My first laptop was a Surface, so was my second, both having the magnetic Surface Connect port. Recently though, I bought a new Lenovo Thinkpad, which charges via USB C. My first thoughts were that the USB C was a lot less convenient. With a magnetic connector, I could just wave the cable at the port and more often than not, it would connect without me even having to look at it, whereas with the USB C port on the Lenovo, I actually have to tilt my head toward the side of the laptop and visually find the port before I can plug it in correctly. I know that USB C is tons more versatile than a proprietary port and especially more versatile than a proprietary and charging only port like the older MacBooks had, but IMO they’re a lot more convenient for charging itself.

What do you think? Do you miss magnetic charging ports and do you feel about manufacturers including them in 2021? Especially curious about responses people who used/use one of the older MacBooks that had (from what I heard, never owned one) one of the best magnetic charging ports on the market.

If there was a campaign to make a version of the USB C or Thunderbolt connector that was magnetic, would you support it? Theoretically someone could just publish an open source design for a magnetic port that is pin compatible with USB C. As long as the open source project says it’s just a generic 20-pin port that can carry whatever signal, there wouldn’t be any licensing issues with the design itself, since some manufactures do have custom ports that can carry USB C or Thunderbolt signals, right.

    • Ofosho@lemmy.ml
      4·
      4 years ago

      I thought the magnetic ports on my old macbook were amazing until they just kept breaking. After 4 replacements, I’ll go with cheap and reliable.

      • Echedenyan@lemmy.ml
        2·
        4 years ago

        Hey, I am 21 years old. No bully ;-;.

        BTW, the new phones I get are with that too. Mostly because my new phones are second hand ones. I have some of them for testing and as replacements to phones in home and I choose them based on the price and support of LineageOS.

        Additionally, I set that every phone must be in my hand for, at least, 5 years since I buy it. I already bought my replacement phone 2 years ago and must wait until the current one gets 5 years to replace it with the “new” and maintain it other 5 years (+ the year already in home waiting).

          • Echedenyan@lemmy.ml
            2·
            4 years ago

            I don’t waste more than 90 euros in a new phone to be exact.

            My first phone bought by me was the only exception as I was starting with LineageOS at the same time and didn’t know other reilable models (well, I didn’t know how to recognize them at all and didn’t trust in myself for that as second hand store don’t use to see well returning something without a reason they accept).

  • youngbrett@lemmy.ml
    3·
    4 years ago

    I definitely prefer a magnetic port. It’s a bit of a mixed bag, because I feel like most magnetic ports are also specifically designed for a product and I’d rather there just be a single standard, but I’ve used a few surfaces/macbooks with magnetic ports and they were all a million times more convenient. I’m not super knowledgeable on hardware/connectors, so I don’t know anything about the feasibility of your proposal at the end, but something like that would be ideal.

    My phone has a USB-C port and one of the biggest issues is that the charger tends to just smash lint/dust into the port and it has to be carefully cleaned out occasionally or the connection begins to feel loose. Every magnetic charger I’ve used has been relatively shallow, making this a lot less of an issue. Would love a magnetic port on my phone.

    • RiverXerces@lemmy.ml
      2·
      4 years ago

      I used a knock off version of the Volta for a bit. It’s very nice to have for a desktop setup but if you move your device around often, well good luck finding the adapter. You’re gonna lose it unless your port has an iron grip