It seems attractive: on sites like Dealextreme or eBay score a new charger or cable for your iPhone, iPad or Mac (Book). That saves tens of euros, but such a counterfeit charger can cause the necessary problems.
Recognize Apple counterfeit
Expert Ken Shirrif explained it once on his blog: Counterfeit accessories lack important elements on the chip and the insulating tape that is important for a safe charging process. As a result, there is a risk of overheating, which can damage not only the charger, but also your iDevice. In addition, a fake charger often only has a fraction of the power of its official counterpart, which causes delays and charging problems.
It is sometimes difficult to see from the appearance of Apple accessories whether you are dealing with a copy or the real thing. Often the same certification information is printed on the outside and packaging sometimes looks lifelike. Yet there are ways to check whether you are dealing with an official cable or charger. As can be seen in the image above, the finish reveals a lot. The official Lightning cable has no opening where the wire and USB port meet, the fakes do.
Just like the official cables, the counterfeit variants are also serialized. Manufacturers of fake cables pay little attention to the quality with which this information is printed. In general, the copyright information on every Apple product is printed in the same light manner, with text nevertheless clearly legible. The quality of the counterfeit cables varies greatly, so that text is often illegible.
In the images below, it is noticeable that official Apple accessories are often better finished, so there are no notches and rough contacts. The plug and the unclear way in which the copyright information is printed also betrays the counterfeit accessories.
Finally, clear differences can be seen if you unscrew the official charger and the counterfeit version (see below). Generally, cheap parts are used that are mounted in an amateur way without the proper insulating tape. To give the charger the correct weight, metal blocks are sometimes added.
An Apple charger may be a lot more expensive, but it’s the smarter choice if you value an accessory that will last and won’t damage your equipment. You can read more reasons why you should not go for Chinese counterfeits this page.