Is Apple's USB wall adapter really worth $29?

[Matthew DeCarlo]

While Apple is getting more competitive on system pricing, the company's accessories still seem wildly overpriced. For instance, the iOS USB power adapter costs $29, while generic units are readily available through Amazon for under as little as a dollar or two with free shipping. If you needed a new wall adapter for your iPhone, you'd undoubtedly consider evading the infamous "Apple tax." After all, a charger's a charger, right?

Wrong, according to electronics technician Ken Shirriff, who recently dissected Apple's charger alongside some cheaper alternatives. Shirriff's teardowns offer an incredible amount of detail -- much of which is admittedly over our heads -- but the important takeaway is clear enough: Apple's device is of a notably higher quality than off-brand components. This is true in many ways and cheaping out could have very real consequences.

Apple's charger has extra parts and/or design elements that reduce interference with the touchscreen and audio playback, in addition to improving safety. Shirriff said there are strict rules governing the separation of dangerous line voltage and safe output voltage. There's supposed to be 3-4mm of "creepage" and "clearance." Apple's charger exceeds that requirement at 6mm, while the off-brand device has less than 1mm.

"I wondered how this [knock-off] power supply could have met the UL standards," Shirriff said. "It didn't list any safety certifications, or even a manufacturer. I suddenly realized that purchasing the cheapest possible charger on eBay from an unknown manufacturer in China could actually be a safety hazard. Note that this sub-millimeter gap is all that's protecting you and your phone from potentially-lethal 340 volts," he warned.

Apple's adapter is also sturdier. In 2008, the company recalled iPhone chargers with a defect that caused the AC prongs to fall off in the wall outlet. This prompted a redesign that makes the prongs virtually impossible to remove from the charger without destroying it. By comparison, Shirriff used pliers to easily remove the no-name adapter's prongs, noting that they were only held in with friction, and seemingly little friction at that.

Despite the higher quality of Apple's charger, Shirriff acknowledged that its steep price is largely profit. He noted that a very similar Samsung cube charger uses about $1 less in components and retails for as little as $6. Although you'll sacrifice a little quality (more EMI interference and weaker, though perfectly safe prongs) Samsung's offering seems like a great compromise if you can't justify the full $30 for Apple's solution.

Charger component pricing per 1,000 units (Shirriff believes Apple gets even better rates)

• 0402 SMD resistor $0.002
• 0805 SMD capacitor $0.007
• SMD transistor $0.02
• fusible resistor $0.03
• 1A 600V (1J) diode $0.06
• thermistor $0.07
• Y capacitor $0.08
• 3.3uF 400V electrolytic capacitor $0.10
• TL431 $0.10
• 1.5uH inductor $0.12
• SCD 34 diode $0.13
• 2801 optocoupler $0.16
• 1HNK60 transistor $0.22
• USB jack $0.33
• 100uF tantalum capacitor $0.34
• L6565 IC $0.55
• 330uF tantalum polymer capacitor (Sanyo POSCAP) $0.98
• flyback transformer $1.36
• Estimated BOM: $4.66

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/48747-is-apples-usb-wall-adapter-really-worth-29.html

 

[Guest]

Well this Apple Toilet Brush is most definitely worth the price, I just wish Apple would buy out Toilet Duck. Come on already !

Ha ha ha

 

[Steve]

It has the Apple logo, easily worth the $29! In fact its probably a bargain at that price.

 

[Guest]

Wow super GREED.Thats why I never buy their products.

 

[mevans336]

Apple charges it because they can, no pun intended. (That was terrible.)

In all seriousness, Apple has a loyal customer base who will grossly overpay because they are generally technically inept and trust Apple. If the "Genius" says they need that part, they're going to but it. They don't read tech blogs and aren't going to shop on eBay for a charger they need now. (This is the average Apple user I'm talking about. I'm typing this from a Macbook Air, so I'm not referring to ALL Apple users. Put the pitchforks away.)

Honestly, if my charger died, I'm not going to eBay either, as my phone wouldn't last long enough for shipping to get me the part, unless I wanted to stay chained to my laptop for hours waiting fora USB trickle charge.

 

[Kibaruk]

I mean... hello why wouldn't you buy the amazing apple products? They have the apple thingie logo and thingies like that, that's simply amazing!

 

[Guest]

It makes me cringe every time I see them at that price because if they're stocking them, presumably there's some poor mug somewhere buying them. Of course they're not worth that much but if it's $3 elsewhere and $29 from Apple. Assuming a $1.50 (guess) production cost, Apple only need to sell 1 for every 19 of the cheap ones to make the same amount of money and we all know that there's more than 1:19 ratio of smart people:*****s out there!

 

[MilwaukeeMike]

This article isn't really news... Everyone does this. I had to buy an HP laptop charger a while back and they wanted $80 for one. I got one for $13 on Amazon.

Yes, the quality is lower, but that's what the reviews are for. The reviews tell you if something fried their device or if it charges slower than the stock one etc.

 

[Renrew]

It's certainly worth every penny since it includes an average meal for an Asian.

