I might be in the minority here, but I would prefer an ungrounded design with folding prongs.
I don’t see a huge benefit to grounding the unit since it’s made of plastic.
I do see a huge drawback, which is that in many countries (Japan, Taiwan, etc.) earthed outlets are not commonly available.
I realize you can use different cables and adapters to defeat the ground, but I think apple has a much smarter design here (ground only if you want it).
Grounding is important for the laptop itself and not for the power supply. Otherwise you as a user ground the laptop (through the touchpad in the worst case), which can create erratic inputs. There are several reports of such problems with crappy ungrounded power supplies on the Framework laptop and also on other brands.
If the Framework laptop comes to these markets, Framework can surely figure something out by shipping a special version of these power supplies.
But the AC and DC side should be isolated, so it’s not a big safety issue unless I’m missing something regarding the laptop’s operating voltage?
No, GROUND is always connected in anything with mains power, It isn’t technically isolated through the PSU if you look at grounding. When charging the main body needs to be referenced to ground meaning that they should be at the same power level.
Macbooks have shipped with no Earth pin for most of their laptop chargers since forever and none suffer from any input issues. Grounding isn’t the issue — it’s how well the charger is built. I’ve run my Thinkpad and now my Framework off of RavPower ungrounded USB-C adapters for almost a decade now, without any issues.
The point is that grounding can be an issue, not that it is or isn’t.
Individual cases and setups vary.
Exactly. Depending on the design, an ungrounded power supply will only be connected to the the mains wires. They’ll obviously not be connected to the low voltage side, but filter capacitors between mains and the low voltage side are common (and often required) . There might also be small leakage currents through the power supply. All of these things can under some circumstances push some unintended voltage level to the laptop case. Especially if the laptop isn’t grounded using other means (like with an HDMI or LAN cable).
So grounding is usually a little bit simpler and safer than designing a special power supply that will work flawlessly without ground connection. Not that that’s impossible.
If it’s been designed right, which it should be since it’s made by a PSU company.
Then all it needs is a different cable.
You are missing the point. Yes, cables like this exist:
But guess what, no one connects the ground because there usually isn’t anywhere to connect it to.
This is why almost all USB PD travel chargers do not require a ground - because in some countries it simply isn’t available.
The Framework charger is maybe an okay design for leaving at home, but as a travel charger, having a detachable cable already makes it pretty unworkable IMO. The fact it requires a ground makes it even worse.
Strange that the charger for a laptop built in Taiwan is basically unusable in Taiwan.
Why so they use the arrangement as the US and Mexico
You will not find type B (NEMA 5-15) outlets in residential applications in Japan and Taiwan.
Only NEMA 1-15 (type A)
But doesn’t the US and Mexico use type A?
Type A = ungrounded
Type B = grounded
The Framework adapter is…grounded
Outlets in North America accept both type A and type B.
Outlets in Japan and Taiwan look like this and only accept type A.
I’m with you on the types. I’m just thinking that if in the US they can use type A what’s the issue with Japan and Taiwan that makes the apapter “basically unusable”.
Do you mean only 1% of US residential properties use type A whereas 99% in Taiwan do ?
I don’t understand what it is you aren’t understanding.
The adapter framework sells requires a ground. Outlets in Japan and Taiwan do not have a ground.
From my readings the adapter doesn’t need a ground, it just has one, and people can use a C5 to Type A cable
I have several C13 to 2 pin Australian plugs. That don’t have that ground cord.
Yes, and this is exactly why we need to ground it (e.g. earthing)
Because without earthing, there is no reference to the DC side what “0 voltage” means, and thus in reality a ungrounded power supply will actually output AC 9.75V (and -9.75V) instead of 19.5V. if you reference to ground.
You can see my full post here.
Which is why I think the Type-B plug is very clever
Because in addition to fit its own 3-prong it also fits the 2-prong.
This, however, will be more annoying for countries like China, that use Type-I for the 3-prong and type-A for the 2-prong (the 2-prong won’t fit into the 3-prong), so people have to invent this … thing so their power strip can stay compact.
The round EU plugs (Type E and F, sometimes C) is not naturally a problem, IF, as I said, every socket (not necessarily the plug) in the world is a 3-prong. But no, not this time.
Great Britain, however, probably set the best example here – absolutely everything is grounded, and every single plug is 3-prong. With a fuse, too. Apple even have to make a special wall-wart for this country.
(on the side note, why on earth is there 20 different plus styles? Can’t we just agree on something?)
I see threads like these and it at least makes me think there is still one benefit of living in the UK over most other places. 
UK plugs aren’t necessarily grounded. The most common solution for phone and laptop chargers is to have a dummy (plastic) ground pin for the sole purpose of opening the shutters.
I should also point out that the IEC C5 to type C europlug contraption pictured a few posts above, as well as the IEC C17 to type I ungrounded described above, are almost certainly illegal in their respective countries.
The point is because the AC side is not directly connected to the DC side, there is almost no chance the user, who is touching the laptop, will be shocked with mains voltage (100-240v AC).
A grounded power supply would prevent them from being shocked with the ~20v DC charging the laptop, but it is debatable whether this is actually a problem (Apple clearly doesn’t think so; they stopped including the grounded extension lead in the box with their computers).
