The Important Differences Between Real and Counterfeit iPad Chargers

[Jaybird9er]

Apple's charges with higher quality energy? Maybe Apple should produce cars, exhaust probably smells of strawberry.

Glad somebody picked up on this. How the hell would would the MacRumors staff be able to determine the quality of the electrical currents?

The shameless fanboy groveling by the "writers" on this site never ceases to amaze me. Some journalistic integrity is greatly needed here...as well as someone who proof reads.

 

[MrX8503]

I always try to buy Apple genuine when it comes to power. I've tested knockoff lightning cables and they don't charge as fast as the genuine cables.

It sucks that genuine Apple power peripherals cost a lot, but from my experience they're much smarter at charging your devices properly.

 

[JHankwitz]

By far, the worst I have at my home, is a genuine Samsung charger form a Galaxy Nexus.

IDK if it's safe or not, but it makes a very-high pitch noise when charging.

I couldn't sleep, I couldn't find the noise in my bedroom, until I found it was the charger that started whining when I charged my phone.

Yuck!

Transformers are usually a source of high frequency noise. It occurs when it operates too close to its limits and causes it to run warm. Manufacturing variations often result in a few units being noisier than the others. This doesn't necessarily mean it's unsafe, but it indicates that it has the potential to end its life early from constant overheating. Heat is a primary nemesis of all electronic equipment.

 

[FatMax]

Glad somebody picked up on this. How the hell would would the MacRumors staff be able to determine the quality of the electrical currents?

The shameless fanboy groveling by the "writers" on this site never ceases to amaze me. Some journalistic integrity is greatly needed here...as well as someone who proof reads.

I'm pretty sure the both of you are talking out of your asses in relation to electricity. Does it not dawn on you that there can be noise in electrical current? Also, uncontrolled spikes in Ampere is never a good thing. So if Apple's chargers keep a steady flow of energy out if the charger, then yes, it is higher quality energy.

 

[JHankwitz]

Something needs to be done, I have gone through countless chargers and they always go at the connector, there is just not enough support.

I've gone through countless crystal wine glasses, and something needs to be done about it. They always shatter when I knock them over. They're just not strong enough. Don't they know that people that drink wine always inadvertently knock their glasses over?

 

[cliffak]

Does that mean that there could be an issue with the mentioned counterfeit Euro-plug, after all? http://www.ebay.com/itm/Apple-MacBo...=US_Audio_Cables_Adapters&hash=item3f1a64a701

Thanks

Impossible to tell from the photo, but as I said if you look at the plug the pins should point slightly inwards towards each other (this is to help it stay attached in the outlet) and the pins themselves should also be solid enough that they don't come apart when the plug is pulled out of the outlet.

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Clearly defective, so take it back to the store and ask for a new one. A charger making noise that stops you from sleeping is defective.

It likely just has some part inside that's resonating at certain switching frequencies, a coil being the most likely culprit. Noise from an SMPS (lika a modern charger) usually happens at low loads, though.

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Worth saying, in case any confused, not all lower priced chargers are that bad.

The article is strictly talking an eBay counterfeits.

Chargers from retail store brands (Belkin, Scosche, Griffin) should have similar protections and real NRTL approval listing.

Even easier, stick with Apple MFi certified partners.

Yes, you're a bit better off in the US. In Europe many retail stores have been ordered to pull chargers from the market because of safety issues. This is a problem with the CE mark.. The EU importer (in this case) is responsible for declaring that the equipment meets all relevant safety standards - but CE only requires a self-declaration so there's no mandatory testing.
Each country's electrical safety authority will do random market checks where samples of equipment that is on the market are sent to a third party lab for testing but of course it is impossible to test everything this way.

Look for a real certification mark. This means the product was actually subjected to testing and is also subject to a followup program that ensures what comes out of the factory is the same as the sample that was actually tested.

 

[adnbek]

Apple's charges with higher quality energy? Maybe Apple should produce cars, exhaust probably smells of strawberry.

Glad somebody picked up on this. How the hell would would the MacRumors staff be able to determine the quality of the electrical currents?

The shameless fanboy groveling by the "writers" on this site never ceases to amaze me. Some journalistic integrity is greatly needed here...as well as someone who proof reads.

Perhaps because they read the source link and you did not?

http://www.righto.com/2014/05/a-look-inside-ipad-chargers-pricey.html

Scroll to around the middle of the page.

 

[Kid Red]

Another key difference is the power output. Apple's charger outputs 10W at a steady rate while the counterfeit outputs 5.9W with frequent spikes, which means that Apple's charger charges the iPad quicker with a higher quality of energy.

