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Apple Instructs Chinese Users on Identification and Use of Genuine Apple Power Adapters
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Base on the logic...
People buying Porsche is a status symbol.
Those struggles to pay for gas and tyres should just drive the Porsche by filling it with water and bald tyres?
There are other phones in the market.
I wonder how much of a problem this really is. It's very sad that some people died, but how many Chinese are out there using knock off products? Can we really call all knock off products dangerous (and blame the victims, like some forum members are doing) because of that?
no one asked apple to invent a cable that includes its own ram and chip set which theyve only done to make even more money in the first place
the old one worked just fine or make it USB 3 at least
No one asked for Chinese knock offs that can kill you. But they exist. The lighting cables are more expensive due to the chips involved.
I for one am glad they made them without anyone asking. Thats how innovation works.
I am glad I don't have to constantly worry about orienting the cable correctly, less bulky connectors that actually work with most cases without removal. With better support for future standards not even invented yet.
this would only help the cheaters to make their fake accessories look more like the original ones.
thank god i dont live in china and secondly thank god i have a habit of always using the original accessories.
Yes, you don't get it.
You have absolutely no idea what goes into engineering a consumer electronic product, even as "simple" as a charger, and it's painfully obvious.
It doesn't take an engineer to know that garbage chargers are simpler than the good chargers. You can see there's simply more "stuff" in the pictures:
http://www.righto.com/2012/10/a-dozen-usb-chargers-in-lab-apple-is.html
Right, it's too expensive? You have any idea what goes into making something like this and how much people cost?
Think about it, taking a ballpark salary of an electrical engineer at $100,000/year, and a mechanical engineer at $100,000/year, and putting them on the task of making a safe, compact, and effective power adapter. Then paying $80,000/year per QA tester to verify all the ways it could get screwed up in real life usage, and checking to make sure it doesn't kill you.
Paying for all the certification tests for each country so that an independent organization can vouch that your design is reasonably safe.
A manager or two.
A team for making manufacturing dies and materials.
Paying to keep the engineers around for when manufacturing defects surface so that you have somebody who knows how it was supposed to work figure out why it didn't.
All the workers who actually help assemble the final product at the factory.
Paying the rent for the factory.
A ton of other stuff I don't know or that I forgot.
If you want a cheap charger, get a cheap charger. Don't complain if your cheap charger isn't as good as a more expensive charger.
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Me neither, but that's probably because most other phones arn't made of metal on the outside, and because other phones seem to have other problems with genuine chargers.
http://sammyhub.com/2013/07/09/galaxy-s4-fire-uae/
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I don't need a good charger. All I need is a cable that will charge my phone. That's it. Most people agree, which is why we don't want to put our hard-earned money into Apple's "intricate system" of a cable. I would rather have a simple cable that costs less to produce. It's a cable. Btw all that stupid stuff u just mentioned with factories. Have nothing to do with Apple. In case you don't know, that's not assembled here in the U.S It's assembled in China for literally pennies. The only thing you got right are the engineers and managers, and I simply don't care about that. I appreciate what they do for my phone, but for my charger, I'd rather not pay more for essentially the same functions as any other basic charger.
If the official Apple chargers in China are using a US-style plug (as in that picture), it's no wonder there are plenty of people using third-party ones.
My in-laws' apartment in China only has the standard three-angled-prong style socket that is traditionally used in China. Only newer apartments have universal sockets that support both the standard Chinese socket as well as the US and EU ones.
My in-laws' apartment in China only has the standard three-angled-prong style socket that is traditionally used in China. Only newer apartments have universal sockets that support both the standard Chinese socket as well as the US and EU ones.
If all you want is a charger and cable that will charge your phone, and that is all you care about, then go ahead and buy the dirt cheap one. The lady in the article had one. And it charged her phone fine.
All that "stupid stuff" you so ignorantly dismiss is why we have this news article in the first place.
Of course not, there is one way to find out how good they are. Try them at your own risk. I have. Bought 2 from Amazon ( because I wanted to save few quids) and they did look almoust identical like the Apple ones. However, one of them stoped working the following day and the other just over a week after. So cheap is not always the best choice really, at least for me. I think I am more then OK to pay £15 for a charger that last just as long as the phone does.
Yeah I'm sure Apple engineers spend time and r&d on that just so they can make more money on accessories. I'm sure Tim Cook walked in to Bob Mansfield's office and told him to do whatever he has to so Apple can charge more for a lightning cable.
You never know. The pursuit of money can put a lot of ideas into some people's heads.
I'm not saying APPLE couldn't sell their chargers for less, but one of the main reasons the fake ones are cheaper, is the fact that corners have almost always been cut in build-quality, and the quality of parts used.
Something to keep in mind, the next time you are tempted to save a couple of bucks.
A lot of people here are confusing third party with counterfeit.
A lot of these cheap chargers are sold as original apple ones. Yes people are stupid for thinking they can get a genuine charger for half the price but since when have people not been stupid?
These things are sold all over the world, not just china as some of you seem to think. A child was recently blown back across the kitchen by one in the UK, luckily she was ok.
This article isn't going to make a huge difference but it all helps.
A lot of these cheap chargers are sold as original apple ones. Yes people are stupid for thinking they can get a genuine charger for half the price but since when have people not been stupid?
