Counterfeit AC-to-USB adapters

Thread Starter

wayneh

Joined Sep 9, 2010
17,496
I've been shopping for a replacement 5W charger (AC to USB adapter) for my phone and I'm getting really pissed off. It looks like every "genuine Apple OEM" charger cube you can find - outside the Apple store - is actually counterfeit. Even the ones shipped by Amazon, listed by Apple as an authorized supplier, appear to often be fake. Some fakes are obvious in the ads but many are not, since the sellers use Apple stock photos in their ads. Models are A1265 and A1385 (same specs, just a new number).

Why not buy from Apple? They want $19. The obvious counterfeit ones are <$2. In the $5-10 price range, there might be some genuine adapters out there but it's very hard to tell.

There's a good video showing the real differences of both electrical performance and build quality. Some people argue that the cheap fakes are "good enough" but this particular video clearly shows why that isn't true. Never mind the safety issues of the fakes. There's also a good analysis of the genuine charger design here. I believe the charger was designed by Flextronics, and they may make them as well.

I may try buying some moderately cheap ones from a source that will take returns. If I can identify them as fakes, I'll just send them back.

Question: Anyone here have a favorite AC-to-USB adapter? Need 5V, 1A rating or better. I like the little white cubes but really it just needs to work safely to spec. Not interested in anything over ~$10 unless the amp rating exceeds 1A.
 
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tcmtech

Joined Nov 4, 2013
2,867
All I use are the cheap ones. If it cost over $3 and it's in my house I didn't buy it.
I have never had one fail yet nor give me any trouble with whatever I had plugged into it either and some have been plugged in 24/7 for years now.

Also the cheap ones are great for whenever I need a compact dedicated 5 volt DC power supply for a project. I just rip one apart and refit it into whatever needed it and it's done. ;)

Same with cheap 12 volt SMPS based wall wart adapters. I buy them 10 at a time just so that when I need to tear one apart and implant its guts into something permanent I have them around. :D
 

MrAl

Joined Jun 17, 2014
11,389
Hi,

If you take one apart you will find that the circuit for regulation is not too complex. You can modify it to be more conforming as long as it has enough current capability.

If you have one and trace out the circuit and post here we can mod it to work better. Be careful with it as there may be a charged cap in there even when unplugged.
 

GopherT

Joined Nov 23, 2012
8,009
Apple products have always been pitched at people with more money than sense.
So they take 94% of all smartphone industry profits because consumers have no sense? Riiiiight. :rolleyes:
If company A is charging a higher price for essentially the same product (performance-wise) than Company B, company A's profits will be higher. If they are disproportionately higher, customers of company A really do have more cents than sense. Or, their customers are really victims of excellent marketing of a luxury brand.

The article you posted does more to prove @ian field 's point than your own.

To win customers in India, Apple might be planning to launch a revamped iPhone 5S with higher-spec internals and a cheaper price. The phone would still be more expensive than Xiaomi, Samsung, and Micromax alternatives, but customers might be drawn to the logo and willing to spend more for the premium brand.​
When performance is essentially the same for the current generation of phones, the phrase "premium brand" only tells me the buttons feel nicer or the frame is prettier or the Logo plate is made of machined aluminum vs printed with ink.


I would like to hear the comments you have for your wife when she buys handbags from the company that makes 94% of all handbag profits while supplying only 15% of the handbag market. I am sure it won't be encouraging.
 
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Thread Starter

wayneh

Joined Sep 9, 2010
17,496
When performance is essentially the same for the current generation of phones...
If you think they're the same, then you're an Android customer. If you perceive value from the areas where they are NOT the same, you are an iOS customer. Different products, different value propositions. Android fans tend to think iOS users are fools easily separated from their excess money. iOS users view Android users as sub-cretinous dolts lacking self respect, that can't see the obvious advantages of iOS. That gap is not going to close, so it's as useless a discussion here as a perpetual motion project.

Can we get back to adapters now? :D
 

GopherT

Joined Nov 23, 2012
8,009
If you think they're the same, then you're an Android customer. If you perceive value from the areas where they are NOT the same, you are an iOS customer. Different products, different value propositions. Android fans tend to think iOS users are fools easily separated from their excess money. iOS users view Android users as sub-cretinous dolts lacking self respect, that can't see the obvious advantages of iOS. That gap is not going to close, so it's as useless a discussion here as a perpetual motion project.

Can we get back to adapters now? :D
Now you have shown that you are a really bad at making logical arguments (post11) AND bad at making predictions (first sentence of Post 16). I have one of each - current Samsung Galaxy and iPhone 6S. One for work and one for personal. If you think there is a difference, you haven't used a Galaxy and you are only confused my the more intuitive Android OS.
 

Thread Starter

wayneh

Joined Sep 9, 2010
17,496
Now you have shown that you are a really bad at making logical arguments (post11) AND bad at making predictions (first sentence of Post 16). I have one of each - current Samsung Galaxy and iPhone 6S. One for work and one for personal. If you think there is a difference, you haven't used a Galaxy and you are only confused my the more intuitive Android OS.
The notion that you can suck up 94% of an industry's profits by offering something that is somehow inferior is absurdly illogical and naive. The market decides winners and losers and if you can't accept that, you're just delusional. If you think the market is wrong, that it's possible to dupe millions and millions of people, you're welcome to try.

And you're the first and only person I've heard of that thinks Android is "more intuitive". That is NOT what sells Android devices.
 

tcmtech

Joined Nov 4, 2013
2,867
If you think the market is wrong, that it's possible to dupe millions and millions of people, you're welcome to try.
Are you new to this planet? o_O

Dupe as many as possible for as much money as you can get away with and not get put in jail for has been the primary operating process of humankind since we figured out how to trade a banana for a coconut.

Getting people to pay for the name not the quality has been primary strategy of marketing and business since someone figured out that fools with money tend to spend their money foolishly if given a reason to feel good about themselves though association justified or otherwise. :rolleyes:

Just look at how many people are loyal to brands of products that at one time stood as industry standards that now are total overpriced junk just because people still associate their name with their former quality.. (fluke meters anyone?) :(
 
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