The MacBook Air and MacBook Pro uses a MagSafe charging connector that latches to your laptop with the help of magnets. It is an interesting safety feature as it disconnects if someone tripped over your cable, avoiding the risk of dragging your laptop to the ground. When Apple introduced the new ultra-thin MacBook, it was ditched in favour of the all-new USB Type-C. This is supposedly the future standard of connectivity, allowing you to deliver power, data and even high-resolution video on a single cable.
Sadly that means you’re stuck with an old-school cable design like other gadgets. If you want to restore that MagSafe feature of old, cable maker Griffin finally has a solution for you.
Simply called as BreakSafe, the new magnetic USB cable works essentially like the MagSafe that came as standard with previous MacBook models. It is fairly easy to release and it will automatically disconnect when there’s excessive pressure. On one end, you get a fixed USB Type-C connector that goes into your power adapter, while the other end has two pieces, with the small stub that stays permanently in your MacBook port.
The cable is 6 feet (1.8 metres) long and the magnetic connector is about 12.8mm deep. On their online store, it is listed as coming soon with the retail price tag of US$39.99 (about RM173). As comparison, the original USB Type-C cable (2 metres) for the MacBook is going for RM139.
If you’re looking for a sleeker alternative, there’s Znaps that debut on KickStarter. This isn’t a cable but a two-piece connector head that gives you a “MagSafe” and a reversible feature for your existing Lightning, Micro-USB and USB Type-C cables. A set for Lightning and Micro-USB costs US$18.00 (about RM78) while USB Type-C costs US$24.00 (about RM104). Individual connectors and adapters are sold separately so you can “MagSafe” your entire device collection if required. You can pre-order now and they will ship by end of this month.
