Apple’s announced a worldwide scheme whereby iOS device owners can “trade in” third party USB chargers for official Apple ones, although the pricing of the Australian scheme is still up in the air.
The scheme will (according to The Guardian) be offered on a single-charger-per-iOS-device basis, and while Apple hasn’t explicitly said why it’s doing it, reports from China of a woman fatally electrocuted by a dodgy charger may have something to do with it.
American pricing is set at $US10, but there’s no word as to what we’ll pay here in Australia. At today’s exchange rate that’d be $11.13 before taxes, so a $12-$13 price point seems likely. By way of comparison, a 12W official adaptor will set you back $25 right now on Apple’s web store.
I’ve queried with Apple’s local PR representatives, who told me that “we’re able to start with China on August 9 and bring the program to the rest of the world on August 16. Details specific to individual countries will be made available when the program is brought to the rest of the world on August 16.”
This doesn’t mean that every single third party charger is automatically suspect, but if you’ve got a slightly buzzy or twitchy charger, it might be wise to unplug it and trade it in as and when the scheme officially launches here.