GineersNow Engineering Magazine January 2017 Issue No 011

42 ISSUE NO. 001 • MARK ZUCKERBERG
Here’s a Compelling Reason
Why iPhone Users Should Stop
Using Counterfeit Chargers
Buying the fake iPhone charger is not really worth it
Despite being a famous brand for smartphones,
iPhones have one major drawback: their chargers.
Ask any iPhone user and he or she will be quick
to point out that the cable causes a headache
for being easily damaged. Once the chargers are
ruined, which are usually frayed or overcharged,
the users are forced to buy another. This is
disheartening especially that iPhone chargers
have a league of their own. Instead of buying the
original which is often too expensive, they resort
to purchasing counterfeits.
A recent study doesn’t recommend anyone to do
this. It was discovered that such imitation devices
are not at all safe, with 99% of the them failing
the basic safety test. Conducted by the Canadian
division of power safety compliance firm UL, the
research involved 400 counterfeit Apple iPhone
chargers bought online, which are available in 8
countries including the US, Canada, Colombia,
China, Thailand, and Australia. The devices were
put to an electric strength test. They were applied
with high voltage between the input and output
side to check the current flowing in the charger.
With the amount of current at a certain threshold
as the standard to be considered the charger as
safe, only 3 out of the 400 samples passed the
safety test. The others which failed pose a great
risk in shocking a user because of the insufficient
insulation.
Moreover, the results showed that 22 units were
immediately damaged after being energized,
which resulted to impairment of testing
equipment.
Twelve of the samples have leaked great amount
of current enough to electrocute a person.
So where lies the difference between the
counterfeit and genuine chargers? The
researchers say it is in the design of the devices’
isolation transformers. “The internal components
are vastly different when compared with a
genuine UL Listed Apple adapter.
Post testing analysis of the tested samples
revealed a complete lack of triple isolation wire
used for the secondary windings; neither the
primary or secondary windings were separated
properly, which is the major reason for the
dramatic failure rate on the electric strength test,”
states UL.
Users of iPhones should remain vigilant with the
high failure rate of the charger counterfeits. This,
while checking the authenticity of the original
Apple power products. Apple has carried out
their own study and figured that about 90% of
the iPhone chargers described as “genuine” on
Amazon are proven to be counterfeit. For this,
Apple tells its users that genuine iPhone chargers
are always white in color including its packaging.
There are also no spelling or grammatical errors
in the original ones. Furthermore, the price is the
greatest indicator: the counterfeits are sold at
significantly less than US$19. The next time you
have are obliged to buy a new iPhone charger,
it would be best that you buy the original one
because the alternative might not just be worth it.
Source: Science Alert
Source: Giga OM