I didn't know that the iPhone 4S came with a lightning connector!.
In all serious though how is this Apple's fault?
It is the manufacturer of the shoddy charger.
Let's get this straight. He wasn't electrocuted by the iPhone. He was electrocuted by the charger. The story is false.
"Buy our overpriced chargers or risk death, the choice is yours."
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No, the story is not false. He was electrocuted by his 4S while using an unauthorised charger. He was using that phone at the time.
Fry's Electronics sells them for $5.
http://www.frys.com/product/7088951?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG
You are missing the point. The "CHARGER" turned the phone into a deadly hazard. If someone duct taped a knife to your hand and then forced your arm to stab someone against your will, would you be held responsible for the stabbing? The iPhone is an innocent bystander your honor and it pleads not guilty.![]()
In the cities in China that don't have an official apple store, it can be really hard to tell on something as simple as a charger whether or not it's genuine. (not that it was hard to see in this case, but even if you're trying to be careful there can still be issues).
Nobody says they invented it, but it is not accurate to say all chargers are created equal. You might find these interesting:
http://www.idownloadblog.com/2012/05/21/apple-power-adapter-teardown/
http://www.righto.com/2012/05/apple-iphone-charger-teardown-quality.html
Why are these incidents always happening in Asia?
No.
How uncaring. What a troll you are.
Don't people get it by now? Buy Apple's chargers. Its not worth your life to save a couple of bucks!
Funny how none of these "claims" come from the U.S., where a majority of the devices are located and used.
Nice try, Tim Cook.
R could be different
so amps that are important
I've been a electrician for 23 years. The charger at best 20 gague wire. Doubt he was electrocuted. Shocked yes, the wire would burn up first.
No, the story is not false. He was electrocuted by his 4S while using an unauthorised charger. He was using that phone at the time.
The title "Thai Man Reportedly Electrocuted After Using a Charging iPhone 4S" is accurate. It does not say the iPhone was at fault. It's also possible that after selling 50 gazillion phones that this one phone was super defective (I don't think that, I'm just pointing out the possibility of it).
You don't think if someone duct taped a knife in my hand that the title wouldn't be "Someone stabbed by a knife in Gary's hand"!?!
Gary
Exactly why I'm not convinced that it's necessarily the chargers alone that are killing people. They aren't fake, they are chargers! What we're going to have is a world of people who are scared of using non-Apple chargers, thinking they are death traps
Well, I think they already do... With their own chargers! I have an iPod 5th gen (click wheel) with a genuine charger which is still working nicely - albeit I practically need to keep the iPod connected all the time if I want to use it, but that's an other story - but this 30 pins charger refuse to charge my iPhone 4S. It says something like "this accessory can't be used with this iPhone". So they must do a some sort of detection already... I think…
Surprised no ones mentions the broken cable at the base of the 30 pin connector. Thats what it looks like to me anyway.
That will never happen to me
Yes, you are correct. It is designed that way. But what happens after the device fails? Lets say the transformer has an internal short the connects the primary and secondary. Now you have 240 volts on one of those hair-thin #40 wires inside the USB cable. With 240V something quickly fails inside the phone and the return path opens. Now you have a "hot" iPhone and the user supplies the only return path.
The system you describe only covers AC mains power equipment like the charger itself and you did not describe how the equipment remains safe after a failure that would cause open a ground.
Bottom line is that it is hard (but entirely possible) to design AC powered equipment that remains safe AFTER some internal parts have come loose inside and insulation has failed.
Yes, you are right. If there is only ONE conductor and no ground reference it would be hard for the phone to "know" its potential above ground. But as soon as a person touches the metal case there is now a ground reference.
But how hard should Apple work to detect a defective charger?
Apple could solve the problem one and for all be NOT using conductive materials on the outside of the case.
Exactly why I'm not convinced that it's necessarily the chargers alone that are killing people. They aren't fake, they are chargers! What we're going to have is a world of people who are scared of using non-Apple chargers, thinking they are death traps!
Has anybody proven that by buying a non-Apple charger and not tinkering with the plug/dunking it in water, it is deadly right out of the box?
It isn't the voltage that kills, its the current. It only takes 100 mA (milliamps) to stop the human heart.
2. Charger. Gets plugged into the wall power outlet, so it is supposed to withstand 220 Volt input. It must be designed so that under no circumstances whatsoever either the outside of the charger or the bit where the cable is plugged in will carry more than 5 Volt.
If your home cabling is done well, you will also have something that detects when current goes through some unexpected paths. Normally, current should go from one connector in the whole plug, through whatever cabling, and back to the other connector. When there is current going through your body, it doesn't go back to the other connector but straight to the ground, so that should be detected and power stopped. That's what happens if your wiring is fine, and that would hopefully save your life even if the charger tries its best to kill you.
As to the question of whether the iPhone should be singled out in these cases, two questions come to mind: If a bad charger passes too much voltage to the iPhone, by what mechanism does the iPhone transmit that voltage to its outer case, causing someone touching it to be shocked? And is that mechanism common to other phones and USB devices?
If other manufacturers incorporate protection circuits in their devices which protect against charger malfunction, then I think Apple bears some responsibility, but (obviously) not as much as the manufacturer of the defective charger.
This is true, but with a properly designed charger the over voltage is detected, and the charger shuts down. With fake chargers, that often won't happen.
But that's not really the issue, the iPhone is DC powered (with the charger rectifying the AC), and again well designed chargers will shut down if a fault is detected. Faulty chargers just send 240v to the phone, and it literally becomes an extension of the mains cable with no insulation.
Apple could add some circuitry in the phone that used the case as ground, or a sort of sensor, which could detect a large voltage difference between the internal -ve and external ground. They could then disconnect the supply, rendering the phone safe.
That is exactly the wrong approach to take since use of unapproved chargers is not Apple's responsibility. You would essentially build a GFCI into the phone. One problem would be that any device that will reliably switch mains voltage has to be electromechanical and thus bulky.