Apple recalls over a decade of power adapters

[Mechanical Menace]

So many Apple bashers...

Over sensitive fanboy much? The Apple bashing started in response to your post and tbh that was tame. There was none in what you replied to

And of course all they're doing is covering their arse and if they could get away with not even wasting money on the announcement let alone actually recalling them they would. If it would be cheaper to just let the few unfortunates die and settle any possible legal action out of court they'd do that. And that's just the nature of big businesses and not Apple bashing, so would 99+ percent of other companies.

[MrSlack]

I love the fact that I get labelled an Apple "basher". I don't think someone who has invested what I have in their products should be called a "basher" when relaying valuable experience to people. On the Internet, that appears to be synonymous to "holocaust denier" when defending material goods that are just shit. Ugh, humans.

For reference, to bring a little balance to the argument, I don't like Sony kit either. VPC-J1 that lives in my garden that got into an argument with me over random power drop outs and crashes:

[MT]

[BradC]

I can not see any design problems. If they means broken neutral contact, then yes, it will give you a jolt, but not remotely close to kill you. It it means there are touchable exposed contacts, then I have to say whoever tries to poke their thin and long elf's finger into that thing or poke a hairpin into it deserved to be electrocuted.

You have obviously not come across a broken one that broke in the specific manner that triggered the recall. There is an inherent weakness in the plastics and adhesive that allows it to snap, leaving live bits exposed.

[eugenenine]

Again, this is not a power supply recall. This recall covers plug adapters that plug into power supplies. And remember that the main reason you don't hear about Dell, HP, etc recalling stuff is a) because the media doesn't consider it newsworthy so they don't report on it, and b) because they don't recall until it becomes urgent, whereas with anything remotely safety related, Apple recalls aggressively.

I've seen recalls from HP, Dell, etc.  One or two brands have had a battery recall, one or two brands have had a power supply recall.  Apple has had everything recalled at least once.

I worked for a GEM reseller, we could sell 100 Thinkpads, Omnibooks, Armadas, Latitudes, etc and have maybe 1-2 problems in the first 30 days.  We would have someone ask for 10 Apple's and would have 2-3 problems in the first 30 days and then more problems afterward.  Their reliability was always way below the business grade systems, they were only comparable in quality if you toss in the sub $500 consumer lines by the same brands to bring their average down.

Then trying to get them to work with us as a reseller, they were terrible. 

[station240]

http://www.theage.com.au/digital-life/computers/apple-slammed-over-power-adapter-recall-incidents-may-be-underreported-20160201-gmioeu.html

A Reddit user said 'bad glue' caused this Apple adapter to break when it was removed from the wall socket, exposing live prongs.

Other customers have posted anecdotes on social media detailing how prongs separated from Apple adapters when they simply tried to remove them from the wall.

Another Apple customer posted a similar problem on a Reddit thread: "My Macbook has been zapping me through the chassis for years now," the user said.

Also several stories about 'exploding' power adapters in that story. Including this one
https://twitter.com/SandraEckersley/status/694360164036554754/photo/1

Seriously apple, the only thing holding the sheet of plastic with the mains prongs to the rest of the casing/device is some glue. 
Also the apple stores only had enough replacement PSUs to last one day 

[tooki]

Huh? The pictures in the last link clearly show that the plastic joint that is the cause of this recall did not fail in that instance. While something clearly went horribly awry there, it wasn't related to this recall.

The article linked with that tweet includes a picture, which if you read the text, was caused by customer abuse. ("Bumped" meaning "torn from the wall".)

At least in theory, glue is a perfectly valid design choice - many glues are stronger than the materials they are joining, and of course with plastic there are "glues" that in fact are nothing but solvents that just dissolve the plastics and wall " them together. But I'd always assumed it was ultrasonically welded. If you've ever tried opening any of the AC adapters these plug adapters go in, you'll know you absolutely cannot pry apart the seams, you must Dremel them apart, and I've never seen anything that looks like adhesive residue on the seams.

There's also another big question: Apple designs these, but contract manufacturers build them. There is - however unlikely - the possibility that the design specs were not always adhered to 100% by the contract manufacturer.

And finally, just because some customer said it was glue doesn't mean it actually was. They might not know what ultrasonic welding is, for example. Or there might be some actual glue used to hold the pieces together prior to ultrasonic welding, but that isnt expected to provide any strength after welding.

[MrSlack]

You're pulling it wrong?

[ez24]

My GF dropped her GS3 getting out of the car, never even realized she didn't have her phone all night, and the next morning, RAN IT OVER 


Glad I am not the only one that did this - I ran over my Apple 4 whatever (ps it did not survive)
Give her a 

[ozwolf]

http://www.apple.com/support/ac-wallplug-adapter/

Apple has determined that, in very rare cases, the two prong Apple AC wall plug adapters designed for use in Continental Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Korea, Argentina and Brazil may break and create a risk of electrical shock if touched. These wall plug adapters shipped from 2003 to 2015 with Mac and certain iOS devices, and were also included in the Apple World Travel Adapter Kit.

Customer safety is always Apple's top priority, and we have voluntarily decided to exchange affected wall plug adapters with a new, redesigned adapter, free of charge. We encourage customers to exchange any affected parts using the process below.

Note: Other wall plug adapters, including those designed for Canada, China, Hong Kong, Japan, United Kingdom, and United States and Apple USB power adapters are not affected by this program.

I've just finished filing three claims (2 x iPhone 4's + an iPad) for adapters via the service link.  Simple process, you will need the serial #'s to do this.  A couple of days later I got confirmation that the adapters will be posted to my home address.

Easy peasy.

Ozwolf

[Halcyon]

You're pulling it wrong?