Post a Comment On: Ken Shirriff's blog

Fantastic read! Thanks for doing this. It's geeky stuff like this that makes the net so darn addicting.- I mean power supplies?? Who knew?

May 19, 2012 at 9:11 AM

Is it possible that the higher quality IC helps this charger truly switch off when a device is not connected? I've read that this Apple's adapters have effectively no waste when not in use, unlike most that always use some energy when connected to the AC receptacle.

May 19, 2012 at 10:55 AM

Matthew: surprisingly, it turns out that Apple's charger uses more power when not in use than the other chargers I measured (a Samsung charger and several $2 knockoff chargers). The idle power is still low - about 0.3 watts. I plan to write an article about power usage later.

May 19, 2012 at 11:11 AM

A link to an Amazon product page! This has to be one of the best affiliate sales I've ever seen. Itwould actually make me feel better buying the charger. Nice writeup.

May 19, 2012 at 1:31 PM

You say that the 30 bucks Apple charges for these chargers will be profit, mainly. Perhaps that is the case. Seeing how much thought went into these things, knowing a recall and a redesign happened, reading how the design goes above and beyond safety regulations, I dare assume Apple spent a lot of time on research, prototyping, and testing. That time is an expensive investment and I'd say a large part of the margin goes into returning that investment. At some point, obviously, that ROI will be met and the remaining sales will turn into profit... part of which indubidably will be invested again for the next gadget.

May 19, 2012 at 2:52 PM

Excellent post!

I've been wondering why the presumably high-quality samsung charger that came with my Galaxy Nexus emits an ultra high pitched squeal (which wavers a bit) when plugged in, but that goes away when the phone's plugged in.

Based on your article I'm guessing it's the switching frequency, which you said is usually ~70kHz but varies depending on load, so maybe it dips into the top of the audible range when there's nothing plugged in? I'm still left wondering what's physically resonating to create the sound...

I believe the model on the charger is ETA0U80JBEBSTD.

May 19, 2012 at 6:59 PM

Have you done a disassembly of the Kindle usb charger? It also has some Flextronics work. Would like to see the contrast with Apple’s specs. While Amazon has a smaller charger that can fit even more easily in a pocket, they were kind of notorious for having usb cables that disintegrated in under a year.

May 19, 2012 at 11:12 PM

This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

May 20, 2012 at 8:52 AM

The physical vibrations come from the wiring of the inductor or transformer. Current moving through a wire creates a coupling force on the nearby wires pulling them closer and then pushing them away, when the current stops flowing at the end of the cycle. The wires displace a tiny amount on each oscillation of the drive waveform. Given that the coil has many hundred turns of wire, each of which, is displacing, the sound pressure generated by the movement can amount to something noticeable if it is in the audio band. This problem usually gets more noticeable as the power supply ages. Manufacturers coat the coil with glue to reduce the movement of the wires. As the component ages, the glue becomes more brittle and may crack or otherwise yield allowing the wires to displace more freely.

May 20, 2012 at 3:46 PM

Great article. I am a super tough sell on that account, too. Extremely well done and technically accurate; a pleasure to read. I appreciate this level of engineering too, but seldom see anyone doing such a thorough job of exploring the details of it online. Thanks for the effort and the observations

May 20, 2012 at 6:17 PM

So interesting! Thank you so much for this great article! I love reading about all of the little things!

May 20, 2012 at 7:21 PM

Great article, thanks. One complaint, though, regarding your definition of "profit." I build scientific instruments for a living, and I assure you, the cost of parts is one of many, many costs that a builder has to recover in the selling price; for me, labor and other overhead dwarf parts on some products.

May 20, 2012 at 9:38 PM

Except that they put shitty connectors that fray much quicker than normal "bendy" type connectors running out of this thing.

e.g. who here has an official apple cable that's ended up with wires showing courtesy of their aesthetics over performance attitude?

May 20, 2012 at 11:18 PM

Ken, that was a great breakdown of how Apple builds their products. It seems that people say that everyone shops only on price and the products that are created by apple prove that theory wrong consistently. Even if it costs them an extra $1 to make that happen.
Thanks for a great break down of the build

May 20, 2012 at 11:20 PM

I've noticed some 'capacitive coupling' effects on PC power supplies generating small shocks over USB. Will the extra filtering in this case prevent little shocks? Or do all switching power supplies have high voltage 'leak' due to the capacitance across the transformer?

