Two separate incidents in China that involved the use of a counterfeit USB charger for the iPhone 4 resulted in the death of a woman and the placement of a man in a coma in July. Today, Apple announced a new program that's designed to get rid of the counterfeit chargers that have been made for many of their products.
In a new page on the Apple website, the company has announced the launch of a new USB Power Adapter Takeback program. While Apple said that not all third party chargers have issues, this new program is being put into place to make sure iPhone, iPad and iPod owners have USB adapters that have been "properly designed."
The program begins on August 16th and runs until October 18th. During that time, anyone can bring in a USB adapter made for the iPhone, iPad or iPod to an Apple store or an authorized Apple dealer for disposal. At the same time, those same people can purchase new official USB chargers from Apple for just $10. Normally the price of a charger would be $19. Customers must bring both their old charger and their iPhone, iPad or iPod with them in order to take advantage of the special $10 offer.
Apple has also set up a page on their site that shows users how they can identify if their USB charge is a genuine Apple product, such as the above image for the iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, iPhone 5, and iPad mini.
Source: Apple | Image via Apple
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