Apple AC Adapter: Just Another Expensive Charger?
Why pay $30 for an Apple USB Power Adapter for your iPhone? This is a question I’ve asked myself a few times, but in the end, I still dropped the cash for the Apple-branded charger for my iPhone. Considering it’s something that I know will last me a while, and that the Apple name means quality, I don’t have much of an issue paying this much for something that seems to be so simple, and I could get for much cheaper elsewhere.
While I feel that this is mostly a good justification, techie blogger Ken Shirriff has come up with a much better reason. Recently, he completely tore apart the tiny charger and closely analyzed its components, resulting in quite the unexpected. Apple’s charger is surprisingly more technologically complex than most other third-party chargers.
He describes each electrical component, in detail, explaining how these components allow Apple’s charger to be efficient and intelligent. One major difference between Apple’s charger and the generic third party charger is Apple’s attention to the reduction EMI interference. This quality allows your iPhone to operate while plugged in exactly the same way as it would while not plugged in. Whereas, while plugged into a third party charger, the iPhone may exhibit touchscreen interference.
Safety is also a factor in Apple’s charger, with a complex circuit that shuts down the charger if it rises above a safe temperature or voltage. Shirriff states that Apple goes “beyond regulation” with with some of the electrical precautions that were taken.
Needless to say, the next time I need to buy an iPhone charger, I will not be thinking twice about which manufacturer I’m buying it from.
Give Ken Shirriff’s very detailed/complex article a read here.
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