May 21, 2012 at 12:42 AM

Great work! Could you do Amazon's Kindle charger for a comparison? I suspect it's more cheaply made. They used to include them for free when you bought a Kindle but now they cost $20!

May 21, 2012 at 1:58 AM

Excellent post!

Please do this for the Nokia Lumia 800 or 900 charger (to my knowledge they use the same charger)

May 21, 2012 at 3:47 AM

@ Anonymous: You get shocks from your computer because you aren't using an earthed outlet.

The EMI filter in your PC PSU includes two Y class caps (the blue ones), connected from live to earth and neutral to earth. These caps play a part in keeping the switching noise away from the power grid (contrary to what some hardware sites say, the input filter is not there to protect the PSU from disturbances, it's to keep the PSU from disturbing other devices connected to the same outlet). The only component in the input filter that really does protect the PSU is the MOV (metal-oxide varistor), which absorbs voltage spikes coming from the mains supply.

When earth ground is disconnected from the switching power supply, the Y cap connected to live brings the case of the PC to line potential. This is at very low current so it will not hurt you, but it can zap some devices in unfortunate situations. Always plug your computer into a properly earthed outlet.

May 21, 2012 at 4:09 AM

With regard to "what mechanisms create audible noise", besides electromagnetically-driven motion of the wires, magnetostriction is also very important effect.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetostriction

This is the property where a magnetic material (such as the transformer's ferrite core) actually changes size as the magnetic field changes. This effect is unavoidable and is often the principal way that transformers create acoustic noise. The only thing you can do is try to keep the noise from coupling to other materials nearby.

May 21, 2012 at 5:00 AM

great tear down!

I came across a Blackberry charger recently, small as a candy and was fascinated with it!. Previous fascinations include a premium Nokia Charger! And I thought only I could be fascinated by such things!

Can you analyze the Blackberry charger too. Here's a link from Amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/RIM-USB-Power-Plug-Packaging/dp/B003XKJ47E/ref=sr_1_9?s=wireless&ie=UTF8&qid=1337602855&sr=1-9

May 21, 2012 at 5:27 AM

Awesome writeup! Thank you!

May 21, 2012 at 7:41 AM

It feels to me like Apple went with all the EMI and RFI and other noise reduction so as to avoid the use of ferrites on their device cords. Nothing wrecks a cord more than a giant blob...

May 21, 2012 at 9:36 AM

Is the European iPhone charger similar? It has a completely different shape and I suspect it has even less space inside.

http://store.apple.com/de/product/MB707ZM/B?fnode=MTY1NDA0MQ

May 21, 2012 at 10:30 AM

It's funny, I'm a project engineer at an electronics firm. I come home and come across this on Gizmodo... I'm sat here doing a cost estimate for it! Great read!

May 21, 2012 at 11:37 AM

I don't know the proper terminology, but how much electricity does the charger use?

For example, if it is plugged into the wall with no attached device, is there power being consumed?

How about if a fully charged device is left attached?

May 21, 2012 at 11:44 AM

An(other) anonymous commenter wrote:
"Except that they put shitty connectors that fray much quicker than normal "bendy" type connectors running out of this thing."

We have maybe a dozen of the USB-to-iDevice cords lying around. The older ones have been in use for over 4 years. Although the strain reliefs are fairly short as such things go, none show signs of failure. Several have cat teeth marks on them though, but they're still good.

May 21, 2012 at 12:10 PM

Great use of the mustard seed for size reference, because we all know exactly how big those are!

May 21, 2012 at 12:20 PM

excellent write up-software guys can take time out to see there is another much tougher world outside!

May 21, 2012 at 12:43 PM

"When a voltage pulse is sent into the transformer, the output diode blocks the output so there is no output - instead a magnetic field builds up. When the voltage input stops, the magnetic field collapses causing voltage output from the transformer."

As a side note, this is how the electrical system in your car produces the high voltage that makes the spark plugs produce a spark.

May 21, 2012 at 1:00 PM

This is obviously the charger for North America/Japan. Does anyone know if the circuitry is identical in the UK/Hong Kong and mainland Europe chargers?

May 21, 2012 at 1:01 PM

Thank you, I really appreciate this teardown.

I love to see a comparison with the UK and EU iPhone chargers (*very* different formfactors), and I'd also like to see for comparison the 2A iPad charger (with the duckhead adapter, so that one is at least worldwide the same), and also compared to an old iPod charger (same form factor as the current iPad one, but I think with only 500 mA, not even 1000).

