.
Nice. That's cheap, too. I think spent a little more than that on my soldering kit, but the fix was simple enough. I assume you need a Dremel to get into the PSU casing.
For all of you folks concerned about adding data to a magnetic breakaway plug: would you rather just lose your data or would you rather lose your Mac + external drive + data? Tripping on a cable and pulling an MBP with a connected external drive to the concrete floor is almost certainly going to halt that data connection and has a good chance of destroying both pieces of hardware.
For all of you folks concerned about adding data to a magnetic breakaway plug: would you rather just lose your data or would you rather lose your Mac + external drive + data? Tripping on a cable and pulling an MBP with a connected external drive to the concrete floor is almost certainly going to halt that data connection and has a good chance of destroying both pieces of hardware.
1. Only Apple has ever had magnetic power cables. Only about 14% of the computers in the world are made by Apple. That means 86% of users have been getting by fine without it. If dragging computers to their deaths by tripping over cables were as serious a problem as some seem to suggest, I'd expect to hear about the issue from non-Apple users.
2. In what scenario would one drag components off a desk by a cable between a computer and an external drive? Are people walking on their desks? Dangling peripheral cables across walkways? It seems like concern over an extremely unlikely outcome. It is much more likely that one would interrupt drive access with a coffee cup. Thus the perceived need for a breakaway data cable seems to give priority to an unlikely development over a more likely one.
3. In my case, tripping over the power cable resulted in the USB-C plug popping out of the computer without the computer moving. Dropping MagSafe may not be as big a deal as we think. I suppose it's possible that stressing the cable at just the right angle could cause connector damage, but I can't imagine it happening very often. I'm quite happy to trade that very, very small risk for the benefits of the port being multi-purpose and having greater flexibility in both where and how I can power the computer.
Comments
Being careful with the power cable is all good, but let's be honest - If I really thought someone would trip over the cable, I would find a different place to plug it in. The magnetic connector is all about preventing an accident from becoming a catastrophe.
As far as not having data capability, I guess I don't see that being an issue. I never had (or needed) data running through the power cable for my MacBook Air, and as a practical matter, if you have the cable run to an outlet where it might get caught on something, you won't be having data running through it anyway. On the flip side, for those who are worried about data loss if a magnetic data cable were to come disconnected, how much data would you loose if the computer flew across the room?
This looks like a much nicer form factor than the Griffin cable. Given the fact that the primary purpose for at least one of the USB C ports is to charge the computer, it would be nice to be able to leave it plugged in. The Vinpok design lets you do that, providing you're careful.
In many ways this "innovation" of having a replaceable power cord on an Apple power supply negates much of the annoyance of Magsafe going away. And like you say, there are now breakaway options so it seems we are all good.
Also, Apple went back to the T-shaped connector with MagSafe 2, unblocking the ports and restoring the full reversibility, presumably because that's more convenient.
I'd say this still looks pretty nice, but they haven't quite nailed the convenience of the MagSafe people know and love. An X-shaped pin arrangement would have truly nailed it.
How many of you unplug external hard drives without first ejecting them from the desktop? Show of hands... Some thumb drives seem to handle that ok. And I've accidentally disconnected an external HD once or twice. But I've also had to run DiskWarrior to get things sorted. It could have been worse. So I don't make it a practice or advise doing so.
Running data through a magnetic connector designed to disconnect... What could possibly go wrong. Or maybe you think it's ok because you have up-to-the-second backups... Or that nothing really bad will actually happen?
MagSafe was great. I hated that it was dropped and that the cable was not replaceable like that of the USB-C PSU for my MacBook. (Apple hasn't been great with PSU cables for their 'Books over the years.) It was power-only by happenstance, in that there was no need for it to carry data. That USB-C can do both fits Apple's minimalist design ethic, but at the cost of MagSafe. They could have kept it and used USB-C for data. But they didn't.
The VinPok adapter is a nice implementation to my eye, than the Griffin offering. And where I don't need data transferred, it might be useful. It would be great if I had two USB-C ports. 'Losing' the bi-directional orientation of the connector would be a bit of a let-down. Assuming that's the case, I have to think the devs had a solid reason for this that the forum engineers just aren't aware of.
Having a disconnect at the PSU is marginally better than nothing. But stepping on the cable, getting it wrapped around or between your legs, a child pulling on it, or any number of misadventures could easily still result in a 'Book being pulled off a table or other surface, even after the disconnect. So not a great design. Still better than data through a magnetically connected port.
I tried to suggest to them in 2011 that they make ALL of their connectors magsafe like (usb, charging, headphone, EVERYTHING)
but of course they won't listen to outsiders.
LOL, yeah that's the reason...
I even offered to sign away all rights to anything Apple related for the rest of my life for FREE...
OMFG. OK, sometimes there is entertainment gold in stupid posts.
To those who made cogent posts that I missed by skipping ahead— apologies.
I'm not aware of either and would be interested in learning how and where this would would be a safe and practical practice. (Not too redundant, I hope.)
I'll take my FU offline.
With our litigious society, there is no way a big corporation is going to take something offered for free. Not even a small corporation is willing to do this in my niche.
Coupled with the fact that you can connect the cable on either side to avoid tangle risk, I've found the lack of MagSafe a coomplete non-issue.
This product is superfluous, adds unnecessary complexity, and will be a raging success. They'll sell a couple thousand, maybe.
I don't expect anyone else to be soldering cables, and if this was more than just for power it would be considerably more difficult to accomplish. Even the solder kit cost more than what Monoprice charges for a 6 foot USB-C(m)-to-USB-C(m) cable that supports up to 100 watts of power. Plus, you can black, which I think looks better with the Silver and Space Grey MBPs.
They sell less expensive cables of that length, but I don't know how much power they can support.
PS: They sell a USB 2.0 cable that has USB-C male on both ends for a little over $2. I wonder if that would be sufficient for charging something like the 12" MacBook.
Edit: Sorry, Macgui said the same thing.
https://www.amazon.com/ElementDigital-Lovely-Adapter-Connector-MacBook/dp/B00I1AS9XQ/
2. In what scenario would one drag components off a desk by a cable between a computer and an external drive? Are people walking on their desks? Dangling peripheral cables across walkways? It seems like concern over an extremely unlikely outcome. It is much more likely that one would interrupt drive access with a coffee cup. Thus the perceived need for a breakaway data cable seems to give priority to an unlikely development over a more likely one.
3. In my case, tripping over the power cable resulted in the USB-C plug popping out of the computer without the computer moving. Dropping MagSafe may not be as big a deal as we think. I suppose it's possible that stressing the cable at just the right angle could cause connector damage, but I can't imagine it happening very often. I'm quite happy to trade that very, very small risk for the benefits of the port being multi-purpose and having greater flexibility in both where and how I can power the computer.