My all-time favorite accessory for the MacBook Pro — and pretty much anything that features a USB-C port — is now cheaper than ever.
They’re the USB-C magnetic breakaway connectors that act much like the old MagSafe connectors used to work.
Don’t remember MagSafe?
That was the name for the magnetic breakaway charger connector that Apple used to have on MacBooks before moving over to USB-C. MagSafe was awesome.
And then Apple abandoned it.
But worry not! With these tiny connectors, you can now have the old MagSafe experience on any USB-C port you use, whether it’s on a MacBook, smartphone, tablet, laptop, or even power banks and chargers.
Not only do these connectors break away cleanly if you accidentally yank the power cable, they also make plugging in the charger cable much quicker and easier — you can even do it in the dark or without looking!
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I’ve tested these with all sorts of USB-C devices — even the latest 16-inch MacBook Pro that comes with the 96W charger — and not had a problem with them.
You can currently pick a 9-pin USB-C magnetic breakaway connector for $15.99 (click the checkbox to apply a $2 coupon) which are perfect if you do not want the 10 Gbps data transfer rate that supports 4K video @ 60Hz (the 9-pin version only supports data speeds up to 480Mb/s). If you want to support 4K video @ 60Hz over the USB-C connector, you need to 20-pin version, which sell for $21.79.
Both the 9-pin and 20-pin versions feature a green LED that tells you if the connection is sound, which is handy because sometimes the connector might look like it’s connected when it isn’t (which also happened with MagSafe).
Get one. Get a few. They are super useful. They’re so good, I think Apple should bundle them with new MacBooks.
Although, maybe there was a financial incentive behind why Apple abandoned MagSafe in the first place.
A word of warning — don’t go for the 6-pin versions out there — all the ones I’ve tested have been poor quality, so I don’t recommend you buy them.