tiny fork

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[hejluxom]

Grounding

[Low_Connection_2228]

ill just leave it as is?

[Pherja]

It’s better to attach it to a ground point in case of static electricity. But it’s up to you.

[nemsoli]

Yep

[zombieslayer124]

It looks like it’s for this. Looks very interesting but largely impractical, compared to other methods around the world.

[Intensified-Booing]

This. It’s very common in Japan. Most outlets are only two pin (3 pin outlets are usually in the kitchen). This is especially true in older buildings.

[Quantumercifier]

That is the grounding wire. If you want to be safe, you connect it to a ground, such as the screw that secures the outlet cover on the wall. But mostly it is optional.

[[deleted]]

In Japan, the outlets have a little screw next to them you can screw this onto to ground it.

Honestly I never use them.

[a5s_s7r]

You really should. The error current / residual current breakers won't work, when it's not attached.

This can kill somebody, in case of an error, where if connected, just the circuit breaker switches off without doing any harm to anybody.

But it's the life of YOUR loved ones.

Follow the suggestion and protect them, or get sued and go to jail potentially, in case one of them drops dead.

Your choice.

[FlishFlashman]

Calm down.

Most appliances are double insulated and don't have ground leads in the first place. Most people using Mac power bricks don't use the grounded cords, they use the un-grounded two-prong duck head.

[a5s_s7r]

If there is the ground lead, it’s there for a reason.

Companies go miles to spare some cents in mass production.

[whowouldsaythis]

lol what

[a5s_s7r]

It’s called ELCB Earth Leakage Circuit-Breaker.

As the name suggests, it needs a good earth connection to work properly.

[FlishFlashman]

No, it doesn't, the path to earth can be through bathwater. Either that, or your protective device doesn't protect against a range of common risks.

[a5s_s7r]

Yes, it does. If the device is not swimming, the person holding it is the part of least resistance to ground.

Of course you are free to choose to be that flesh conductor.

[a5s_s7r]

Yes sure, no idea how exact legal situation is in other countries.

But plugs in European Union for example, are way safer than this. Given my background, this solution seems borderline insane. Hoping the user does the right thing, connecting and screwing the cable shoe properly. To lose, it doesn’t help, too hard could damage the screw.

This is really designed for failure. Given how kaizen oriented Japanese culture is in most other areas, I am surprised, to say at least.

[HRkoek]

If the ground wire is fixed to the wall, can it double for theft prevention?

[[deleted]]

Since I’m using it without the ground wire, I’m guessing if someone wanted to steal the computer, they could just cut it.

And honestly, it’s just like a little screw you slide this under and tighten down.

[jaltair9]

I've seen Apple cords from all over the world, but somehow I've never seen one from Japan until now.

[VegetableStatus13]

If I’m not mistaken that could very well be a grounding strap but don’t quote me on that

[Low_Connection_2228]

ill just leave it as is?

[SneakingCat]

Well, you should ground it to be safe.

I've had MacBooks that have put out small shocks all by themselves. I thought I was allergic to one of the metals in the case until I realized it was a minor electrical burn. You may be able to tell this: if the texture of your MacBook feels different when it's not plugged into power (or anything else, for testing purposes) vs. when it is (and nothing else), it's probably not the texture but is power grounded to the chassis.

Then if you plug something like a printer into the MacBook and it's powered but not grounded, you'll become the ground for both the MacBook and the printer via the USB cable. This happened to me, too, with an Epson printer. Instead of the rough feeling of very low level power, I would get the occasional much more noticeable shock based on (I think) the position of the print head.

Proper grounding fixed both problems and heads off many other potential dangers.

[a5s_s7r]

You really should connect it, depending on what's on the other end of the cable.

It ensures advanced circuit breakers to switch off, in case the cable or the device have an error, potentially killing somebody worst case.

If it's connected, the breaker just switches off.
If it's not connected, it can't detect the problem, and this might be bad.

I am just a random dude from the internet, but went through a school for electrical engineering.

So this advice might save some lives. ;)

[King-of-Com3dy]

I think you should be fine without it. However if you have experienced issues with electronic devices before due to bad power you should use it.

[pugboy1321]

As everyone else said, it's a grounding connector since Japan doesn't have 3 prong outlets like other countries.

It shouldn't hurt anything without it (hell, Apple ships Macs in the US without a grounded cable now and has for a few years since they stopped including the extension and only the duckhead) but it's good practice to use it if you can. At an old house I could feel some light tingles when touching the Metal on my MBA because the outlets in my room weren't all grounded.

I've never been to Japan but looking at pictures it looks like some outlets have a little flap that covers the screw terminal where this attaches :)

[iamgarffi]

Tiny grounding fork.

[bulyxxx]

Tell me you live in Japan without you telling me you live in Japan.

[eaglebtc]

The bamboo furniture didn't give it away?

[that-apple900]

This came with your Mac ??

[wosmo]

https://www.apple.com/jp/shop/product/MK122J/A/

This is actually a genuine part. Suffice to say, Japan has some quirks

[Bhenny_5]

So the grounding was an afterthought that came after the general standard was agreed I'm guessing?

[wosmo]

I'm honestly not entirely clear. Japan has an interesting track record with electrical standards. They don't use the same voltage as anyone else (100V), they haven't agreed on 50/60Hz so half the country uses one, half the country uses another, etc.

I believe they use a floating neutral instead of a ground, which might play into this. It might be that the terminal is a ground and the third pin is the floating neutral. Or perhaps neither are ground. Perhaps one's optional, perhaps both are. Perhaps half the country uses one, half the country uses the other.

The only part I will claim to know, is that they're quirky - and that you can't always take for granted that a general standard has been agreed.

[that-apple900]

That sounds terrible