I was comparing the power adapter that came with my PowerBook g4 to a supposedly real magsafe adapter and I noticed that the PowerBook adapter is missing all of the UL listings, power supply and wattage info from the side. It feels and operates just like a real apple power brick, the only odd thing is the missing info. So is it a very convincing fake or a real apple charger.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Is this a real apple power adapter
- Thread starter mustagcoupe
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
If the above three pics are of one power brick — that is, of a brick for PowerBook G4s and iBook G4s, it’s very likely legit.
Apple sold OEM batteries and power bricks for PowerPC Macs through at least 2010. Later-production products did, on occasion, come with later copyright dates. For instance, I have four Apple OEM iBook G4 batteries; all of them have different dates (2003, 2004, 2005, and 2009).
The A1021 65W adapter I use with my finicky A1138 (aftermarket adapters simply will not work on it, no matter what) comes from Apple in India and contains certification info relevant for Japan (likely, because it was sold as new for the Asia-Pacific region). Its markings are slightly different from other iBook/PowerBook models I’ve owned. Other versions of these adapters have been made, variously, in places including Malaysia, Taiwan, the PRC, and Thailand, as different suppliers were able to fill bulk orders as Apple needed them.
The above 2009 dated adapter was probably from the final batch of parts Apple sold new for vintage-supported models before obsoleting all PowerPC Macs.
I figured the date wouldn't be a good way to determine if the brick is real. My magsafe 1 brick says 2015 on it and apple apparently still sells new magsafe 1 bricks 10 years after they discontinued the last laptop that used it.
Those pictures are of 3 different sides of my g4 power brick. When I compare it to pictures on the internet and my own magsafe adapter the g4 adapter does not have the UL certification mark or any information about it's voltage and amperage. It only has markings on the one side when most of the other adapters I've seen have markings on 2 sides. Here's a picture of the markings on my magsafe adapter that are missing from the g4 adapter.
Those pictures are of 3 different sides of my g4 power brick. When I compare it to pictures on the internet and my own magsafe adapter the g4 adapter does not have the UL certification mark or any information about it's voltage and amperage. It only has markings on the one side when most of the other adapters I've seen have markings on 2 sides. Here's a picture of the markings on my magsafe adapter that are missing from the g4 adapter.
Attachments
Delta Electronics are one of Apple’s longtime power supply vendors going way back, and most of their factory capacity are in Taiwan (with ancillary factory capacity in the PRC).
If you really want to go down a rabbit hole, I have just the thing for you.
I think you missed what I was trying to say. The first 3 pictures are of the g4 adapter. It only has information on one side, the wattage, the model number and some safety warnings. Every other apple charger I have seen including the magsafe charger in the 4th picture has info on 2 sides with the 2nd side saying the company that made it, the voltage and amp specifications and the UL and other safety certifications. This 2nd side of information is missing entirely from my g4 charger. Was this a thing that apple did at one point or is it most likely a fake charger.
The only reason I care is because I took apart 2 fake magsafe chargers and they were flat out dangerous. If this g4 adapter is most likely a fake I'd like to bust it open and see whats inside but if it's most likely real I don't want to bust up a good adapter.
The only reason I care is because I took apart 2 fake magsafe chargers and they were flat out dangerous. If this g4 adapter is most likely a fake I'd like to bust it open and see whats inside but if it's most likely real I don't want to bust up a good adapter.
I can confirm “SafetyMark” and “UL” logos are not printed on any of my Apple power adapters here in Australia. I would guess you have an adapter from a different region to your others.
It looks legit from the photos. How does it feel? The 3rd party knock offs generally feel like cheaper plastic and often lighter in materials. Use some kitchen scales to provide the weight of the adapter alone (no cable or duckhead) and compare with a known legitimate adapter.
It looks legit from the photos. How does it feel? The 3rd party knock offs generally feel like cheaper plastic and often lighter in materials. Use some kitchen scales to provide the weight of the adapter alone (no cable or duckhead) and compare with a known legitimate adapter.
All of the power adapters I have, that I know to be genuine, have the UL labelling on them. This includes Apple and non-Apple (Dell and HP) along with one iPhone adapter I checked.
I do have one 2006 MacBook power adapter that is branded with "SafetyMark" but it lacks the UL labelling. Since this came with a MacBook purchased off of Ebay I cannot vouch for its authenticity. IMO if it lacks the UL labelling it's likely a counterfeit.
