It is rather common in our part of the world to replace the original chargers with fake copies as soon as they stop working, but a new report sheds light on why that might not be such a good idea.
According to highly-comprehensive tests commissioned by Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI) in the UK, comprising testing of 400 counterfeit iPhone chargers, it was revealed the overwhelming majority to be potentially dangerous.
Out of all the adapters, only three managed to pass a basic security test. The damning report concluded that if in an unfortunate event your home is hit by a power surge, it’ll likely spell the end of the phone and in cases even result in a fire.
It wasn’t revealed who were the three chargers that earned that honor. The chargers were obtained from eight countries, so you don’t get to blame Chinese copies only. Most of them either had either lax insulation or counterfeit plugs.
Apple has been pretty vocal regarding the durability of fake chargers so commonly-found in the market, finding 90-percent of the certified ones on Amazon to be fake. The report all but confirms this and suggests you rather buy a new charger to go along with your new flagship.
Also, those of us who have been used to buying our accessories in second-hand, the study also conducted a test on 3,000 used chargers. The results were not as damning but nonetheless, around 15-percent of these failed basic safety tests, too.
To avoid this, you can look for the MFi (Made for iPod/iPhone/iPad) logo which is found in official accessories. Apple goes to a further length with a proper list, as it is only too easy to add a fake logo.