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Fake Apple Chargers Fail Safety Tests (bbc.com)

Posted by msmash on from the fake-products dept.

Investigators have warned consumers they face potentially fatal risks after 99% of fake Apple chargers failed a basic safety test. From a report on BBC: Trading Standards, which commissioned the checks, said counterfeit electrical goods bought online were an "unknown entity." Of 400 counterfeit chargers, only three were found to have enough insulation to protect against electric shocks. It comes as Apple has complained of a "flood" of fakes being sold on Amazon. Apple revealed in October that it was suing a third-party vendor, which it said was putting customers "at risk" by selling power adapters masquerading as those sold by the Californian tech firm.

5 of 121 comments (clear)

  1. Amazon's responsibility by DogDude · · Score: 3, Informative

    This is Amazon's responsibility. They're selling counterfeit, dangerous merchandise.

    --
    I don't respond to AC's.
  2. What's inside a fake by spaceyhackerlady · · Score: 4, Informative

    Here's a video taking one apart and reverse-engineering it to see why it's so crappy.

    You get what you pay for.

    ...laura

    1. Re:What's inside a fake by Solandri · · Score: 3, Informative

      Not that video. The "genuine" Apple charger turns out to be counterfeit, and not much better than the cheap generic charger. You're only going to be able to tell it's crappy if you're an electrical engineer who's dissected these before. (I took 2 EE courses in undergrad so understood most of the terminology he was using, but his rant about it being terrible was Greek to me.)

      This related video shows the insides of a genuine charger. Jump ahead to 9m 40s if you've already seen that first video showing the innards of a crappy charger.

  3. Re:Apple problem mostl or platform-independent iss by tepples · · Score: 3, Informative

    The closest thing to "something inherent about the Apple design" is Apple's tighter control over production of devices with Lightning and MagSafe connectors through refusal to license relevant patents. Android devices, on the other hand, use standardized USB micro-B and USB C connectors. Licenses for patents that cover standard USB connectors are offered under "FRAND" (uniform royalty) conditions. So any safe USB charger is a safe Android charger.

  4. Re:InOtherNews: Real Apple chargers fail budget te by SuricouRaven · · Score: 3, Informative

    It's worse than that. At work, we use trolleys for charging macbooks. Each trolley has fifteen slots, and fifteen magsafe cables coming from a common power supply.

    Except that there is no way to get those cables.

    Apple holds the patent. They make exactly as many connectors as they do chargers. They don't sell the connectors or cables separately. They will not allow anyone else to manufacture them. So on every one of those trolleys, for every one of those fifteen bays, we had to sacrifice an Apple charger. We chopped off the connector and had it incorporated into the trolley, and threw the charger body itsself away.

    And every time a connector needs replacing - which happens a lot, see above post on how awful magsafe connectors are from a durabiity standpoint - we have to buy another expensive charger, chop off the connector, and throw the rest away.

    You can get magsafe connectors on eBay, which I assume come from some knock-off-shop in China who are happily ignoring the patent. Supply is erratic, and we can't use them because they don't come from a known trustworthy supplier.