Anyoen have any of those lying around to mail this guy? :)

May 21, 2012 at 1:13 PM

Except that they put shitty connectors that fray much quicker than normal "bendy" type connectors running out of this thing.

e.g. who here has an official apple cable that's ended up with wires showing courtesy of their aesthetics over performance attitude?

That was the case for a while, but I'm happy to report that the cables they are shipping now have strain relief that is about 2-2.5 times as long and seems a lot less likely to have the cable pull out of the strain relief. I got the old type with my iPhone 4 (end of 2010), and the new type with my iPhone 4S (late 2011), iPad G3 (early 2012), and the separate iPad charger I bought a month or so ago.

With cables like these new ones, I am actually convinced that it is worthwhile buying the real thing from Apple[1], as opposed to the cheapo cable from China, which a) look horrible, and b) don't seem to hold up all that well.

Presumably you can see the effect of the longer insulation when you visit an Apple Store. Correlation, not necessarily causation: I saw the first of these redone cables just after Steve died.

[1] Don't get a cable for 20 currency units, though -- spend the extra ten and get either an iPad charger or an iPhone charger with it.

May 21, 2012 at 1:38 PM

A humble thanks for a great article. You've done a lot of geeks a big favor. Good job.

May 21, 2012 at 1:53 PM

Please tear down the Apple iPad charger. It must be significantly bigger for some reason. I would appreciate it greatly.

May 21, 2012 at 6:04 PM

Thanks everyone for the comments!

For the European chargers, my guess is the circuit is similar but with a low-profile transformer. The US adapter takes 100-240 volts, so they could reuse the circuit. If anyone has a dead one lying around, let me know, since I'm unlikely to spend $30 to buy one.

Doug with the squealing charger: Chargers are designed to use frequencies above normal hearing range, but if you're relatively young, you may have better high frequency hearing. One other factor: some chargers pulse on and off when there's no load to save energy, which makes it more likely to be audible.

The iPhone charger uses about .25 watts when idle, according to Apple's environmental report. This is low, but about three times the power of the Samsung charger or the $2 knockoff chargers.

The iPad charger is bigger because it's 10 watts instead of 5.

Thanks again for all the thoughtful comments!

May 21, 2012 at 10:22 PM

Hey, why not put a G+ and FB like widget on top of the blog so we can easily like the heck out of it?

Thanks for the great geeky write-up, excellent coffee read!

May 22, 2012 at 1:27 AM

There's no hi-tech feature in this circuit at all... All of these are common electronic components in a common switching power supply design. Delivering 5VDC up to 5W is fairly easy to achieve. Otherwise compare my laptop's power supply that delivers 18V @ 6.5A (117W): it is not much bigger than the iPhone's charger (considering its high power features).

The only innovation I see is the fact of distributing components along the 3 dimensions instead of distributing them in 2 dimensions, as usual.

May 22, 2012 at 2:39 AM

Great read I like reading this kind of tech info. It sure beats having to do it one self. Was always curious as to what was inside that device a lot more than I was expecting.

May 22, 2012 at 7:59 AM

Thanks for the write up! Do you have a recommendation for a less-expensive alternative to the original Apple charger that's still built well enough to be safe? We need to buy lots of these things, and $30 a pop sure adds up fast.

Would love to know anyone's recommendations for an alternative that's cheaper but at least safe to use.

May 22, 2012 at 11:17 AM

Great post! Thanks a lot!

May 22, 2012 at 2:26 PM

Great post! I'd love to see your thoughts on some of the alternatives like the one's Monoprice sells.

http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=108&cp_id=11212&cs_id=1085102&p_id=8856&seq=1&format=2

May 22, 2012 at 4:41 PM

Thanks Ken for a really interesting article, I'm saving your link to "tiny, cheap, dangerous: Inside a (fake) iPhone charger" for anyone who advises buying one from eBay.

May 22, 2012 at 9:08 PM

The traditional rule of thumb for pricing electronics is (nowadays perhaps was) the whole is six times the cost of the parts. So that $1 parts cost bump means a $6 retail price increase.

May 23, 2012 at 3:07 PM

An old rule of thumb for price estimation in consumer electronics is that the whole is six times of the cost of the parts.

