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.'"

Comments

Smart move

[ackthpt]

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.)

Who really made the charger?

[Dialecticus]

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.

Re:Why proprietary chargers?

[EvanED]

I think you've missed the point. The sort of chargers you are suggesting people buy are the very ones that have been injuring people.

Um, yes and no.

I have yet to have my phone burst into flames, and I've charged it through a microUSB cable from my computer for... well, years. And believe me, it's not a $20 microUSB cable.

Actually, this is probably what I have, and that costs £1.84, or under $3. Is Apple really $17 better at making USB cables than Nokia? Or perhaps you're suggesting that my Gigabyte motherboard or Enermax PSU is just waiting to kill me through my phone?

I'm not denying that there are cheap, poor-quality counterfeits. But that's a different issue. There are lots of companies that are perfectly capable of making decent hardware. Apple using a proprietary cable reduces the choices you have of good quality replacements in order to gain, from the perspective of a non-Apple user, almost nothing aside from the opportunity to give Apple more money.

(Things are different for some of their other connectors, like the magnetic power cord.)

Re:Why proprietary chargers?

[UnknowingFool]

The same reason you can buy a $3 HDMI cable off monoprice while Best Buy will sell you one for $20 at the cheapest. As long as it meets specs, it should be fine. The problem is that they can charge this price if you really want one right now. Now the problem in this case wasn't that the charger was merely third-party. It was that it was counterfeit and didn't pass any safety checks because they didn't have to pass them. The counterfeits only have to look like and work long enough to pass off as a real one. If it blows up later, that's not their problem.