When I moved to Australia, I could only bring the CPU part of my desktop PC with me. I had to leave the display behind. I did not bring the keyboard as well, since I was planning to buy a mechanical keyboard from Australia. So my desktop PC is not currently functional. That means, I am stuck with my 2011 MacBook Air.
I really miss my desktop PC. What happened a few days ago made me miss it even more. The MacBook Air's charger got damaged. The charging adapter is intact, but the cable is damaged near the adapter. It was slowly coming apart since a week or so ago, and last night it had its last breathe.
I do not know what is wrong with Apple’s cable designs. I have had similar experience iPhone cables as well. But the iPhone cable is easily replaceable. With the MagSafe charger, the cable is permanently attached, so you need to take it apart, find a replacement cable and solder it again if you want to bring it back to life. There are eBay sellers who sell replacement cables and there are guides on how to solder it back. But that is not a urgent solution. Without the PC, I am lost. The phone is not a replacement for the laptop.
I needed an urgent fix, which meant that I had to buy a new charger. There is an Apple store about a 30-minute-bus-ride from the office. But the original MagSafe 45W charger would cost $129!
After seeing the prices, I wanted to look at cheaper 3rd party options from eBay and use the phone for the time being. But my luck is still strong, it seems. I was looking at eBay.com.au today and came across a few stores. They were obviously much cheaper than original. But one of them that was priced at $38 caught my interest. The seller was located very close to where I worked!!! It also was only a 30 minute bus ride (including walking) from work.
I messaged them and told them that I would come to their warehouse to pick one up and I asked them to reserve one for me. I got a response from them telling me that they will do as I requested. I also told them that I would bring my laptop, so that I could check it before buying and they agreed to that as well. So I went there during my lunch break, and bought the charger.
The new charger looks pretty much like the original. But the cable is a lot thicker than the original. I do not know if it is a good thing or not though. Time will tell. It charges the laptop pretty well too. It gets a bit warmer than the original, so the components probably are subpar. But I am not too worried about it as they gave me one year warranty for the charger. For all I know, the laptop might die before the charger does.
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