graham sa ys…

Firstly, for people without a MacBook Pro, let’s look at the changes to its power supply situation. Firstly, the new MacBook Pro has four USB C ports, and you can plug the power supply into any of them, so you’re free to choose the side of the Mac that you’re plugging into. The old MagSafe connector limited you to the side the MagSafe port was on. Secondly, as Paul notes, the USB C cable is separate from the power supply itself. This does have advantages… If, for example, the cable starts to fray, you can now replace it without having to replace the whole power supply. However, we’d agree that paying £79 for a second power supply only to be stung for another £19 for the cable is a bit much. It’s even worse if you need an extension plug for the power supply – which is an additional £19!

You might like to consider how you’re using the power supply. If you have one power supply at home, and an additional one at work, and don’t need to cart a heavy cable around with you, the USB-C cable is light enough to carry with your MacBook Pro. Another advantage is that USB-C is also used as a charging standard for other devices, which you can then use your Apple power supply for. For example, the Nintendo Switch uses USB-C.

We do have sympathy though. Apple’s fetish for Macs that have as few ports as possible is offloading a lot of the cost of ownership of a Mac into a kind of ‘cable tax’ that needs to be considered as part of the overall cost of buying a Mac.