UL safety testing shows 99 percent of counterfeit iPhone chargers lack safeguards, are unsafe

A commissioned report of 400 fake Apple chargers bought from all over the world found that 99 percent of them were unsafe, and didn't have sufficient safeguards to protect users and plugged-in devices.

According to BBC News, Underwriters Laboratories (UL) applied high voltage to the chargers to test for sufficient insulation and other safeguards. As a result of the testing, the agency concluded that unknown chargers purchased online were an "unknown entity" and hazardous.

The chargers were purchased from vendors in Australia, China, and the U.S.

In October, Apple started stemming the tide of counterfeit chargers, and sued vendor Mobile Star, accusing it of violating copyrights and trademarks by selling counterfeit accessories on Amazon and Groupon. The suit specifically targets 5-watt USB power adapters and Lightning-to-USB cables sold by Mobile Star, the same as those cited in the BBC News report.

Apple said that it discovered the issue with Mobile Star's gear as part of its regular efforts to combat fake accessories.The company notes that in nine months, it bought "well over 100 iPhone devices, Apple power products, and Lightning cables sold as genuine" through Amazon's "Fulfillment by Amazon" program, and found that almost 90 percent of them were inauthentic.

In 2012, engineer Ken Shirriff examined Apple's chargers, and found them to include better and safer components than knock-offs. A year later, Apple implemented a fake charger buy-back program, which appears to still be operating.

18 Comments

wiggin 2265 comments · 17 Years

About 7 years ago

The article title is missing a critical word:

"UL safety testing shows 95% of ~~third party~~ CONTERFEIT iPhone chargers lack safeguards, are unsafe"

To lump all 3rd party USB chargers into this claim of poor quality is a bit misleading. Bottom line...don't buy cheap crap online. "Too good to be true" still applies. But it probably is in the same category as recent studies that have shown that certain portions of the population have demonstrated an inability to identify fake vs real new stories they read online.

hexclock 1310 comments · 10 Years

About 7 years ago

Is it then reasonable to assume that a significant fraction of the Samsung charger accessories on Amazon are fake as well?

netrox 1501 comments · 12 Years

About 7 years ago

The problem is really Apple. Apple has made recharging technology way too complex to the point that you literally need to have ram and CPU inside cable to do proper charging and also to do data transfer.

Lightning cables need to go away. It had caused too much grief.

Its no wonder we are going with wireless recharging which should be safer.

Soli 9981 comments · 9 Years

About 7 years ago

netrox said:

The problem is really Apple. Apple has made recharging technology way too complex to the point that you literally need to have ram and CPU inside cable to do proper charging and also to do data transfer.

Lightning cables need to go away. It had caused too much grief.

Its no wonder we are going with wireless recharging which should be safer.

Apple has used exactly two different port interfaces for their iPhone, and those same two for the iPod, every iPhone, and every iPad, all with a USB cable that would detach from the PSU when the industry was using a different power cable connected to the PSU, not just between vendors, but multiple versions within the same vendor. Gee, how fucking wonderful would it be to go back to a time when there were entire kiosks of cellphone chargers in a plastic blister cases with a ringed binder hanging off the side to tell you which model would fit your cell phone¡

mike1 3431 comments · 10 Years

About 7 years ago

wiggin said:

The article title is missing a critical word:

"UL safety testing shows 95% of ~~third party~~ CONTERFEIT iPhone chargers lack safeguards, are unsafe"

To lump all 3rd party USB chargers into this claim of poor quality is a bit misleading. Bottom line...don't buy cheap crap online. "Too good to be true" still applies. But it probably is in the same category as recent studies that have shown that certain portions of the population have demonstrated an inability to identify fake vs real new stories they read online.

Correct. There is a difference between counterfeit parts and 3rd-party parts that may or may not be of poor quality. Counterfeit parts are most dangerous as they appear to be the real thing and often can fool the naked eye of even the most careful consumer. The poor quality crap that you see at 7-11 should definitely give pause to the consumer, but many people would still buy one. That's on them.