YES! Looks like my Sprint store is on the list...Time to take my cheapo iphone and ipad charger in for a swap.
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Apple Launches Third-Party USB Charger 'Takeback Program'
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YES! Looks like my Sprint store is on the list...Time to take my cheapo iphone and ipad charger in for a swap.
Surely you jest. Based on the other comments here (and intuition), putting the official adapters at a reasonable price in the first place might help.
Agree on the first part for sure.
$20 for a charger is a bit much seeing it costs them maybe $1 to make. There wouldnt be so many other chargers on the market if apple wasnt so easy to undercut.
I think $10 for a charger would be fair but then again if I were trying to make the most money and knew my customers would pay anything I would push it to $25 or $30.
apparantly this program is only available in the US and in China.
Too bad for the international customers.
edit : update on my answer next page, more countries are eligible for the program
Too bad for the international customers.
edit : update on my answer next page, more countries are eligible for the program
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That's actually my case exactly.... except that I purchased the cheap $6 supposedly "Apple OEM" charger from Amazon, but the charger looks exactly like the original ones Apple sells in their Apple Stores, but comes in a shrink-wrap package that's written all in Chinese. I conclude that this charger I bought has a 50% chance of being a true Apple OEM factory part, or a 50% chance of being a very very convincing fake. I haven't used it yet, but had kept it in case I lost my original Apple charger. I hesitate to use it in fear of bricking my iOS device.
Hence, I will take my "probably excellently faked China OEM charger" to the US Apple Store, and trade up for an authentic one. It works for me.
Except that Apple's charger is at the top of the quality/safety chart, unlike Monster's garbage HDMI cables.
The irony in this thread is all of the posts that say this could be avoided if Apple made/sold a cheaper charger. Yet this problem is the result of a cheaper charger.
Perhaps it is proof that there is more to the $19.99 than meats the eye (one of those things by the way is built-in liability for a device that can electrocute or burn down your home.) Apple would have to do a very expensive recall if their product did this - products (from reputable companies) contain far more embedded costs than simple manufacturing and development costs. The $5 knock-off skips those concerns - clearly.
Perhaps it is proof that there is more to the $19.99 than meats the eye (one of those things by the way is built-in liability for a device that can electrocute or burn down your home.) Apple would have to do a very expensive recall if their product did this - products (from reputable companies) contain far more embedded costs than simple manufacturing and development costs. The $5 knock-off skips those concerns - clearly.
Notice that this can't really be exploited so much, because Apple limits it to one charger trade-up per "person" (or rather per registered iOS device).
The electrocution issue is not the only thing this gives a piece of mind. Mind you, there are lots of Amazon and eBay forum posts of users buying fake/unauthorized chargers and cables... which end up bricking their iPhones or iPods.
So yes, this is a good program. I do hope that Apple is able to recycle the traded-in chargers. How recyclable is hard white plastic?
YES! Looks like my Sprint store is on the list...Time to take my cheapo iphone and ipad charger in for a swap.
So if cheapos are just as good as the totally overpriced "originals" - why would anyone even make an effort of going to a store and exchanging one item for another one with the exact same functionality?
Samsung wants $35 for a 1A charger and $40 for a 2A
This is a great offer by Apple. Many brag about how their $2 knockoff chargers perform as well as an OEM, until of course something bad happens. If something were to happen (fried your phone, or worse) using a genuine Apple charger, you might have some recourse. If the same were to happened using a cheap knockoff, tough luck.
Think of the $20 Apple charges for a high quality original charger your insurance.
And it's absurd when Samsung does it, too.
One or more of either the following:
A-Im a brand whore.
B-Im going to sell them on ebay
C-I dont want to be killed.
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Not cheaper, but chose to make less profit thus "less expensive"
If you compare to industry standard bulk pricing, I see USB wall chargers in similar size/shape go for $1.25 ea when ordered in 10,000 quantities. So it probably costs them 50 to 60 cents to actually make.
Others lose them, and never return for them. They would sit in the box forever until an employee decides to take one or they get thrown away. Most of the time, whoever left them there has likely bought a new one wherever they went to.
i guess you can see it that way.
i can almost see it as a hotel library of cables to help a staying patron for their stay should they forget it.
but not losing any sleep one way or the other here.
While I've seen this happen, I can be pretty sure it's related to wear & tear the user puts it through. My wife has been through 4 of them in 3 years. I'm still on my first one from my 3Gs. (Heck, the one I take to & from work is from the 5th gen iPod that I don't own anymore, and the one in my car is the one that came in the box with my 4s.) They're the same design, but I have no idea what she does to them.
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No, just cheaper. Those off-brand, bargain-basement chargers cut corners that shouldn't be cut. Usually, they get away with it, and it doesn't cause a problem, but sometimes those cut corners end up doing things like causing fires, or killing people.
Apple properly engineers their chargers for the small space they occupy. This involves using different, often more expensive, components, and more expensive assembly processes.
http://www.phonearena.com/news/Heres-why-Apples-iPhone-charger-is-so-expensive_id30371
http://www.righto.com/2012/03/inside-cheap-phone-charger-and-why-you.html
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No, 'possibly' is the right description. It's certainly not 'probable', but it is (apparently) *possible*.
Admittedly, few deaths caused by cheap chargers over the years have involved electrocution. Most have involved fires and smoke inhalation.