This is really the only one I've experienced and is enough to make me never buy a non-Apple or non name brand charger (Belkin, etc) again. I bought 4 $5 chargers and they only work on my iPhone 4s. They do NOT charge my 1st gen iPad and I have to wiggle and hope to get it to work on my 3rd gen iPad. Even then, the non 10w output results in the "not charging" message and if being used while plugged in the unit will not charge.

Not worth the cheap price. Just pay the $20-$30 for a real one. Same for the 5s cables, don't buy the fake ones as they won't charge the phone.

 

[Anonymous Freak]

Slight word choice complaint...

These power bricks aren't "fake", and they're only "counterfeit" if they claim to be made by Apple. Otherwise, they are "cheap knock-off"s. I have a "cheap knock off" MacBook Mag Safe power adapter. It certainly looks almost identical to a real Apple adapter, only it doesn't have the Apple logo molded on to it, nor does it say Apple anywhere on it.

That doesn't make it "fake" (fake would be something that didn't work at all,) it doesn't make it "counterfeit" (that would mean it claims to be actual Apple gear,) it's just a cheap knock-off.

Cheap knock-offs may still violate "look and feel" trademarks, but if they aren't claiming to be Apple-original, they're not "counterfeit".

 

[gnasher729]

Glad somebody picked up on this. How the hell would would the MacRumors staff be able to determine the quality of the electrical currents?

The shameless fanboy groveling by the "writers" on this site never ceases to amaze me. Some journalistic integrity is greatly needed here...as well as someone who proof reads.

To determine the quality of electrical currents, you buy an oscilloscope which will nicely display what the charger does. A good charger should show one rock solid line with the right volt/ampere with only the tiniest bit of 50/60Hz noise. A rubbish charger will show voltage and ampere that are all over the place, with strong 50/60Hz frequencies going through to your device, and the overall voltage too low (unreliable, charges slowly) or too high (dangerous).

You can buy an oscilloscope on eBay for £120, a decent one for £200-£300, expensive ones come close to £1000. But I guess they either don't teach that stuff at schools or the kids are sleeping through it, and making fun of supposed "fanboys" is so much easier than learning something.

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It likely just has some part inside that's resonating at certain switching frequencies, a coil being the most likely culprit. Noise from an SMPS (lika a modern charger) usually happens at low loads, though.

Maybe right, but a charger that keeps the user from sleeping is by definition defective.

 

[Tannerjr]

Apple ended the buy back in October of 2013

http://www.apple.com/support/usbadapter-takeback/

The buy back program ended in October of 2013.

 

[Gasu E.]

Who cares if it might kill me! I saved $4! Woo!

You really have to weight the cost savings vs. the price of funeral insurance.

 

[sailmac]

I found the original blog post to be informative.

I'd rather pay Apple their higher margin (they do it right) than to pay the counterfitter their lower margin (they do it wrong).

 

[Gasu E.]

Apple's charges with higher quality energy? Maybe Apple should produce cars, exhaust probably smells of strawberry.

The article demonstrates that Apple's electrical products are markedly safer than some of the knock-offs. There are objective standards for making this determination. As an electrical engineer, my professional opinion confirms the writer's conclusions. The evidence presented in the article is very clear, and the writer appears to be very knowledgable.

 

[pianojoe]

Dangerous? On what grounds?
.
.
.
.
(Pun intended.)

 

[Trainb]

Not ipad chargers

Clearly mac laptop chargers in the pics, mac rumours should know better.

 

[CarlJ]

These power bricks aren't "fake", and they're only "counterfeit" if they claim to be made by Apple. Otherwise, they are "cheap knock-off"s.
...
Cheap knock-offs may still violate "look and feel" trademarks, but if they aren't claiming to be Apple-original, they're not "counterfeit".

"Fake" is being used here as shorthand for "not genuine". I think that's pretty reasonable, and pretty common.

And the charger in question drops the wording "Designed by Apple in California", but still says "TM and © 2010 Apple Inc. All rights reserved.", lists Apple Model numbers, and has a "Apple Japan" logo on it (along with a UL certification mark and other marks that they clearly don't have the right to use). (See for yourself.) Are you really trying to tell me they're not attempting to fool folks into thinking this is a genuine Apple charger, unless they actually state, "this is a genuine Apple charger"?

If you were to print up some very realistic copies of $100 bills and then try to buy something with them, they're very clearly counterfeit even if you never actually told the shopkeeper, "these are genuine US currency." (And the Feds would want to have a long conversation with you.)