Don't forget to figure in the cost of the PC boards, case, the power "cord", and the packaging. (back in the day of the vinyl record, printing the sleeve could cost more than pressing the disk)

The board they use is far from the cheapest possible - its a glass epoxy double sided board, as compared to laminated paper single sided, additive process (put copper where needed, rather than etch away where not) board that you might find in a high volume toy, or your TV's remote control.

May 23, 2012 at 3:20 PM

Thanks a lot Ken, this was really interesting! I own some of these crappy Chinese USB-chargers consisting of only about 15-20 components in total. Well, I even destroyed my mothers MP3-player with it, because the output voltage is highly unstable, especially while plugin in a device. Are you interested in it? Could send you pictures, the schematic and one of the chargers itself if yes, just give me your contact details... Greetz Simon

May 23, 2012 at 10:27 PM

This question will probably get buried down in the stream of comments but I'm actually keen on getting insight on this :

lithium-ion and lithium-polymer batteries require a pretty rigorous charging 2/3 step procedure which is usually taken care of by a dedicated charging chip. I may have missed it in your teardown but it looks like Apple doesn't use such chip in their wall chargers. If I got it right, it simply charges the battery at a constant 1A, seemingly disregarding the two step charging process (constant current, and then constant voltage). Does this potentially reduce the battery life of iPods, iPhones, Ipads... ? Am I missing something here ?

Thanks a lot for the insight.

May 24, 2012 at 9:16 AM

Wonderful article! Thanks.

A quick question - will the fusible resistor (or other parts of the input circuit) be able to deal with lightning strikes? We live in Florida, and having stuff blow because of lightning strikes is a constant problem - two HP printers blown so far, but no apple products.

May 24, 2012 at 12:57 PM

do an hp touchpad charger review they are only 5$ with free shipping from hp right now.

May 24, 2012 at 10:17 PM

Thanks everyone for the great comments!

Simon: I'd be very interested in your evil chargers. You can contact me at kens@arcfn.com

Jerome: typically the phone contains a chip that handles the charging. According to Chipworks' teardown, the iPad uses a Qualcomm PM8028 power management chip, which handles battery management charging, voltage regulation, and other power functions. So don't worry - they're not just feeding the 5 volts from USB into the batteries!

Anonymous: I wouldn't count on the fusible resistor in the charger handling a lightning strike, since the spike could be faster than the fuse can blow. I'd recommend a power strip with a surge protector.

May 24, 2012 at 10:34 PM

Thanks a lot for your answer K, I guess I had a brain fart here, it didn't occur to me that the chip could be in the device... haha. In any case thanks again !

May 24, 2012 at 11:58 PM

Hi Ken. intresting!
I know that normal switched power supply got some ripple and chrap on the output signal. But that doesent matter. On the inside of the phone (any brand) you will probably find a few transistors and stuff. That will take care of the ripple and give the charging circuit what it needs to charge the 1 cell li-ion battery perfect.
Is there any other benifits whit Apples charger than the filter for touch screen compare to the Samsung power supply you dismantled?
Thanks!
Joe

May 25, 2012 at 10:32 AM

it goes without saying that all of Apple's chargers are very high quality. But I have always been perplexed why Apple has never applied this same quality in a dual iPad+iPhone charger. That would really make my day in terms of convenience.

May 27, 2012 at 10:28 AM

I have tons of converters for appliances in my home. I can't stand how hot some of these get even while the devices are off. My Comcast box is the worst offender. But if I unplug it, it forgets my TV listings. Is it ever worth replacing such converters? What should I look for when shopping for one to know it is going to be efficient?

May 30, 2012 at 5:20 PM

Great article Ken, even to a non-geek like myself. A question into my mind while reading some of the comments. I have an iPhone4 and the new iPad. I have gotten the chargers mixed up and have been using one charger on both the iPhone and the iPad. Is this a no-no? If so, is there a way to determine which charger came with each product? They look the same to me!

June 5, 2012 at 11:08 AM

Like a surgeon knows the human body, you know your electronics! It's an electrical autopsy! Fascinating, even to an idiot such as myself. It inspires me to learn more!! Thank you, sir! -Fred

June 5, 2012 at 4:45 PM

If you think using an expensive charger is expensive, wait til you use a cheap one and wreck your tablet or phone :)

June 8, 2012 at 3:27 AM

My question is!!! Why Iphone needs a high filtered super charger, (recall powersuplly points at that) when a low price phone like Huawai or samsung needs a normal switched power supply? Do other brands have the filter (iphone chager has) built in the phone?
Or are samsung Amoled screen better and less sensetive then retina srceen?

