Apple AC wall plug adapter exchange program

I use my cables as well, and I use them a lot. I have around 16 devices which I have to constantly charge around the house.

I throw the cables in my briefcase, backpack, pocket etc. I have cables which live in my car exposed to UV light but none have never degraded to the level shown in your photos.

My Apple In Ear Headphones do experience a lot of wear and tear to the point where I need to replace them, but even they have not gone to the point where the wires under the protective coating have been exposed.

1 Like

Ah, that would explain it. I had the same problem on two of my apple cables, which both live in the car.

this happens to some of mine - think it depends on the usage. i have one in my car plugged into the usb port and this happens within about 6mths. have one on my desk at work that still looks like new condition which is 3 years old

Swapped 4 duck heads over at Mymac on Flinders Street this afternoon. Was in and out in around 1 minute- not exaggerating.

The one in my car looks the same yet every other cable is perfect, might be onto something about the sunlight on them. (And mine lives in a dock connector so doesn’t move very much either!).

That happened to one of mine, lived on my desk for about 18months and went yellow then did exactly as shown, wasn’t in the sun. Maybe there was a dodgy batch, I would have got it with my iPhone 5 or my iPad Mini 3 years or so ago.

I had to throw away one cable recently from fraying as well. I think it just happens to some that are used a lot.

I’ve had quite a few Lightning cables do that too.

Anyone been to Doncaster recently? Still handing out new duckheads quickly?

I guess my point was that I have many cables that I use a lot too that never have the problems Apple cables seem to have.

Thunderbolt, Mag Safe, Lightning. They are all great interfaces with terrible OEM cables in my opinion!

HP know how to make a laptop power pack. Sure, they are a bit uglier, but they last forever! Standard USB cables? A bit uglier, but I’ve never ever had one fray. I had a super cheap one snap once, but literally, that’s the only one I’ve ever had die! I have had 3 lightning cables die, and my clients have many more the same (including thunderbolt screen cables dying through bad design).

They were yesterday. :slight_smile: And I asked when they would do it until and the guys said “until we’ve got them all”…

Walked into Apple Store Chadstone on Saturday… found a staff member… was directed to wait with another couple customers at a table… then another staff member came out with a tray of new adapters… Swapped for the old ones, no questions asked.

Anyone know if the resellers are doing it so easy?

Funny thing is, my busted one is probably iPhone 5 vintage as I put the hard mounted dock into the car with an iPhone 5 originally… so yeah… maybe those cables had issues??

I keep meaning to swap it out for a new one… but since it’s a hard mounted dock it’s all tucked away under the dash somewhere and that’s alot of effort :stuck_out_tongue: :stuck_out_tongue:

1 Like

Anyone know if the resellers are doing it so easy?

Sure are. Or at least should be. Apple’s rapid exchanging them for 4 weeks or so, walk in and walk out, no questions asked. Not sure what will happen after though.

No kidding. Just so everyone here can have a laugh or recoil in horror, here’s my current MacBook Air 45w adapter:

The inside of the cable is coated in a blue-green material of some sort, which is starting to bleed through the rubber insulation in some spots. The entire cable is perished and flaking off almost like powder. I started chasing the initial break with electrical insulation tape but it just continued to split further and further up the cable until large pieces started breaking away. I considered it was perhaps dirt or foreign contaminants but these tables are cleaned down regularly. UV exposure? It was near a window for a while. Personally, I haven’t a clue.

I do some electrical work so I’ll chop the entire cable out of the brick and adapter head shortly and replace it with a thicker, more durable one.

1 Like

We’ve got an onsite tech (.edu.au institution). They’ve been ordering boxes of several hundred at a time, and we’ve been giving him batches of old ones from wherever we find them (including home) :+1:

The lightning cable in my wife’s car:

The theory that heat and sunlight makes a difference is probably correct.

Exchanged seven at Doncaster today, zero fuss.

I’ve had quite a few of these problems with cables and most have never seen the light of day,

I’m on the other side of the fence and say they are a crappy product.

I’ve got several official lightening cables with this happening to them as well.

Shits me to no end.

Edit: Whoa, thread revival at its finest, apologies

1 Like

A heads up for everyone here, the direct exchange process for adapters finishes at the close of business today.

Adapter exchanges will still be available for the foreseeable future, but service locations will most likely require serial numbers to perform the exchange and exchanges will take a few days to complete instead of being a straight swap as replacements will now need to be ordered as service parts from Apple.

Not sure whether this also extends to Apple Stores at this time.

If you have any remaining adapters to be exchanged, get in today and exchange them if possible.

1 Like