New Apple Battery Charger!

Along with all the other major product updates on Tuesday morning, Apple also introduced a new (very cool looking) AA battery charger that ships with six high-performance AA rechargeable NiMH batteries. That’s two batteries for your keyboard, two for your mouse or trackpad and two for charging. The batteries have up to a 10-year lifespan, and according to Apple they also hold a charge for an incredibly long time. The Apple Battery Charger is optimized for Apple-supplied batteries, but it also works with AA NiMH batteries from other companies.

The sleek, compact Apple Battery Charger is all about efficient charging. The Apple Battery Charger has the lowest “vampire draw” of any similar charger on the market. That’s the energy that most chargers continue to draw even after their batteries are done charging. Unlike other chargers, the Apple Battery Charger senses when a battery charge cycle is complete and automatically reduces the amount of power it uses to 30 milliwatts—more than 10 times better than the industry average.

Apple says “With the Apple Battery Charger, you no longer have to buy or hassle with the disposal of batteries every few months. The charger works quickly and efficiently. And once your batteries are fully charged, it draws less power than any other similar charger on the market.”

And like I mentioned, it’s very cool looking. Go Apple! For $29.99 with six batteries, this unit is in line with other high quality battery chargers, which range in price from $20 – $50. It is possible to get a cheaper charger with four batteries for about $15, but I’d much rather have this hanging off my wall.

Availability of Apple Battery Charger will be announced shortly.