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Apple Announces a Trade-in Program For Third-Party Chargers
EliSowash writes "In response to recent reports of safety concerns around third-party chargers for iDevices, Apple announced today that beginning August 16, 2013, you can trade in your third-party adapter and purchase an official Apple charger at a 'special price' — $10 USD. From their website: 'To qualify, you must turn in at least one USB power adapter and bring your iPhone, iPad, or iPod to an Apple Retail Store or participating Apple Authorized Service Provider for serial number validation. The special pricing on Apple USB power adapters is limited to one adapter for each iPhone, iPad, and iPod you own and is valid until October 18, 2013.'"
It's a one-off of getting a garbage cheap charger and taking it in with ten zorkmids (they'll check off your i-doodad, so you can only do it once) and getting a first rate (well, Apple anyway) charger for a discount (from their usually high prices.)
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
and a couple of iPods...
So, $20 for a couple of Apple chargers, which I assume all charge everything non-Apple up to 500mA now? Is there a catch?
Or I could take that $10 and buy a thousand cheap knockoffs at wholesale prices straight from China and throw them out as they die.
Perhaps this is a stupid question, but why does Apple like to use proprietary chargers/connectors so much in the first place?
It may be that poor-quality third-party chargers could damage the device. But then I have to ask, why are iDevices so fragile in the first place? It seems most other smartphones have a standard USB port and can work with any old 5V power supply.
they'll throw you out after YOU die.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/innovations/wp/2013/07/15/apple-investigating-claims-that-iphone-electrocuted-chinese-woman/
why does Apple like to use proprietary chargers/connectors
They don't use proprietary chargers. The chargers have a standard USB port into which you can plug anything.
They use proprietary connectors on the phone end because they are smaller (at least now), also more usable (the current and old connectors are less prone to damage than micro-USB) are easier to attach (the current device plug can go in either way) and also can offer advanced capabilities instead of USB.
The chargers do have a special ability to deliver more power to an iOS device, but that's only because the charger is built to recognize when an iOS device is attached that can handle a larger power flow.
It may be that poor-quality third-party chargers could damage the device.
Generally they can't. But they can be badly grounded and damage you (which actually happened recently).
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Apple, in its infinite generosity, will allow you to bring in a cheap third-party adapter and will sell you a genuine one at only a 200% markup, instead of the usual 2000% markup.
Crikey! All my iPhones and other iProducts are stolen. I guess I'll just have to steal the charger too.
It's getting so an honest criminal can't get by with life.
if the phone has another connection to earth ground (say, through the audio jack connected to another piece of equipment), a damaging current could then flow to ground THROUGH the phone's internal circuitry.
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Not only is Apple is making a statement -- "third-party hardware is real junk compared to ours" -- but they will probably still make a bit of profit selling these things for $10.
That that is is that that that that is not is not.
It's been weeks and still nobody has been able to CONFIRM whether it was a 3rd party charger or not? Seriously, it should take 30 seconds.
Exactly! I've been looking for anything that explicitly states whether the electrocution was caused by a counterfeit charger or a genuine one, and I have yet to find it. Instead I find cleverly worded PR from Cupertino that discusses the potential hazards of knock-off chargers, but without ever specifically stating that the charger in question wasn't one of their theirs. I find this curious.
They're still making money on their walled garden locked in standards rejecting chargers. IOW, you're still getting ripped off.
Over time Apple may support that spec. It seems somewhat new still (last updates were May 2012) and looking on Amazon there are not a lot of third party chargers that support it either.
It's also a bit unclear reading the spec that it can supply as high a voltage as the newer Apple chargers deliver, if the spec can't deliver as good performance then it may be a reason to stay away from it (and for other competitors not to use it also).
What other newer phones support this standard? That is unclear also.
The spec makes for an interesting read. I had not realize before that USB power pins are longer than the data pins. I guess that was traditionally to give a device a short time to power up before data requests started flowing? It makes it a bit tricky to properly detect if data will be present or not though, very timing dependent and I wonder if you could trick the standard just by sliding in the connection really slow...
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
and even with this so called 'trade-in' Apple makes a profit on every swapped charger, so it's a win-win situation for Apple..