@AphoticD: Mine feels just like a known OEM Apple supply. Very convincing if it's a knockoff.
I do have one 2006 MacBook power adapter that is branded with "SafetyMark" but it lacks the UL labelling. Since this came with a MacBook purchased off of Ebay I cannot vouch for its authenticity. IMO if it lacks the UL labelling it's likely a counterfeit.
@AphoticD: Mine feels just like a known OEM Apple supply. Very convincing if it's a knockoff.
The g4 adapter looks and feels pretty much exactly the same as a known real adapter. It feels solid when you tap it, no rattles and no weird gaps or molding marks in the shell. The only differences are the lack of markings on the 2nd side and the center of the apple logo embossed in the side is slick shiny plastic. On my known real charger the embossed apple has a slightly matte texture.
The UL standard is for US and Canadian markets only, so has little relevance outside of North America. It makes sense that if power adapters were made for other markets like Australia for example, UL would be absent as the standard does not exist there.
So how you unpack that is kind of interesting. From a counterfeit POV, if you're producing for the NA market, you'd want to include the UL branding if you point is to fool NA consumers & fetch top dollar. Conversely, any counterfeit or low cost product is almost assuredly being produced outside of the US & Canadian markets, so with no regulatory or market insurability pressures in place there is no need to include it regardless whether the product was destined for NA markets or not. So really, the UL branding is not a great way to determine if something is counterfeit or not considering how varied int'l standards are in adopting UL or not. If it were me, I would look at UL presence as reflecting its production for sale in a retail market inside NA or outside of it.
Interestingly, while UL started in Chicago, IL USA in 1905, the US Federal gov't does not require the UL standard however OSHA does.
So how you unpack that is kind of interesting. From a counterfeit POV, if you're producing for the NA market, you'd want to include the UL branding if you point is to fool NA consumers & fetch top dollar. Conversely, any counterfeit or low cost product is almost assuredly being produced outside of the US & Canadian markets, so with no regulatory or market insurability pressures in place there is no need to include it regardless whether the product was destined for NA markets or not. So really, the UL branding is not a great way to determine if something is counterfeit or not considering how varied int'l standards are in adopting UL or not. If it were me, I would look at UL presence as reflecting its production for sale in a retail market inside NA or outside of it.
Interestingly, while UL started in Chicago, IL USA in 1905, the US Federal gov't does not require the UL standard however OSHA does.
Last edited:
Here’s a fun little experiment:
when you plug in your PowerBook into this power adapter and run it from the mains, when you lightly run your fingertips across the palmrest area, do you feel anything, such as a gently unusual vibration sensation?
If not, then it’s a fair bet you probably have a legit adapter. Knock-off/third-party adapters, at least when matched with aluminium-case ’Books, aren’t as sufficiently grounded (even when you’re using a three-prong plug and not the more portable, two-prong “duck-head” adapter for most localities, save for the UK). That sensation in one’s fingertips is a sign that your body is providing part of the grounding (which, obviously, isn’t ideal).
That is a good idea about checking for an AC leak to the laptop chassis. I will check with a multimeter between ground and various spots on the PowerBook for any significant AC voltage.
I have not felt anything abnormal. I am familiar with electricity and something like that would have caught my attention. I would not consider that a particularly good way of determining if the charger is real or not though. The 2011 MacBook pro I recently got came with a dangerous fake magsafe charger and did not feel any tingling. Despite the chargers many other faults it wasn't passing AC to the laptop.
Here is a genuine iBook/PowerBook adapter. I've had so many models in and out of my home over the years that I do not know where/when I acquired it. Generally I've been using it to power my 12" PowerBook, but right now I'm using it for the 17" because I'm too lazy to go out to the garage and dig out the adapter for that Mac.
Interesting, looking at three marketed as Apple OEM chargers I have around me (a 65w for PB17, a 60w for a 08 macbook, and a 45w for a PB12) the powerbook 12 and macbook chargers are CSA certified specifically for Canadian markets and the Powerbook 17 is UL for the broader NA market.
If you want a real headache, read up on Market Access LOL symbols.
If you want a real headache, read up on Market Access LOL symbols.
Looking at the small details on the plastic surfaces and comparing to my 100% genuine A1021 PB TI adapter, it looks to be real. The UL printings being missing is admittedly confusing, but I still think it's genuine.
Here are photos of my PB TI adapter.
Here are photos of my PB TI adapter.
OK. With respect to the original post by @mustagcoupe , I was wrong. Every Apple power brick that I know of has printing on two faces, and I missed that point earlier.
