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99 Percent of Fake Apple Chargers Sold Online Fail Safety Tests

I have a drawer full of various USB chargers. Some are from Apple, some are from Belkin, some are from mobile phone chargers (Huawei etc), and some are fake Apple chargers. I went through the drawer a couple of months ago and threw out all the obvious fake ones. Some were easy to spot (uneven plastic coating on the pins, fading printing, mis-aligned USB port etc) but I worry I haven't spotted all the fakes.

Now I think I have about 75% real Apple USB chargers mixed with 25% good-looking fake ones, and I'm reluctant to throw out the whole bunch and start again with Apple-only chargers from their website / physical store. But on the evidence of this article, that's looking like the best thing to do.

And don't get me started on the nightmare of attempting to buy replacement Apple laptop power chargers on Amazon or Ebay. I've had to give up on that, it's impossible to tell what is what.

I've had friends have their laptop batteries wrecked by genuine-looking fake laptop chargers. I ask them 'where did you get it from?'. They say 'Ebay / Amazon'. I don't even need to look at it to know it's fake, end of story, and their laptop battery is swollen up and bust.

My next job is to test all my USB chargers and cables with an electronic tester to try to identify and discard any outliers. I've brought a nifty USB voltage tester for £10 from Amazon and will test the amperage / readings on my cables and chargers:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01DIPF350

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TallManNY said:
But how do you buy these online and know you aren't get a fake. Their site pushes you to Amazon, so maybe it pushes you to a real product there. But even that says "Fulfilled by Amazon" so I think that means that Amazon will connect you with a seller or product that they have in their warehouse and it might be a counterfeit.
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I think you, and a lot of others in this thread, are confusing "counterfeit Apple" with not made by Apple. As has been noted, chargers from Belkin, Kensington, Aukey, etc. are perfectly fine so there's no need to buy Apple branded chargers. Those are not made by Apple and are not counterfeit. Counterfeit chargers are chargers masquerading as genuine Apple product. If you want genuine Apple, probably best to get it from Apple or a trusted retailer. If you want a cheaper charger, they're easy to get and don't have to be counterfeit.
 
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Hopefully Apple will help Amazin then to stop them going on sale? It needs a joint effort really.

I would just buy it from Apple or John Lewis or Currys etc. Apple are certainly not the only ones who have a counterfeit problem.
 
One great non-Apple USB charger is the IKEA KOPPLA, a 3-port 3.4A charger (max 2.4A per port) for € 8,-. I use them everywhere and they have a safe PCB design, see this vid:


I personally never trust 230V (or 120V) chargers from China. I own a fake Apple one that I just don't dare to use after seeing Clive's videos (above link). The PCB's often have 0.x mm seperation between high and low voltage. One drop of condensation, one spec of dust on that spot, and there will be 230V on your iPhone (or the Lightning cable, which has an exposed end!). A fried iPhone is the least of your worries, it can cost you your life!

The problem is multidimensional: Apple chargers are too expensive (that's THE main reason why there are fakes in the first place), people (and even Amazon or eBay) can't tell a fake from a geniune one without opening it up (which you can't expect a consumer to do), UL/CE markings are paper tigers with no enforcement, manufacturers can't be held accountable because of the corrupt justice system in China and the (at least here in Europe) massive grey import via sites like AliExpress/DealExtreme etc. making safety laws unenforcable.

If you don't have knowledge about electronics, just check Google and Youtube before purchasing a charger. And don't judge on the casing! Dangerous ones can look very appealing.

PS: remember the Apple A1300 5W charger? It too had a design error, forcing Apple to recall them and swapping them for the A1400. Just shows that even genuine brands can make mistakes in charger designs, making it even more difficult for consumers (not all products from a certain brand have the same quality or safety level).
 
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Did anyone ever compile a list of trusted/tested brands to buy from.


Apple loves to talk about being green and environmental and stuff but fail to give you multiple USB plugs on one charger brick when they know full well people own multiple devices!!!
 
Glad to see we immediately jumped to the subject of Apple charging a lot for their cables. :p

In all fairness, lots of third party accessory-makers (PureGear, Belkin, Moshi, etc) charge $20-30 for their cables. There are a couple cords that Apple's a bit ridiculous about (Lightning to HDMI and MagSafe come to mind) but the standard Lightning cords aren't overpriced.
 
Porco said:
That's a serious charge, but I have to agree.

Surely there should be a happy medium where everyone can buy a safe, properly insulated chargers without being price-gouged by Apple?

It would be nice if Apple took the lead (ahem) on this and said 'you know what, people dying or losing their homes because a power adapter they bought in good faith is a ridiculous situation, we are going to sell all our power adapters at cost price, because it's just too important, and if you're not dead, you're approximately 99% more likely to buy an Apple product again than if you are dead, so it's a win for us too'.

A 5W USB power Adapter in the UK, from Apple, costs £19. Come on Apple, you can do better than that, I don't believe it costs more than a couple of pounds to make and you're selling it to people who have spent hundreds your products already. Help keep your customers alive! :D
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I think the opposite. I don't think apple is price gouging but instead paying what it costs to specify something to proper standards. We've been spoilt by cheap crap from China etc that it's become the price we expect when it actually costs a lot more!

