Mac charger - authentic from Apple or alternatives from others

[NoFear911]

Well, my original charger broke in a stupid accident. Now I have less than 5 hours to surf the web and decide which one to buy (I can still use my roommate's laptop at worst). Here's the problem: Apple charges 65 pounds for a single charger, quite expensive to me at the moment while other OEMs I found on Amazon offer at half price. I would love to hear the opinions before buying anything. Tks in advance

 

[mic j]

I have bought an OEM in the past. It ran very hot and didn't last very long. Next one I bought was Apple and it is still going strong. Some OEM's are fine but for this particular part I found original Apple to be worth the extra price.

 

[chscag]

Pay the £65 and buy a genuine Apple MagSafe Adapter charger. I have read of users who purchased a "knock off" charger and later regretted it. Why take a chance and possibly damage your computer?

 

[webbuzz]

For chargers, I always buy OEM. Not worth the risk buying aftermarket.

 

[steve62388]

You run the risk of getting something like this:- http://www.righto.com/2016/03/counterfeit-macbook-charger-teardown.html?m=1

 

[NoFear911]

Tks guys. I also did researches and found out cheap Chinese knock-offs do more harm than good. The only weird thing is Amazon does list fake Apple charger as genuine

 

[steve62388]

Tks guys. I also did researches and found out cheap Chinese knock-offs do more harm than good. The only weird thing is Amazon does list fake Apple charger as genuine

Unfortunately Amazon appears to do very little to police counterfeit goods, especially through their Marketplace. It used to be that eBay was the wild west and Amazon was a safe haven from dodgy suppliers, but no longer.

I wouldn't buy anything from a third party supplier on Amazon that's in a high risk of counterfeit category such as headphones. Occasionally you will find reviews from clued up people comparing genuine to fake but most people are totally oblivious.

 

[Mr. Retrofire]

Tks guys. I also did researches and found out cheap Chinese knock-offs do more harm than good. The only weird thing is Amazon does list fake Apple charger as genuine

They list also Nokia- and Samsung chargers for older cell phones and newer smart phones as genuine chargers + "genuine" batteries for old and new and phones.

 

[DeltaMac]

It's like buying "genuine" reproduction artwork in an antique shop...

The "bargain" in batteries, or the charger itself, often turns out to be no bargain