Apple has revealed a new offer whereby owners of third party iOS power chargers can trade them in for an official equivalent.
The move has been made in the wake of the tragic death of a Chinese woman last month due to a dodgy unofficial iPhone charger. Ma Ailun, a 23-year-old flight attendant, was electrocuted when she attempted to answer a call whilst here iPhone 5 was charging.
Though Apple has not been held responsible for the accident, it has now taken steps to lessen the threat of counterfeit or poorly designed third party chargers.
“Recent reports have suggested that some counterfeit and third party adapters may not be designed properly and could result in safety issues,” begins a statement over on the official Apple website.
The company then acknowledges that “not all third party adapters have an issue,” but goes on to outline the new USB Power Adapter Takeback Program, which goes into effect in China (where there is a rampant market for counterfeit Apple goods) from August 9 and the rest of the world from August 16.
From that date, if you have concerns about your non-Apple iOS power charger, you can take it to an Apple store and exchange it for an official Apple solution for just $10 – which works out at around £6.50 with a direct conversion, but will probably cost UK customers a little more in reality.
In order to qualify you have to bring your iPhone, iPad or iPod to the retail store – as well as the dodgy lead itself – for serial number validation.
This unofficial charger amnesty is only good for one charger per iDevice, and the offer ends on October 18 this year.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