I didn’t stack them, but these are the four legit bricks I have easy access to at the moment (a fifth is in a box, within a box, in a closet, which I won’t be digging out… it’s janky, but still working).
A1021 brick (used with an A1138)
A1343 brick (used for A1278)
A1184 (bundled with another A1278)
A1222 (used with an A1261)
The rest I have at easy access (two) were and are known aftermarket, sketchy/hinky power bricks, come what may.
Turns out the above four all have the UL(US) mark on them, along with CE (for the EEC/EU) certification mark and others. Three were manufactured in the PRC (two from Delta, one from Liteon), and one was made in India by Celetron.
This is to say: I also now have my doubts about the original power brick/post made by @mustagcoupe being made by Apple. That said, if it turns out to be a sound product (i.e., no AC leaks, bad grounding, etc., consistent sine wave of clean power delivery, etc.), then it may be made to the same specifications as an Apple-commissioned one — unusual, given the way many aftermarket products can (and do) cut corners, but there are always exceptions to that rule of thumb.
Ah, so hinky does exist beyond the world of The Fugitive? (My spellchecker red-lines it.)
Quite so. None of my aftermarket Apple laptop power adapters have burned away at the flex - only the official product has done that.
After taking a second, good look at the original poster's photos, I started to have second thoughts about his/her adapter being real. At first I really thought that it was a real adapter because every detail (plastic grooves, the font type & color) matched with my real adapter. Well, almost. I've taken a clean-cut photo of my adapter:
Compared with the OP's photo, several details catch the eye.
1- The groove (the line along which the two plastic cases meet) is a bit skewed on the OP's adapter. The bottom left corner of the top case is protruding too.
2- The text (beginning with "CAUTION: For use with") is printed closer to the left but farther from the top, compared with the real adapter. They managed to find and print the exact same typeface but failed to locate them on exactly the same area.
The UL listing texts being missing must be caused by some operator's error. Either they didn't notice or they didn't care. If the that type of error had happened in an Apple authorized manufacturer, they would almost definitely notice it and wouldn't let them pass.
So now I think that the OP's adapter is fake.
1) Wear and tear on a power brick causes those alignments and gaps in the moulded plastic to change over its lifetime, so that probably isn’t a reliable guide for anything other than the wear and use it’s been through. (Just have a look at the dog’s breakfast of power bricks I own and posted above behind the spoiler.)
2) The only question I have relating your own adapter: is there a second face of text on your adapter which includes features like certification marques (like UL, C E , Ⓝ, and so on)? Does it mention the manufacturer (DELTA, LITEON, CELETRON, etc.)?
For #2: if not, then yours and the original poster’s adapter originate from the same place — whether that place was commissioned by Apple or not.
#2 One of photos I posted earlier showed that side of the adapter with theUL, CE markings, etc. Here's a more articulate photo:
#1 Normal use is very unlikely to cause the edges to misalign. There are no misalignment on any of my real Apple branded adapters. I have a real iPad adapter, too. Its edges are almost perfectly aligned. Just for the record:
For the time being I have only 2 Apple adapters, but soon I will buy a MacBook adapter (A1343 85W)
The original poster’s adapter is likely to be fake. The printed text differs from the real adapter. Text is printed with slightly differing margins. That sort of thing is typical of fake products.
Sorry, I must have missed the second pic earlier.
As for typesetting between the two (and speaking as someone who did that for a living for about a decade), there is virtually no variation between the two. Barring lens variations between the two different cameras, different focal lengths, etc., the two are basically identical, at least on this face (yours is overlaid the original post’s brick with a 50 per cent opacity applied).
As the original poster’s power brick lacks certification seals and manufacturer name on a second, adjacent side, there is reason to argue theirs may not be genuine, but if so, then the tell is due to missing info on a second side — not due to “the printed text” (not here, at least).
I know this doesn't help answer the original question, but whether authentic or not, it's best to discard it in favor of aftermarket versions that are better. Many of the aftermarket adapters were indeed more reliable.
To the original poster: if it works fine, keep using it. There is no value in tossing out something which is doing the job just fine, especially for an adapter style no longer being made.
Depends on how inevitable failure is and how incapacitated one would be by said failure. I am a firm believer in preventative maintenance. Most people aren't. I do know that those adapters failed quite often and that many aftermarket ones were better. Then again, we're talking about a machine that, at youngest, is old enough to join the U.S. Army.