I thought the old charger connector was very prone to being twisted and breaking?<p>I had two of my old chargers that broke. I've also never had an issue with the new charger disconnecting during that last month with my new Macbook Air.
The new design is clearly just to accommodate the thinner profile of the rMBP. I guess Apple figured that the space savings was worth having a noticeably shittier connector latch; I think they're wrong.
I never use my laptop on my legs while plugged in. That's what the battery is for, and if it runs out of juice then I know I've been sat in the same position for <i>way</i> too long.
And soon you will go to apple and complain about your battery life... It's going to be pretty clear what caused it...<p>I do agree it's annoying, my solution is to use large kitchen tray so that the whole computer and it's surrounding is protected from my knees.
There are also easy to buy lap-desks (ikea has something), beanie bag underneath and flat plastic top.
IMHO charger on my late 2011 Macbook pro is a better design and i'm not sure why they moved away from it. Without getting into the discussion of the plug face changing, this one does come undone way too easily.