Vinpok Bolt
Magnetic USB-C protection
$50 (about £38) FROM Vinpok, bolt.vinpok.com NEEDS MacBook or MacBook Pro with USB-C
The thing everyone seems to miss on current MacBooks is the MagSafe
port. Apple’s magnetic connector didn’t make the leap to its USB-C charge cables, leaving a gap for third-party cables to plug. Unlike rivals such as Griffin’s 60W BreakSafe cable, Bolt supports the higher demands of the 15-inch MacBook Pro.
As Apple’s USB-C ports aren’t magnetic, Bolt has two bits: the cable and a magnetic tip you can leave in your Mac; an extra tip is $20 (about £15).
With your MacBook on a tabletop, a tug directly away from the Mac tends to pull the tip out of the port, but we’ve experienced that with Apple’s non-magnetic cable, too. The important test is lateral movement, and it doesn’t take much of that for Bolt to serve its purpose by disconnecting.
As with MagSafe 2, we had variable results when lifting a MacBook Pro from a table to our lap; with care, Bolt remains connected, but it doesn’t take much tension for the cable to droop and then pull away – but then Bolt is still doing its job, protecting itself as well as your Mac.
Our MacBook Pro reported delivery of 86W of power. To test heat generated, we ran an hour’s worth of demanding 4K to 1080p video transcoding in HandBrake; the connector didn’t get concerningly warm.
Bolt comes in a protective pouch, with a mesh net for a small item. It costs twice as much as Apple’s 2m charge cable, but the value of that lies in how much you value your Mac.