Ironically there are brands like Anker that are Chinese but build to a proper standard that escape being faked for now.

As for the actual product a single usb power brick is pointless. I personally buy usb power banks that can charge all my devices at once. It's almost a waste of money to attach a plug to a single usb, it boggles my mind that you would think that represented value or convience.
 
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I think just a few people are getting a little confused. The article is about counterfeit chargers; i.e Ones that are sold to look like Apple chargers in every way, even down to the branding and print etc.

This doesn't mean that all chargers that aren't manufactured by Apple are going to blow your house up.

But how are you going to spot these counterfeit goods?
It's easy, dummy. They cost a lot less than the Apple ones. (Usually). Duh.
 
OllyW said:
This article is about cheap dodgy counterfeit goods. You will be perfectly safe buying cheaper chargers made by reputable manufacturers that are sold by reputable retailers who are all above board and are not bypassing the safety regulations. Apple is not the only the only company in the world that can make safe chargers.
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But is the only one company that can be trusted without feeling uncomfortable.
 
funny enough, the one that ACTUALLY did blow up was the apple charger i got with my macbook. the aftermarket one i got from ebay is going 3 years strong.
 
To the average customer, a USB charger is a USB charger. You even get them included in wall sockets now.
How can you tell that an expensive charger is a not just an overpriced cheap/crappy/dangerous charger?
What defines a reputable brand?
What about all the USB chargers bought to power non-Apple hardware? Surely these people are not going to buy an Apple-brnaded model...
 
Matthew.H said:
I'll never understand the mentality of someone who buys a £700 phone and thinks it's a good idea to buy a replacement charger from the local market for £2.
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To be honest, I do understand.

When I got my first iPhone (the black 3G), I just got cheap chargers. A voltage is a voltage, was my reasoning. Only until I read for example Ken Shirriff's blog, I understood how these outfits make chargers so cheap at the risk of causing fires.

If you don't know the difference, you'll just see two products that do the same. So why would you pay extra?
 
Spectrum said:
To the average customer, a USB charger is a USB charger. You even get them included in wall sockets now.
How can you tell that an expensive charger is a not just an overpriced cheap/crappy/dangerous charger?
What defines a reputable brand?
What about all the USB chargers bought to power non-Apple hardware? Surely these people are not going to buy an Apple-brnaded model...
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cerberusss said:
To be honest, I do understand.

When I got my first iPhone (the black 3G), I just got cheap chargers. A voltage is a voltage, was my reasoning. Only until I read for example Ken Shirriff's blog, I understood how these outfits make chargers so cheap at the risk of causing fires.

If you don't know the difference, you'll just see two products that do the same. So why would you pay extra?
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This article is not about cheap chargers or expensive chargers. It's about counterfeit chargers. Chargers masquerading as Apple chargers. Not the same thing. There are plenty of perfectly fine cheap(er) chargers from reputable vendors.
 
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So here is my question: Do other third party chargers, the ones that do not try to imitate Apple devices such as Anker chargers (here is one I like using) have the same issue?
 
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69Mustang said:
This article is not about cheap chargers or expensive chargers. It's about counterfeit chargers. Chargers masquerading as Apple chargers. Not the same thing. There are plenty of perfectly fine cheap(er) chargers from reputable vendors.
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I recognise the distinction with counterfeit Apple products. (Although there is no obvious reason why a counterfeit product actually has to be dangerous.) But for generic chargers, with so many on the market and available online, how would one know whether a USB charger is safe?

I think a problem here, is that - rightly or wrongly - there is a perception that Apple price-gouges on most hardware (think about the cost of cables and dongles). So, if one takes that view (you don't have to), a cheaper-than-Apple charger doesn't obviously seem like it must be substandard, it may simply be the exact same product without Apple's tax added to it.
 
Riiight, because Apple would never ripp you off, so be sure to buy from them! It may look as if you are paying a yearly $80 sub to be able to charge your laptop because of bad design, but it's not. In addition, instead of actually fixing the cable design (frayed joints), they remove the best feature, the magsafe, while maintaining the same crappy cable design but don't forget to buy genuine, your family will be safe and your wallet as well.

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Jsameds said:
I had the misfortune to happen upon one of these once. It blew up charging my iPod with a huge bang and such force it flew out of the wall socket and across the room. When I inspected it afterwards, the case blew apart and the insides were scorched black. The iPod survived.

I now purchase all my chargers from Apple.com. Yes it's bit of extra cash but it's a small price to pay to not have your house burn down.
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???????????????
I can't believe it....do you mean...the Chinese are making knockoffs that are inferior? Amazing...but you must admit they are consistent...cables, power supplies...etc....all crap.
 
This is why I stick with Apple supplied chargers even if they are more. I will also buy from Verizon since if something happens, I know who to sue...
 
Phil in ocala said:
???????????????
I can't believe it....do you mean...the Chinese are making knockoffs that are inferior? Amazing...but you must admit they are consistent...cables, power supplies...etc....all crap.
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No, not inferior, just flat out dangerous.

And no, they're not consistent. They're not all this bad, we know this because genuine Apple products are also made in China.
 
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What is the general consensus on chargers from companies such as Anker or iClever? Are those reputable and safe chargers?
 
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