June 23, 2012 at 9:22 AM

I had an excellent and enjoyable time reading this article. I found it very interesting. I just noticed something today though, the iPhone charger that you had and tore apart was a model A1265 made by Flextronics, but the one I received with my iPhone 4S was a model A1385, made by Emerson Network Power. I am wondering if the circuitry has changed or not. Maybe one day when you receive one of those chargers you can make a comparison between the two.

June 26, 2012 at 9:39 PM

Apple is killing it... They are making high end products for the fraction of the cost you have to give to Apple at least they are not using cheap components rock on Apple...

June 27, 2012 at 4:39 PM

Excellent product review, Ken. Who would have thought that this small power supply included a controller IC with a feedback circuit for adjusting the output voltage? That's amazing in this form factor - a tip of my sombrero to Apple, but another to you Ken for nice analysis.

August 6, 2012 at 5:00 PM

It's a very interesting study. Thanks for sharing.

ps: I think it's STMicroelectronics and not "STMicrosystems" for the L6565

August 13, 2012 at 12:10 PM

Thanks Ken -

I used to take stuff apart, down to the basics, like that. Now I'm an electrical engineer, and don't have time, but I was admiring my charger, and wondered how they got so much into that small package - very good !!!

- JunoJim

August 18, 2012 at 12:05 PM

Great article! Apple claims that you can use their iPad charger on many of their devices (iPad, iPhone...etc.) but I'm skeptical. Yes, it'll probably "work" but depending on the actual power supply design, could it cause damage to the device/battery? Have you gotten a chance to look into that? Thanks.

August 22, 2012 at 12:26 PM

I will have to say that this is one of the most professional review that i have ever seen. All comments are objective, constructive and fact binding. Thank you.

Is there a way to retain you as a consultant?

September 17, 2012 at 4:37 PM

Is there any chance of getting a teardown of the new Apple Lightning cable? I would love to know what is really inside those? And the new Earpods.

Thank you for doing this.

September 18, 2012 at 12:20 PM

The iPhone 5 comes with the same adapter (as seen in the model #).

I second the comment about seeing an iPad charger teardown. Thanks!

September 23, 2012 at 2:51 PM

My iPhone 5 DOES NOT come with the same charger. It came with model number: A1385

October 1, 2012 at 2:29 PM

My iPhone 5 came with A1385. I took a picture of the info panel for those interested:

http://i288.photobucket.com/albums/ll164/stienman/03DC6DB3-DCE0-4F31-8A53-A2E872E27BC4-173-00000004CDDA65F1.jpg

I would be interested in seeing what the differences are as well.

October 2, 2012 at 6:30 PM

Thanks for the article, but there's one thing that you left out of the teardown. I have a 30 pin connector that goes to a USB, which plugs into either the wall charger or a computer. I don't abuse my cord, but the wires eventually became loose and pulled out of the USB plug. I've spent four hours over the internet trying to find out which order to place the wires before I resoder them, but the only advice I could find was to "buy a new charger." Obviously, I don't want to do this, or I wouldn't be trying to fix the one I have...

Can you add an addendum explaining how to tell which order the wires at the end of a USB are supposed to be in?

-Jason

October 17, 2012 at 12:53 AM

My charger is an A1300 (flat Lozenge shaped) came with my 3GS (8GB last version before being discontinued)

I'd definitively love to see how they managed to miniaturist even more their charger.

Maybe you should also get a similar looking fake 2$ chinese charger and compare both (ebay is flooded with those right now)

I loved this article, very interesting.

October 27, 2012 at 9:25 AM

Fred: if you want a smaller charger, move to the US. As far as I know, Apple has four 5 W iPhone chargers which never changed appearance: US, Europlug, UK, and rest of world. The ROW one looks like the iPad/old iPod with interchangeable plugs.

China gets the ROW version with the US style prongs since they country can't decide on a plug. If you want big and unwieldy, check out the Aus/NZ plug stuck on the ROW adapter.

