Most people ??
Endemic ??
I wonder how many people fell foul of this dis - ease.
2 years later, goes with me travelling and the cable is fine, so it could be a bit frail in rough use though ??
3rd one 
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To provide some more data this finally happened to mine on the 90 degree end that was being used for the laptop after 2.5 years (original batch 2)
Batch 8 Feb 2022. Cable still fine
I should add it hasn’t travelled in the last year it’s fixed at home. 
I use a Fairtrade braided cable by Syllucid for travelling. 100W chipped.
Don’t try the magnetic ones. They failed quickly 5 in a row. ???
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Hey all,
I’m writing this post to basically report and perhaps even make a suggestion for the PSU cables, particularly the USBC cable for the 60w PSU. Right now I’m in the Dominican Republic, heat has been very present at about 80c on average. I have noticed that the USBC part of the cable is getting these “tears” I assume due to the heat. Meanwhile my USBC JSAUX red cable or any of my chargers (for my Lenovo Thinkpad T480, phone chargers, etc) have not been getting that. Now i know these cables are for delivering 60w and that may play a factor (combining the heat) but my suggestion is to, in the future, perhaps make some type of shielding for the plastic? maybe use a different type of material? so this can be avoided. I have attached pictures.
Thank You!
Doubt it’s the heat.
I’m charging my 11th Gen from Feb 2022. My meter reads 63W as I’m charging from 0%.
The cable isn’t getting ‘hot’ or even very warm.
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I fixed this problem on my cable using some heat shrink tubing (bought on amazon) to cover the split ends. In particular, I used 5/8" diameter tubing to get over the straight end usb connector. Slide the piece of tubing (cut to an appropriate length) over the straight-end connector, then down the length of the cable when fixing the right-angle end. The tubing I used had a 4:1 shrink ratio, but 3:1 might(?) work too.
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Nice work. It’s about time someone decided to do a repair. What happens to those frayed cables that people get replaced ???
I suppose a bit of extra could go on the cable before the shrink wrap or do it two or three times.
I was thinking possibilities are
a) a bit of gaffer tape first
b) a bit of other electrical wire insulator than can be sliced and wrapped or
c) my favourite is called ‘Shoe goo’. I use it to repair many things
but my cable is fine. It doesn’t travel with me. It’s fixed at home. I use an alternative Syllucid Fairtrade braided cable when travelling.
I don’t think mechanical wear or ambient temperature have much to do with this. I just noticed that the sheath is split and peeling on mine (purchased Feb 2023) both at the right-angle end and at a random spot near the brick – even though the cable is essentially never unplugged, the laptop never moved from its home, and both ends lie flat and supported. It’s straight up defective material that starts to disintegrate over time, quite possibly just due to air exposure.
It’s pretty weird that manufacturing defects around this were known to the company in mid 2022 at the latest, yet they kept selling bad product at least as late as my purchase. 
a) ‘They’ are not selling bad products, though clearly some of the cables seem unreliable and unsuitable.
b) They can test every cable and mine, in use since Feb 202 for some 6 hours a day shows no problems at all. Though for the last year or more, like yours it is stationary.
c) The air I breath and that the cable has to endure is in the South West of the UK in wooden cabin with wood heater. the temp ranges from -6°C to 40°C in the summer.
d) Clearly some cables are not really fit for purpose and there is a warranty so you can get a faulty one replaced.
e) Despite you experience in having a rather benign use I image the movement and flexing a cable goes under, especially for those that travel a fair bit, is the primary force that acts to damage the cable.
So if you think it is air pollution could be an issue then maybe test what you breath. I don’t think even smoking would be an issue given the way you describe.
Ultra violet light maybe, but still you say it degrades similarly to others near the plugs at either end.
Hope you find a reliable replacement and have had at least a warranty one meanwhile.