I've seen this in a number of other fields; slavishly copying someone else's design is morally questionable, but doing so and then labeling it with the maker's marks is clearly an attempt to deceive, and to ride on the coattails of the original maker's reputation (potentially damaging said reputation in the process). (Attn people/companies doing this: if you think your products are worth buying, then clearly stamp your own name on them. If you don't think they're worth buying, then stop making them. Otherwise, you're occupying the role of an unwelcome parasite that needs to be wiped out.)

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Clearly mac laptop chargers in the pics, mac rumours should know better.

Really? Please tell me about this Mac laptop that uses a ten watt USB power adapter - I haven't heard of this before. Is this new? Did it just come out today? Man, those counterfeiters are really on the ball.

 

[hchung]

What do you guys think about the Poweslayer?
http://web.velvetwire.com

The kickstarter video says their entire supply chain is in the San Francisco Bay Area. http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/powerslayer/powerslayer-a-revolution-in-charging

Apple sure seems to *talk* a lot about "Made in America", but these guys seem to be actually doing something concrete about it. Why is it that these guys can build a piece of gorgeously designed high-tech electronics in one of the most expensive regions of the country, while all Apple can seem to do is slide an aluminum tube on top of a Chinese-assembled Mac Pro down somewhere in Bumf*ck, Texas?

Okay, so it's a power adapter. It's larger, probably safe, and funny-shaped. It's got low standby, but if they're saying it draws 1/10th of most on standby it's probably still not as efficient as the designs which draw zero watts on standby.

Not all that impressed. I guess I'd buy it if I were supporting US manufacturing, but that's really the only draw to me.

 

[hchung]

You can buy an oscilloscope on eBay for £120, a decent one for £200-£300, expensive ones come close to £1000. But I guess they either don't teach that stuff at schools or the kids are sleeping through it, and making fun of supposed "fanboys" is so much easier than learning something.

Some universities still offer classes that involve scopes. I recall hearing that undergrads at UC Berkeley still have to do some basic scope labs.

I gotta say: With the scope prices you've mentioned, it sounds like you're getting the Chinese power adapter equivalent of a scope My ancient HP, purchased broken, was £130. And I had to fix it myself. I'd think an "expensive scope" would be 5-6 digits.

But you're right about noise. I've hooked a cheap chinese power adapter to the scope and it was good for amusement. Despite that, I ended up using it anyhow after packing in some more filtering. (not for USB charging, it couldn't sustain 500mA)

 

[APlotdevice]

Okay, so it's a power adapter. It's larger, probably safe, and funny-shaped. It's got low standby, but if they're saying it draws 1/10th of most on standby it's probably still not as efficient as the designs which draw zero watts on standby.

Strange as it sounds, "zero" doesn't actually mean 0; The specification basically says any power consumption below 5 mW can be labeled as 0W

 

[wikiverse]

No, because the usb cable is low voltage and not an electrocution hazard. The bits inside the charger are what matter.

That being said, I never had a knockoff lightning cable last more than a few weeks, so I now only buy MFi certified cables. Haven't had a problem since.

I've never had an apple lightning cable last more than a few weeks. Now I only buy 'flat' knockoffs so they can't twist and fray at the device end. One flat cable has lasted since October 2012... It has survived the iPhone itself which had needed replacing because of wifi and calling issues.

 

[PracticalMac]

I was told the Take Back program ended.

 

[hchung]

Strange as it sounds, "zero" doesn't actually mean 0; The specification basically says any power consumption below 5 mW can be labeled as 0W

I guess that's kind of reasonable when it comes to rounding. What's the Powerslayer draw on standby?

The "zero watt" design I had in mind was this one:
http://cache.freescale.com/files/microcontrollers/doc/ref_manual/DRM130.pdf

When active, it charges a super capacitor. When on standby, it literally draws zero from the wall because it's disconnected. The detection circuit can remain powered off the super capacitor for about 15 days before it'll recharge itself, but the actual standby drain is on the order of uA instead of mA.

 

[JAT]

Perhaps if Apple charged a fair price instead of trying to squeeze every last penny out of their users, people wouldn't go for the knock-offs.

Perhaps you don't know what "fair" means.

 

[nburwell]

No, because the usb cable is low voltage and not an electrocution hazard. The bits inside the charger are what matter.

That being said, I never had a knockoff lightning cable last more than a few weeks, so I now only buy MFi certified cables. Haven't had a problem since.

Same here. I purchased a spare and cheap lightning cable from eBay over a year ago. It worked great for about two weeks, then just stopped working. After that experience, I've shelled out the money for an Apple one that I keep at work and I purchased a MFi 10ft lightning cable