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I’m in the final stages of planning a 10-day, 100-mile hike in northern Spain in late November/early December – a pilgrimage along the final steps of the Camino Frances – and I’ve started collecting the pile of gear I’ll take with me. Because I’m carrying everything I’ll need (and there’s likely to be a lot of rain), everything needs to be small and neat.
Obviously I’ll be bringing some tech, so that means I’ll need a charging cable. And I want them to be clean. I thought about using one with a retractable cable, but that adds weight, and they get lost in the bag. Instead, I’ve chosen a cable that uses the power of magnets to wrap itself: the Static Magstack Pro,
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I can hear you now. “Oh no, Adrian’s talking about cable again. What’s exciting about cable?” Well, I share your suspicion. We are far from the days of talking about a cable as being able to last longer than the Apple cable included with the iPhone. They have to bring something new to the table. Well, it does.
At first glance, it looks like any normal, well-made cable. It can carry up to 100W of power, the connectors are strong and provide great strain relief, and it’s made of nylon so it resists snags.
It also comes in a variety of colors, from traditional black, stylish blue and, my favorite, bright blaze orange. Just need the color to make sure it doesn’t get lost in the bottom of my backpack. It is designed to be extremely sturdy, with the cord and connectors designed to withstand 10,000 bends and plug-ins.
Easy, tangle-free self-wrapping.
Adrian Kingsley-Hughes/ZDNET
But what makes this cable different are the magnets built into its length at regular intervals. These magnets seek out each other and, as if by magic, automatically bend the cable. You can easily make small coils. You can make big curls or small curls.
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And it works very well. One concern I had was whether keeping the cable bent would cause it to overheat when pushing the maximum power of 100W through it. No. The other day I had my MacBook Pro running all day, mostly folded, and it stayed completely cool.
Those who need to transfer data just be aware that the cable tops out at 480MB/s, so don’t use it to connect a Thunderbolt drive.
The Static MagStack Pro is a sturdy, high quality, well made cable.
Adrian Kingsley-Hughes/ZDNET
This cable is as good as they get, with the added benefit that it doesn’t get stuck in a big tangle in your bag!
ZDNET’s shopping advice
I’ve tried a few different magnetic cables over the years, and this is my favorite (so far). Many other self-wrapping cables are thicker than regular cables, and this makes them somewhat cumbersome. At any rate, I will be taking it on my upcoming trips, and after that it will come with me.
Static Magstack Pro comes in 3 feet And 6 feet Length, in three colors, 3-pack Both LengthThe 3-foot cable costs $23, the 6-foot cable costs $25, while the 3-pack costs $59 and $64, respectively.


