Apple MacBook Pro Interference Due To Lack Of Ground
My work computer is an M1 MacBook Pro. Aluminum-bodied MacBooks using Apple's official power adapter in the United States have an infamous issue. The power adapter isn't grounded. That's why sometimes the body of the laptop feels... fuzzy. You're feeling a little bit of stray current from the 60 hertz mains power buzzing through the body of the laptop.
It doesn't have to be this way. If you remove the US adapter from Apple's power brick, you'll find it anchors to a metal stud. That's supposed to be for grounding the power supply. In fact, adapters for some other countries properly use that ground. Not in the US, though. Who knows why?
Besides being a little uncomfortable to the touch, this can cause real problems. I usually plug my MacBook Pro into an external monitor via a USB-C dongle that connects to an HDMI cable that connects to my monitor. My monitor properly grounds the HDMI cable. That ground is enough to fix the grounding issue of my MacBook Pro. However, my personal laptop, a Framework 13, sits on top of the MacBook. Sometimes when I plug the very same USB-C adapter into my Framework laptop instead, bad things start to happen. Sometimes the power button on my Framework laptop simply refuses to work. (This scared the shit out of me until I realized what was going on.) Very occasionally I'll get interference on the (admittedly super thin) HDMI signal. Unplugging the MacBook Pro from power or moving the Framework laptop solves the issue.
What solved the issue more permanently was a recent monitor upgrade. I got a Dell P2425HE monitor today. It has a USB-C port with 90 watt charging capability. I chose to plug the MacBook Pro into that instead of the Apple power brick. Dell properly grounds the monitor and the USB-C port. Finally, the interference is gone even when the MacBook Pro is not connected to the HDMI cable.
The issue about Apple's lack of ground on their charger is well-documented throughout the internet. The purpose of this post is to document that the issue can do more harm under the right circumstances than just feeling a little weird to the touch. Also, there are workarounds like the one I found if you really care, but you're going to have to charge your Apple laptop using a properly grounded third-party charging solution.
Please, please, PLEASE, Apple. I know you're not reading this, but please ground your charging bricks in the United States already!
Also, please, Framework, try to shield your laptops a little better. But this is absolutely Apple's fault, not Framework's.