I prefer lightning connection over Micro USB. It is easier to insert and feels more durable.
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They do. When I have had them fray, I take in my device so they have serial number with the cable. They take it and swap it out on the spot at the Apple store
I called AppleCare once and they mailed me one for free and didn't ask for the old one back.
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They do. When I have had them fray, I take in my device so they have serial number with the cable. They take it and swap it out on the spot at the Apple store
I called AppleCare once and they mailed me one for free and didn't ask for the old one back.
Cheaper just to pick up the ones students leave behind all the time. My dad does that. Nothing you can do when people never claim their stuff three months down the line. Have bought a few myself though, never the knockoffs though.
I bet they're doing it to take them apart and block them all.
Someone mentioned that people just need to take care of their cables... I still have my 3rd generation iPod's cable. The problem is that Apple started making them more flimsy. The iPhone 4 came with one. The MacBook Pro cables on the other hand are much better these days. My 2006 cable just stopped working after a year and we had to wrap it in electrical tape until about 2010 when it finally became too much of an issue.
My Lightning cable unwrapped itself. I'm still using it though. I have my iPod Nano one for a backup though. When the iPhone 5S comes out, I'll have another one then too.
I bet they're doing it to take them apart and block them all.
Someone mentioned that people just need to take care of their cables... I still have my 3rd generation iPod's cable. The problem is that Apple started making them more flimsy. The iPhone 4 came with one. The MacBook Pro cables on the other hand are much better these days. My 2006 cable just stopped working after a year and we had to wrap it in electrical tape until about 2010 when it finally became too much of an issue.
My Lightning cable unwrapped itself.
I'm still using it though. I have my iPod Nano one for a backup though. When the iPhone 5S comes out, I'll have another one then too.I worked at a student math lab for a couple years and ended up with a pile of like new cords and chargers. At the end of the semester, anything not claimed was donated, thrown away (most likely), or we could take it unless it was something valuable or traceable to an owner.
It always amazed me how many students would leave their chargers and never come back for them. I always figured they weren't the ones paying for the replacements. Also expensive North Face coats.
It always amazed me how many students would leave their chargers and never come back for them. I always figured they weren't the ones paying for the replacements. Also expensive North Face coats.
What is an "unauthorized" charger? People are acting like there are 2 types of AC to USB DC power adaptors, Apple and knockoff-Apple, when there are so many power adaptors made by legitimate companies.
"To get the discounted charger, users can bring any USB power adapter"
So this counts?
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I don't think selling regular old (but nice-looking) USB power adaptors for $20 is price gouging when USB power adaptors are already extremely common. I have an iPhone that I just charge off of my computer, and if I needed a wall charger, I would simply not buy the $20 Apple one.
"To get the discounted charger, users can bring any USB power adapter"
So this counts?
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I don't think selling regular old (but nice-looking) USB power adaptors for $20 is price gouging when USB power adaptors are already extremely common. I have an iPhone that I just charge off of my computer, and if I needed a wall charger, I would simply not buy the $20 Apple one.
Now that is fanboyism going to new levels, have people die over $5-$10, your all class !
This is true, but its true of almost every major manufacturer that both sells items to the public and to 3rd party stores or licenses its IP to 3rd parties. They have to set their own accessory prices higher precisely so their partners can "undercut" them so they also have a viable product line to sell. That's how the eco-system works.
For example, Apple sells a $20 charger while Belkin, an Apple "Made for iPhone" partner makes a similar one that can be had for $15. Apple doesn't mind being "undercut" because it's gets a % of each Belkin charger sale. But reality is, bottom feeder counterfeiters can undercut even the legit 3rd parties because they only have to worry about raw manufacturing costs, not design and testing, insurance, patent registration, etc.
Apple and it's partners sell what they intend to be safe products. That's not the case of the counterfeiters -- they could not care less if their product kills your device or even you. But safety cost a few bucks more. If people are that careless just to save $10 that's is the consumer's choice exclusively. A $15 charger is expensive, but not prohibitively, and especially in the context of a $200-500 device. A ticketmaster "convenience" fee is that much for 1 ticket to a 2 hour concert.
A bit argumentative. People don't have to buy fake chargers. That's not the companies responsibility -- it's more of a government responsibility to insure they a) are not made in their country and b) they are not imported or exported or sold to consumers w/o proper certification.
Also their are plenty of legit 3rd party USB chargers on the market. Remember the charger itself is nothing special, only the cable is proprietary. Any 5v charger will charge an iPhone. If one was really THAT cheap they could find a surplus UL/CE/ etc certified USB charger from any one of discontinued USB devices for $5 online.
And as for the "fanboyism" remark, I'm afraid you've shown your cards (bias) because an official Surface RT power supply is $40. An official Nexus 7 charger is $15. An official Samsung Galaxy S4 charger is $40.
Bottomline: if people are dying over $5-10 its because they choose to. Another $5-10 increases their odds of survivability by millions.
I wish apple would strengthen up their cords. My Apple ones work great when new but having two girls and a wife they don't last and tend to break right where the thick rubber meets the thin rubber at the phone. I've taken to taping them up when new to prevent it from happening but that looks awful. I really need to check in my garage for some shrink wrap to do the job correctly. As far as the USB chargers themselves, I've not had a problem with any new one I've bought but then I guess I buy the good 3rd party ones.