Does your MacBook cable break while charging? You’re certainly not alone (and we have a solution), but we have a few tips to help you avoid breaking your MacBook charging cable in the future.
Most of us have experienced a broken charging cable at some point. They wear out after a period of heavy use and then the cable usually starts to tear at the ends. The cable might work for you, but exposed internal wires are considered a safety hazard to begin with, so unless you want to wrap the broken part with electrical tape, it’s best to throw it away and get a new MacBook charger. It will be costly to say the least.
However, MacBook chargers and the connected cable can last almost forever if you want. All it takes is a little care and general maintenance, and you’ll never have to replace a MacBook charger again (unless, of course, Apple changes connector standards, as it did when switching from MagSafe to MagSafe 2).
There are multiple ways to protect your MacBook cable. There are simple methods like carefully wrapping it every time you’re done, and even ways to reinforce the cable with a variety of materials so it doesn’t break in the first place, even if you put it under heavy use. If you’re tired of buying new MacBook chargers, here are some helpful tips.
Wrap MacBook Cables Correctly
Most cases of MacBook cable breakage are caused by the user not properly looking at the cable in the first place when storing or transporting the cable, and is often related to how they wrap the cable.
Most likely, you wrap the cable harshly around the power brick and then carelessly toss it in your bag. It turns out that wrapping your MacBook cable in this way can cause too much kink in the cable, which can cause the internal cables to gradually fail.
Technically, the charging cables come wrapped in the package before you even open them, which isn’t the best way to wrap the cables, so it’s best not to do it like the manufacturers do.
Ideally, the best way to wrap a MacBook cable for storage is to loop the cable a few times and let it form some sort of circle when it’s finished. This is called “coil winding” and is the best possible way to wind any wire because it does not create kinks or sharp bends. The video above does a great job of showing coil winding with an iPhone cable.
Avoid Sharp Bends
This type is in line with the previous section, but not only when winding up your MacBook cables, but also when you just use them.
Avoid making sharp bends in your MacBook cable as much as possible, as this can ruin the cables inside over time. It is especially important not to create sharp bends near where the connector is located (the cable itself meets the larger connector portion of the cable).
The area where the cable ends and the connector starts is extremely fragile (even if the manufacturers strengthen it – pretty poor at this) and with enough movement it can eventually bend and separate, exposing the wires inside. Usually the cable won’t work after that, but even if it did, it would still be a huge safety hazard.
So the next time you go to plug your MacBook charger into the wall behind a sofa or other piece of furniture, keep in mind that it’s never a good idea to make a sharp bend in the cable.
Strengthen MacBook Cables
If you don’t want to pay attention to your MacBook charger and want to continue using it as you normally would, you can at least retrofit the cable yourself to reduce the chance of it breaking in the future. There are also a handful of do-it-yourself tricks you can use to strengthen your MacBook cable and different materials to choose from.
A popular option using small springs from writing pens and attach them to the ends of your cables. This prevents them from creating sharp bends in the first place.
You can also use shrink tubing at the ends. You probably don’t have heat shrink tubing sitting around, so this probably isn’t the best option, but you can choose from all sorts of colors to make your cables more festive. you can even double it up with pencil springs and shrink tubing for a further reinforced cable as shown above.
Whatever you decide to do when it comes to preventing your MacBook cable from breaking, the most important thing is to take extra care of the cable initially. Wrapping your cables properly and storing them with care will ensure they last forever without any additional gimmicks.