November 5, 2012 at 3:23 AM

My iPhone 5 charger died while not being used. Getting a new one from Apple is proving a nontrivial exercise. Couldn't get a genius bar appt the day i figured it was dead - geniuses are booked out 24hrs. Had a chance to drop in to Apple store, so hoped they could find a spare minute to give me a replacement. No. We'd love to replace your dead power supply but you need a genius appt. Please come back when you can get a booking. Thought it would be easier to get Apple to mail me one. Logged a case. Support called me back, but then "the number you have called is incorrect"! Couldnt find a way to tell apple to try again. Logged a new case. Few minutes wait to talk to a human...had to talk to supervisor about mailing me a new power supply. Several minutes later, yes we can do that but it will take 7-10 business days. OK, do it. (would take an hour round trip to get to e genis bar) "Sorry my computer is running slow and i cant log the self service repair in. Please call back later and i'll do it."

hopefully i will be able to get the power supply maied after i speak to apple tomorrow.

My IPhone 5 power supply is model A1402, 5W USB power supply. iPad 3 power supply is A1357 10W USB power supply. Amazingly, both are the same size. (bad that they're hard to tell apart.) Have painted a black spot on the 10W version.

If apple doesnt want the dead one back, will be able to do a teardown.....

November 6, 2012 at 2:08 AM

To follow, Apple's standard replacement procedure requires return of the defective item. So I will be unable to teardown the failed power supply.

(Thanks Ken for a fascinating article.)

November 7, 2012 at 12:30 PM

acm_ian: your A1402 5W charger that looks like an iPad charger sounds interesting - I couldn't find anything about it online. Too bad you have to return it. Could you send me a photo of the label? In particular, I'd be interested in knowing who manufactures it. Also, what country is this charger sold in?

November 7, 2012 at 10:20 PM

Wow! This was a very interesting read Ken! I am just starting to learn about electronics. You are such an inspiration.
Thanks!!!!

November 7, 2012 at 11:50 PM

A1402 is made by flextronics. Multivoltage like all of them. My phone bought in Australia. (sending label photo)

November 10, 2012 at 2:43 AM

Sorry if this is a dumb question, but why do the power adapter and device both need power management chips? If the device has one, then how does it help to have one in the power adapter?

November 12, 2012 at 6:29 PM

Just got my replcement power supply (for iPhone 5). its an A1205 with a serial number imprinted on the internal surface. Also by flextronics.

November 13, 2012 at 4:24 AM

My problem is, how can i tell from the outside if it's genuine or if it is Chinese faked crap...

November 21, 2012 at 2:18 AM

This comment has been removed by the author.

November 22, 2012 at 2:40 PM

This comment has been removed by the author.

November 22, 2012 at 4:45 PM

OK Blogger really needs an edit comment button...

Great article, Ken. By the way, you say "EMI interference" a lot, which I read as "Electromagnetic interference interference".

In response to Anonymous who said: "who here has an official apple cable that's ended up with wires showing courtesy of their aesthetics over performance attitude?"

I did. My Macbook adapter cable started to crackle and smoke due to a lack of (yes "lack", not "insufficient") strain relief. This was after a couple years (post-warranty) of normal use (not abuse). $100 a pop. It's a good thing I was around and nothing caught fire.

Around the same time. The battery for the same laptop was getting really bad performance. It ended up being (quietly) recalled for blowing up on people. My brother had the same problem, only his battery swelled and tripled in size, causing damage to the computer. To his misfortune, the recall was "over". We contacted Apple anyway, gave our report (AKA 30 minutes of condescending interrogation), and never heard from them again. That's what $3K+ gets you. Nice!

Then there's my iPod. Also (quietly) recalled for setting people's pants on fire. Be prepared to be without it for a month though.

Is Apple innovative? They can be. They better be, for the prices they charge. But mostly they just like to make shiny, expensive, trendy gadgets (which sheeple will camp out on the streets for). The customer service sucks as badly as the next company. Did Apple contact me to tell me that they've issued a recall for my registered product? No. Pair that with all their proprietary software, hardware, connectors etc which aim to protect their own interests at the cost of your convenience. Then change them every few years. This is why I dislike Apple.

Before you say I'm being unfair, let me describe my "measuring stick". My out-of-warranty Dell monitor had an occasional minor blip. It couldn't be solved with a little bit of troubleshooting, so I had a brand new one at my door a few days later! But I wasn't happy with the colour consistency. No problem sir! And I had another one at my door shortly after. Keep in mind that at this point I still didn't have to send them anything. Then there was the power adapter for my Lacie external HD. It failed out-of-warranty and they just send me another one, no questions asked.

Suck it crApple.

