Fake MacBook Charger Teardown Shows How Dangerous It Is

Buying original accessories and parts can be expensive. Sometimes you might think that a company might simply be trying to jack up the prices on purpose to make a tidy profit, and for the most part that is probably true. However you should also take into consideration that sometimes original parts can be expensive because of the way they are made.

Recently a post by Ken Shirrif (via MacRumors) has shown how different an Apple-made MacBook charger differs from that of a fake charger, and how dangerous using such a charger can potentially be. For example in his teardown of one particular fake charger, he discovered that there is a lack of insulation tape between the two voltages on the circuit board.

He also discovered a metal grounding pin that isn’t connected to anything, and that it has a fluctuating power output, although he does note that in the case of some fake chargers, there isn’t even a metal grounding pin to begin with. Also as you can see in the photo above, the fake charger (to the left) is clearly a lot less complex compared to the original (right) in terms of circuitry.

Now sometimes you might be lucky and get away with using a fake, but there have been cases in which unauthorized chargers have caused electrocutions and even started fires, so if you’re thinking it’s just about corporate greed, hopefully Shirrif’s teardown will help enlighten you.

Tyler Lee
Categories: Apple, Computers
Tags: Macbook