Lightning connector + kids PSA

[apple.pseudofan]

Thought I'd share something I thought of regarding the lightning connector.

I read a news article a couple years ago about a 3 year old girl who put a 30 pin cable in her mouth while it was plugged it and was electrocuted, resulting in brain damage. Since then, I've always been careful to keep those dangling cables out of reach of my son.

When looking at the lightning connector, this came to mind again. The one large difference of this connector is that the contacts are on the external surface of the cable. This is in contrast to the 30-pin, where they are on the inside of the cable structure. In my opinion, this can GREATLY increase the risk associated with potential electrocution from putting the connector in your mouth, as your mouth would be directly on the contact surfaces.

There IS the possibility that Apple has used the chip in the cable to prevent charging current from flowing until it authenticates with the device, and I'm hoping this is the case. I'm not too worried about my kids but there will be tens of millions of these cables out there soon, many in the easy reach of small children.

Just wanted to put this out there for those of you with children who could potentially access these cables while plugged in.

STAY SAFE!!

 

[MacN3wb]

Its only 5 volts, a fly could lick it and it would be fine.
Im guessing there is some kind of auto reset fuse in case of shorts and maybe some over voltage protection.

 

[Fry-man22]

There was a blog post talking about the difference in Apple branded wall chargers and off brand ones. They outlined how the Apple charger had plenty of separation (exceeding the regulated requirements ) from the high voltage side of the circuit and the low side that actually charges the phone. The off brand charger, however, did NOT meet safety regulations for these insulating elements.

If there is ever enough voltage going down that wire to harm a human, it is the fault of the device in the wall and not the cable itself. I have 3 nephews and I have made sure that none of these off brand chargers are purchased by any of my family.

I agree that there is a need to be careful, but I would focus more on the thing converting the power than the thing carrying it.