Griffin expands BreakSafe line w/ 100W magnetic USB-C cable for new MacBook Pros, USB-A adapter, car & wall chargers

Griffin today announced new products for its line of BreakSafe products with magnetic breakaway connectors that mimic the functionality of Apple’s legacy MagSafe technology. Among the new products is an updated BreakSafe Magnetic USB-C Breakaway Cable for the 2016 MacBook Pro, as well as a new USB-A adapter, a car charger, and a wall charger that all use the BreakSafe magnetic connectors.

Griffin started selling an older version of the BreakSafe Magnetic USB-C Breakaway cable after Apple first released the 12-inch MacBook that used standardized USB-C instead of Apple’s proprietary magnetic MagSafe connectors. But we noted following the introduction of the new 2016 MacBook Pro that also made the switch to USB-C that the Griffin product was only powerful enough to offer 60W of power, not quite enough for the 87W needed to power the larger Pro models at fully. That’s why the updated “Hi-Power” version Griffin is showing off at CES has been designed for a capacity of up to 100 watts. USB-C certainly has many advantages, but losing the magnetic MagSafe safety feature in the process wasn’t one of them. BreakSafe fixes that. 

Unfortunately, the new 100W product loses the Apple-like aesthetics of the previous version (as pictured above). The previous version compatible with 12-inch MacBooks– still available for $39-– sports a slimmer design that fits in with Apple’s black and aluminum look of the MacBook.

The new Hi-Power BreakSafe USB-C cable won’t be ready until Q2, but Griffin will have a new USB BreakSafe adapter ($19) in the first quarter of this year that adds the magnetic connector to other devices with USB-A and power/data at speeds up to 480 Mbps.

BreakSafe Car Charge and BreakSafe Wall Charger (both $39.99) will round out the lineup in Q2. Those will bring the BreakSafe line over to phones and tablets too, allowing support for a large range of tablets and smartphones and power via USB. 

Griffin is also showing off a new Connected Coffee Maker ($99.99) and Connected Toaster ($99.99) will both be available Q2 2017. Connected Mirror ($999.99) is scheduled for late 2017.