 

[Prosercunus]

This is what Apple is as a brand at its very core (pun intended).

Apple makes solid products, but the premium cost of their products and accessories is because it has become essentially a fashion statement and icon to the point that people just buy the products mostly because of the excellent marketing skills of Apple. There is of course legitimate reasons to buy an Apple product, they make excellent screens for example, but lets not try to pretend a good chunk of their consumer base is just uninformed buyers that are looking at brand identity and/or worse, a fashion statement.

You can say the same for a lot of other things as well.

 

[PC nerd]

Apple in a nutshell. Why anyone still buys their crap is beyond me.

 

[Guest]

Apple pencil sharpener coming soon, in stores now for only $50! Why would you want an Apple sharpener? Because it just works!

 

[Guest]

Unless you are holding it wrong.

 

[Tygerstrike]

If you guys had read the article instead of glass eyeing it. It states that the Apple product is put together better and is rated better then any of the cheap knock offs. Personally, I dont want to accidentally fry out my Iphone by being cheap. That would hurt more then loseing my phone. Then its my fault for being cheap not Apples, as they would like me to use their charger. Yes it is pricey. Apple knows this. But what is even more expensive is trying to replace your Iphone after some cheapy knock off charger kills your phone. So yea $28-30 bucks and if it fries my phone Apple has to replace it. On a knock off charger, Good Luck getting ANYTHING.

 

[Wendig0]

All this rage about Apple's profit margin... What about Nike, ReeBok, etc? I'm not an Apple fanboy, as many here already know, but I will admit that they have a good business model. It isn't greed, it's simply smart business.

 

[Wagan8r]

Oh, come on! $29 is a small price to pay for some magicalness!

 

[raybk]

I wonder how many fools have bought it.

 

[gwailo247]

You may be getting better quality components, as one can argue with the Mac line in general, but you're certainly paying for them. In this case, the markup is probably way more than on a Mac.

Nobody can really say that Apple makes poor quality products. They usually choose good quality components. But they're the same components you can buy other places, and they're assembled by the same suicidal factory drones.

So at the end of the day a person can buy the same quality components as in a Mac, but for a much lesser price.

 

[Guest]

@ Tigerstrike, most ppl also read it and noticed this statement in addiiton that you seem to omit in your reply.

"Charger component pricing per 1,000 units (Shirriff believes Apple gets even better rates)"

The point is this article shows that apples unit is of a better build quality and that gives one peice of mind and assurances but also the price factor is obsurd considering the mark up from a wholesaler to an apple store.

I have no issues personally with apple, they are the best marketing corporation in the world and kudos goes to them for that, but a consumer knows when they are being over charged and when they are getting a fair deal or not most of the time but then again not always apparently.

 

[slh28]

I've used £3 iPhone chargers for years without any problems.

A lot of Apple hardware is not overpriced, the prices for iPhones, iPads and Macbooks are easily justified when compared to the competition. However some of their things really are hilariously overpriced: Mac Pro, iPod nano/shuffle and all their accessories and RAM/HD upgrades. But nobody is forcing you to buy them, and if you're stupid enough to buy a charger or a set of the worst ever headphones for $29/£26 then you deserve to be ripped off.

 

[Adhmuz]

I've used £3 iPhone chargers for years without any problems.

A lot of Apple hardware is not overpriced, the prices for iPhones, iPads and Macbooks are easily justified when compared to the competition.

Hard to believe when the "New iPad" had a bom of $365 at launch and retails for $729, nice margins there... Sadly I know far too many people who have bought in to the Apple fashion statement, and then when they don't know what they're talking about argue with you over it. Easy solution is to just avoid these people and pretend Apple doesn't exist, its been working for me and think more people should try it.

 

[Guest]

Far too simple are most of the comments here. The value of a product is far beyond the sum of its parts.

Quite often you will get exactly what you pay for. You will reap what you sow.

Try, at a minimum, reading the article.. Even better, think about it for a while before commenting. Think about all the ramifications of any action such as this purchase. There are many.

 

[slh28]

Hard to believe when the "New iPad" had a bom of $365 at launch and retails for $729, nice margins there...

The 16GB one has a BOM of $316 compared to the retail price of $499, that's extremely reasonable when you consider the $316 doesn't include R&D, marketing, licensing, software, wages, support, shipping, etc. Anyway looking at the BOM breakdown isn't even valid most of the time, if you used that analysis on Windows 7 then that should be selling for $5. Relative to the competition, the new iPad blows every other $500 tablet out of the water. Whether $500 is a reasonable amount to spend on a non-essential gadget is another question, but the actual hardware is very reasonably priced. Like I said, it's the memory upgrades and accessories that they milk people on.

 

[m4a4]

<p>There is of course legitimate reasons to buy an Apple product, they make excellent screens for example</p>

They do not make most (if not all) of their components, they buy them and have a plant put them together...

Otherwise, This is half of the reason why I will never pay for an apple device. It's more fashion/toy than anything else...

 

[Guest]

If cannot afford the -- then what a shame.