Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

ZBoater

macrumors G3
Original poster
Jul 2, 2007
8,497
1,322
Sunny Florida
I bought two of the new 5W chargers from the Apple store, and they looks suspiciously IDENTICAL to the old 4s chargers. The store seems to make a distinction between the old charger and this new one, but the one that came in the box with the 5 is also IDENTICAL to the old 4s charger.

Can anyone please educate me on what the difference is? I am inclined to send the two I got back. @ $19 each I can buy something else....
 

Mercenary

macrumors 65816
Sep 17, 2012
1,241
626
I bought two of the new 5W chargers from the Apple store, and they looks suspiciously IDENTICAL to the old 4s chargers. The store seems to make a distinction between the old charger and this new one, but the one that came in the box with the 5 is also IDENTICAL to the old 4s charger.

Can anyone please educate me on what the difference is? I am inclined to send the two I got back. @ $19 each I can buy something else....

No different apart from the part number and a few internal tweaks. They output the same 5v 1a and charge at the same speed as the old charger and iPad charger.
 

mackmgg

macrumors 68000
Nov 2, 2007
1,660
572
No different apart from the part number and a few internal tweaks. They output the same 5v 1a and charge at the same speed as the old charger and iPad charger.

That and one comes with a 30-pin adapter.
 

Hankster

macrumors 68020
Jan 30, 2008
2,474
439
Washington DC
I bought two of the new 5W chargers from the Apple store, and they looks suspiciously IDENTICAL to the old 4s chargers. The store seems to make a distinction between the old charger and this new one, but the one that came in the box with the 5 is also IDENTICAL to the old 4s charger.

Can anyone please educate me on what the difference is? I am inclined to send the two I got back. @ $19 each I can buy something else....

I'm not sure but you are very confused. The previous iPhone charger has a 30 pin plug that goes into the iPhone (or iPad). The new iPhone 5 charger does NOT have a 30 pin plug, it has a new much smaller plug that's at least 75% smaller.

This is the NEW IPHONE 5 CHARAGER
600


Notice the smaller head? If what you purchased at the Apple store was only $19, then you did not buy an iPhone 5 charger.
 

flipshot

macrumors 6502a
Jul 30, 2007
590
35
Hertfordshire, UK
I'm not sure but you are very confused. The previous iPhone charger has a 30 pin plug that goes into the iPhone (or iPad). The new iPhone 5 charger does NOT have a 30 pin plug, it has a new much smaller plug that's at least 75% smaller.

This is the NEW IPHONE 5 CHARAGER
Image

Notice the smaller head? If what you purchased at the Apple store was only $19, then you did not buy an iPhone 5 charger.

Thats a cable not a charger. The charger goes into the mains and then the cable plugs into the charger. The charger itself has not changed, only the cable that plugs into the charger.
 

xraydoc

Contributor
Oct 9, 2005
10,721
5,143
192.168.1.1
I'm not sure but you are very confused. The previous iPhone charger has a 30 pin plug that goes into the iPhone (or iPad). The new iPhone 5 charger does NOT have a 30 pin plug, it has a new much smaller plug that's at least 75% smaller.

This is the NEW IPHONE 5 CHARAGER
Image

Notice the smaller head? If what you purchased at the Apple store was only $19, then you did not buy an iPhone 5 charger.

The OP is taking about the wall socket adapter, not the cable.
 

rick98761

macrumors 6502
Feb 18, 2005
385
6
Kansas City, MO
My 4s wall charger didn't work with my iphone 5, I had to go open the new one before it would charge

I had the same issue. My wife's 4s charger when used with my 5 activates charging icon on the phone but it never goes up. Eventually it just decides it isn't charging and the icon goes away. Very weird. Works fine with my kindle wall plug though :)
 

Jman13

macrumors 68000
Aug 7, 2011
1,569
277
Columbus, OH
My 4s wall charger didn't work with my iphone 5, I had to go open the new one before it would charge

That's bizarre. My 4S charger (or my wife's 4 charger...not sure which it was) worked fine with the lightning cord. As did my third party plug to USB adapter. I went to the Apple Store yesterday and got 4 lightning cables...one for my computer at work, one for my computer at home, one for the bedside table, and one for my car (to plug into a light socket USB adapter). Cheaper than buying a new dedicated car charger, and I can get it now. The one that came with it is on my lower floor plugged in behind the table where we keep all our daily items (wallets, phones, mail, etc.)
 

Daz-o-matic

macrumors newbie
Sep 16, 2012
27
0
Vancouver, BC
I'm looking at my 3GS and 5 wall warts side by side, and the only difference I can see are the serial numbers. Both are part #A1265.

So far I've only been charging my phone from my Macbook, but I just tried my old adapter and it seems to charge fine (indicator shows charge, and the battery percentage goes up).
 

drbf

macrumors member
Feb 27, 2011
34
0
tried three of my 4S chargers and all worked fine with the new lightning-usb
cable
 

BiggAW

macrumors 68030
Jun 19, 2010
2,563
176
Connecticut
I'd imagine the USB power adapter is the same, since it's just a USB interface. It's the cable that changed.

Correct. Send 'em back, and use whatever you have lying around. I use a generic car charger, an iPhone charger, and a mouse charger (meant for a Micro-USB cable) on a regular basis, and they all work fine.
 

ZBoater

macrumors G3
Original poster
Jul 2, 2007
8,497
1,322
Sunny Florida
Went to the Apple store and they had lightning cables in stock, so I traded the two USB wall chargers for two lightning cables and I'm all set. I'll use the old 4s chargers and other iPhone chargers I have lying around. But I also have an iPad so now I have two types of cables and chargers. Yuck!
 

Kirch

macrumors newbie
Jan 29, 2013
1
0
I purchased a bunch of iphone 5 lightning cables and they WILL NOT WORK in the wall plugs that came with my Iphone 4. they do acknowledge the phone but it never charges. However, above some people are stating the iphone 5 cable plugged into ANY ipod, iphone, etc wall adapter will charge their iphone 5. not the case for me.

can someone please explain more. seems to me that the wall adapter that came with my iphone 5 is def. different as it's the ONLY wall adapter that will charge my phone.
 

paulbennett95

macrumors 6502a
Aug 30, 2012
581
0
Long Island, NY
Went to the Apple store and they had lightning cables in stock, so I traded the two USB wall chargers for two lightning cables and I'm all set. I'll use the old 4s chargers and other iPhone chargers I have lying around. But I also have an iPad so now I have two types of cables and chargers. Yuck!
You could always just use the iPad charger for the iPhone as well as the iPad, as it'll work just the same (the iphone charger would be a lot slower with the ipad so I advice against it)
 

takeshi74

macrumors 601
Feb 9, 2011
4,974
68
can someone please explain more. seems to me that the wall adapter that came with my iphone 5 is def. different as it's the ONLY wall adapter that will charge my phone.
Have you verified that your charger that came with the 4 is working properly?
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.