Looking around my desk, I see a MagSafe power supply, with strain relief on both ends, a Thunderbolt cable, with strain relief, an HDMI adapter, with strain relief, a Lightning cable, with strain relief...what are you even talking about?
What strain relief, the crappy flex neck that stiffens over time becoming itself a strain point making the cables fray on their discontinuity? (Note how normally strain releifs are graduated... but let’s not get function to prevail of form!)
I haven’t had an Apple laptop without the darn thing breaking after a couple years... it’s a tax, as well as guaranteed landfill material.
And I haven't had a power supply break yet. I still do not understand how people manage to ruin these things, unless they're yanking them from the cord itself or twisting it around. It seems like they stay together if you put just a bit of care into keeping them intact?
I'm guessing you don't use your laptop in your lap. It is impossible to avoid some strain on the cable while the computer is on your lap, because it must hang unsupported.
Use it this way for a while and I guarantee that no matter how much you care, the plastic will splinter exposing the inner cables and eventually shorting them.
I do use my computer in my lap; the strain is minimal and has no real effect on durability. That's like a couple of ounces of weight–there's no no way that will permanently damage the cable.
There should be no way, but as plenty of people can attest to... it happens. Really, why would so many people be complaining if it wasn't true?
I'm still using my late 2011 machine as a daily driver, day in and day out. I think you can agree I don't generally mistreat my stuff (or the thing would be destroyed already). I'm telling you I've been careful with the charger cables, and still got 3 of them to fry this way.
You may or may not believe me, but at least you should understand that my opinion (and many others') is that those cable strains are unfit for their purpose.
The cables absolutely do fray but the flex neck you are referencing clearly is a strain reliever, just one that was designed with a lot more focus on aesthetics than function. I do sympathize with hating the cables because I used to go though one myself about every 18 months or so until my work laptop was replaced with one that charges over USB-C. However, I still feel like the original basis for this thread is a hyperbolic claim and I think it's pretty fair to respond by pointing that out.
They didn't remove strain-relievers, they just moved to ones that look better but don't work as well. That they didn't remove the strain relievers entirely is plainly clear by just looking at their cables. The lower durability from the change was a side-effect that they accepted (well ok, that Steve Jobs rammed through) for the aesthetic benefit, not the goal.
What did you people expect?