The OP is referring to Apple's iPhone power/usb connector cable, as seen in this picture: http://i.imgur.com/yAywo.jpg. The dock connector strain relief is decidedly weaker (I have had two or three break on me personally) than other Apple products.

One thing that is interesting is how Apple's Industrial Design team, mentioned in the post, affected the design of the new Macbook power adaptors (like the one you linked to, http://www.cl.ly/0r2n2S2z1b3K0L1E0R3t). The old ones had the cord coming out perpendicular to the laptop. I liked that design a lot better than the new style, which is a bit awkward to plug in and leaves you either:

1. With a cord facing out the back of the laptop, then (probably) looping around 180 degrees and back to the power outlet, or

2. With the cord running parallel next to the laptop, completely blocking the ethernet port.

Obviously neither of these solutions is streamlined or Apple-like, so I wonder if the ID dept made the trade-off of a parallel connector with minimal strain relief, or a perpendicular connector with built-in strain relief.

Early Macbook Airs are to blame for that weird power connector. Look: http://www.slashgear.com/gallery/data_files/3/macbook-air-ha... The industrial design division probably wanted a thin bevel on all sides, and there is no way a classic connector would fit between the macbook and the table and retain the magsafe feature.

Latest macbook airs no longer need this hack and I think Apple will shift back to normal power connectors sometime soon because these metal ones are no good for anything except possibly for those monitor-to-laptop power cords.

I thought I read that one of the purposes for the new connectors was strain-relief related?

The old MagSafe connectors were a pain to use if you wanted to bend the cable towards the back and really seemed like an improvement (at least for my use). I admit I haven't tried them, though.

I doubt Apple will shift back to the normal power connectors unless they come up with a new design, though -- what's the point in going back?

i actually prefere this connector because on the classic on if I and sitting on the floor crosslegged with my laptop on my lap the old cable pops out.

This. Also if you're reading with the computer sideways in bed, this puts crazy strain on the old adapter, but the new adapter is just fine.

Huh? My power outlet is nearly always right behind where my laptop is. A cord facing out the back of the laptop is perfect for this - no more 90 degree turn.

I bring my Air to and from work every day; at work I have a power strip under my desk, and it's easier to access from the front (and also less of a hassle to unplug and replug every evening and morning). At home I have a power strip under the front of my couch; when I have the laptop on my lap on the couch the cord goes out the back, but if I place the laptop on my coffee table, the cord comes back to the front.

Do I represent a common use case? Dunno...

At work I have the fat grounded extension cord thingy plugged into the strip under the desk, with the end kept above the desk. When I get to work I just hook that to the brick. No need to crawl under the desk.

You're right, I generalized: the position of the power outlet varies with every place you plug in your laptop. However, I often find myself with the outlet behind me (i.e. sitting against the wall at an airport, restaurants; I take my laptop out of the house with me frequently), so I run into this problem. I liked the perpendicular adapter because in the worst case, the cord had to make a 90 degree turn.

Out of curiosity, how often are you using the Ethernet port at those places?

Haha, good point. I said ethernet because it is the first port blocked. The cord also blocks the display port and makes the first USB port awkward to use (this is the biggest annoyance for me, as I often have flash drives/my iPhone/a USB keyboard with me and there are only two USB ports on the laptop).

Also note older generation MB(P)s that are on newer-generation power adapters (I'm on my fourth power connector since I got my MBP in '07 -- two of them have used the new design) have a blocked USB port, not a blocked ethernet port, which is significantly more problematic for portable use.

You missed the worst part of the new magsafe. They don't perform the job magsafe was invented for: preventing an accident from yanking your laptop off a table.

Out of the 4 possible directions a cable can be yanked - 2 of them (towards the laptop body and the direction the magsafe cable is pointing) are now more likely to pull the laptop than they are to safely disengage the cable.

How did someone not notice this?

I have both on my table, so I tested it: new MagSafe releases much easier to the left; worse than the old one forward and backward; equally bad to the right; and, unlike old, doesn't release up at all for quite some distance.

This is the same issue as the old straight vs 90 deg headphone plugs.

Yeah, here's the adapter from my 2004 PowerBook: http://imgur.com/RTLKM

I've had two of those catch on fire from where the wires became exposed near the RCA + 1/8" headphone jack connector.

This is the same design used on older (circa 1994) Powerbooks, like the 520.

Here is a generic adapter for a 520. You can see the same connector...

http://cdn1.iofferphoto.com/img/item/138/470/449/Hsai.jpg

It's interesting that the older ones DID have the vented / slotted strain relief sheath.

I wonder how much more expensive that is to manufacture vs a stylistically cleaner, simpler solid sheath.

And despite the article author's claim, the old style connectors also frayed, usually right at the strain relief. In my experience, while the magsafe style strain relief isn't perfect (it's showing a little wear after two years), it's lightyears ahead of the old barrel connector which required replacing every 9 months.

Injection molded plastic? I'm guessing the cost difference is negligible or non-existent.

I had a 2005 PowerBook with the same adapter, and, despite the slightly better strain relief, it still broke after a few years. And, like another poster mentions, it caught on fire (tiny tiny fire, really just the next step up from smoldering). That was... not so awesome.

The Magsafe ones are far too elastic and thus too weak.

I'm typing this on a 2006 MacBook Pro, which still works nicely, but this is my third power supply. The first one died at the transformator junction, and the second one at the plug junction. The new connector, introduced with the MacBook Air, looks more sturdy, but the transfo junction is still as weak.

My brother experienced the same problem once (at the transfo junction).

This is purely speculation, but maybe they're more careful with the higher power ones that can catch on fire... I've had older PowerBook power adapters short out to the point of sparks and smoke...

They've gotten better recently. I think the best example of this is the USB to dock connector cables, where the strain relief for the phone/iPod end is woefully inadequate.

Some teams may be more experienced than others? I just noticed the strain relief on my latest-gen power adapter. I never noticed that before. It is so cool.

I have a 2007 magsafe power adapter. It looks pretty much the same.