These things are sold all over the world, not just china as some of you seem to think. A child was recently blown back across the kitchen by one in the UK, luckily she was ok.
This article isn't going to make a huge difference but it all helps.
I'd pay $20 to get the assurance I'm not going to die using the product. If Apple dropped them to $10, people would make $5 chargers. If they did them for $5, someone would do them for $2.. People will always try and save a buck, but at what cost....
I had a 1st Gen Nano, for which I had a Monster branded radio adapter for my car. The Monster radio adapter was Apple certified (which, yes, some people would call an Apple Tax). While starting my car one day with it all plugged in, the adapter and the Nano fried. Who knows if it was the car, adapter, nano.
I called Monster. They said I can go to any Apple outlet and get the adapter and nano replaced. I went to the apple store. Didn't have to show any receipts or anything. They acknowledged the Monster adapter was their responsibility, replaced it with a newer model, gave me a new nano. Sent me on my way.
Monster adapter was $60ish. I realized some of that "apple tax" is for centralized and easy support. I don't question why its better to go with the (reputable) brand name now.
Generic versions could have been found for around $10. My ex wife went through maybe 4 of them (just suddenly stopped working) in a matter of years. She would just order/try a new type.
I'm not a fan of paying a rediculous amount for cables and such, but it does show that the certification can add a bit more to the control of support. Could I have walked into an apple store and told them a chinese knockoff charger burned my nano? People do it all the time. I have witnessed it several in line for the genius bar. Should the rest of us pay in higher prices for apple to cover people's ignorant craving to save $20 on what their simple brains think is a single wire wrapped in plastic?
Should apple subsidize the support for chinese manufacturers that have no regard for human life?
Take your $5 usb plug and open it. Then take an apple one. Open it. Show it to an electrical engineer and get an educated opinion on which one properly safegards your equipment and you from injury, damage, fire, shock. Then form an opinion. (several websites have done this).
Also... monoprice is the worst culprit. People that spread the bull that monoprice isn't different from any chinese manufacturer, order a few more things from them. If they didn't ship replacement super-cheap dangerous items out next day with no questions asked, they would be the most hated company on the web. 90% of the crap they ship is pure crap, covered is heavily edited reviews and a reputation on hdmi cables that happen to work more than half the time.
I called Monster. They said I can go to any Apple outlet and get the adapter and nano replaced. I went to the apple store. Didn't have to show any receipts or anything. They acknowledged the Monster adapter was their responsibility, replaced it with a newer model, gave me a new nano. Sent me on my way.
Monster adapter was $60ish. I realized some of that "apple tax" is for centralized and easy support. I don't question why its better to go with the (reputable) brand name now.
Generic versions could have been found for around $10. My ex wife went through maybe 4 of them (just suddenly stopped working) in a matter of years. She would just order/try a new type.
I'm not a fan of paying a rediculous amount for cables and such, but it does show that the certification can add a bit more to the control of support. Could I have walked into an apple store and told them a chinese knockoff charger burned my nano? People do it all the time. I have witnessed it several in line for the genius bar. Should the rest of us pay in higher prices for apple to cover people's ignorant craving to save $20 on what their simple brains think is a single wire wrapped in plastic?
Should apple subsidize the support for chinese manufacturers that have no regard for human life?
Take your $5 usb plug and open it. Then take an apple one. Open it. Show it to an electrical engineer and get an educated opinion on which one properly safegards your equipment and you from injury, damage, fire, shock. Then form an opinion. (several websites have done this).
Also... monoprice is the worst culprit. People that spread the bull that monoprice isn't different from any chinese manufacturer, order a few more things from them. If they didn't ship replacement super-cheap dangerous items out next day with no questions asked, they would be the most hated company on the web. 90% of the crap they ship is pure crap, covered is heavily edited reviews and a reputation on hdmi cables that happen to work more than half the time.
apple can instruct all they like, but its not that China needs to even know something they already know.
The person who got shocked would have used a "non"-Apple charger. So really the person was at fault, not knowing what they were buying. Its got nothing to do with proper identification, since the person never used a genuine charger in the first place.
The person who got shocked would have used a "non"-Apple charger. So really the person was at fault, not knowing what they were buying. Its got nothing to do with proper identification, since the person never used a genuine charger in the first place.
Because you've manhandled them. I have had several PowerBooks and MacBook Pros and I have NEVER had that happen.
1) Don't pull on the cords. On a MacBook Pro, the Magsafe feature isn't meant to be a toy. It's only for accidents. Use the plug end to remove it, as you should with ANY electrical plug.
2) Do not wrap the cords tightly when storing the charger. I have even had some of the recalled MacBook/PowerBook chargers which did not give me any issues because I wrap the cords loosely.
3) When wrapping a phone charge cord, don't wrap the end over and around itself, or tuck the end through the wrapped loop. Wrap it loosely or don't wrap it at all.
4) If you stuff these cords in your pocket (as I do with my phone charge cord), you can expect them to not last as long. This is true of any cord.
These cords are obviously a bit delicate. Handle them appropriately.
I guess this is true. But still... I've used the fact that Nintendo charges $10 for an A/C adapter for their 3DS, and I'm sure they still make a profit.
What bothers me is you used to be able to get a 30 pin dock cable + usb plug for $29. Now they are $19 each only. What about in 5 years? $49 for a cable? I guess Apple would be the first to do so...