November 22, 2012 at 4:50 PM

Hi Ken, awesome experiment. I have been interested for a while to understand how a USB charger of a given rating (e.g. 2.1 A) charges different devices. The motivator is that while Apple says you can use an iPad charger for iPad/iPhone/iPod, which makes sense, using my iPad charger on my iPod for 2 weeks in Mexico completely destroyed its battery's ability to hold charge.

So I opened up an Apple 30-pin cable, cut just the red wire and ran it through an ammeter. The iPad that claimed to be at 65% was only drawing 100 mA. I don't know what kind of feedback control iPads and Apple chargers use to determine when they're in CC/CV modes, but it seems like it should still be charging all out when it's still at 65%.

Any thoughts?

Thanks,
Matt

November 27, 2012 at 2:06 PM

hI ken ,

it was an amazing bit of reverse engineering. really opened our eyes as to how Apple designs these new concepts.

great going Debu [India]

November 30, 2012 at 2:40 AM

@Matt Claudius:
IMO just about all of these USB "chargers" are constant voltage power supplies. (IIRC the USB spec calls for 5 V +/- 5% or so.) Basically a mini version of the average desktop PC power supply.

All the rest is up to the device connected, which also contains the actual charging circuitry (along with a bunch of switch-mode converters and regulators to generate the various voltages needed - look at, say, the full datasheets of MP3 player ICs from e.g. Sigmatel or AustriaMicrosystems, they're surprisingly complex beasts). You can bet that battery monitoring is reasonably sophisticated when LiIon/LiPo cells are involved (you neither want them to go bang when overcharging nor die when deep discharged).

Therefore the choice of "charger" shouldn't normally influence charging, assuming voltage remains well-regulated in the face of whatever current is demanded.

I can only speculate as to the cause of your battery misfortune. I do know that lithium-based cells are not generally fond of heat (plus charging does warm them up), and keeping them very full further speeds up aging. Such a rapid loss of capacity would point to an already damaged cell, possibly a production issue.

December 13, 2012 at 12:24 PM

hello K, I am sorry to bother u, and I have something dont understand, about"The DC is switched on and off by a transistor controlled by a power supply controller IC. The chopped DC is fed into a flyback[2] transformer which converts it into low voltage AC. Finally, this AC is converted into DC."
I can see the transformer is not big. the high chopped DC voltage can be seen as the high frequency AC voltage? Is there any design details for how to design the transformer? And for the low AC to low DC part, does this
transformation need another transmorfer?

Thanks, I am all fresh for this...Sorry to bother

December 28, 2012 at 5:04 AM

whenever I take my charger to Europe (220v) from America (110v) the output on the charger drops down to somewhere close to 300mAMP from 1Amp. I could never guess why, i would appreciate it if someone could explain why this happens.

December 31, 2012 at 9:46 PM

I'd like to see a tear down of the new 12W charger to see what they've changed.

I'm wanting to build a charging station with at least a dozen ports. Do you know if there is an off-the-shelf component a hobbyist could use that would be equivalent to one of these decent chargers or, better yet, that would do a good job of providing the power for all the ports?

January 11, 2013 at 1:45 PM

MikeFM: A regular desktop power supply can be had for around the same price as a genuine Apple power adapter and can supply enough current to weld with! There are regular articles in the electronic magazines on what value resistors you need to put across some of the pins to ensure startup and regulation is reliable. As a bonus you have 12volts and 3.3volts for charging other items. Excellent value.

January 13, 2013 at 7:59 AM

My power adapter Apple A1300 has an USB output socket of 5 Volts, 1000 mAmperes, as written on its case.

What happens when I connect to it a certain device that asks for more than 1000 mAmperes? For instance, I have a Inno-Hit tablet that can be re-charged through USB, but its original power adapter is able to generate 5 Volts, 2000 mAmperes.

The three possible situations I see are:

1. A1300 crashes and burns like a roast chicken creating also a possible damage to the device connected to its USB socket
2. A1300 simply stops and doesn't generate any Volt and Ampere
3. A1300 works properly but generating not more than 1000 mAmperes

Of course I have tried to ask to Apple but I don't find a place in their website where you can put a written technical question or send an e-mail. And it is not the case to try to connect my tablet to A1300 and see what happens.. Only who really knows how A1300 is designed can help me.

Thank you in advance

Roberto

roberto.cavallin@mail.com

February 13, 2013 at 9:56 AM

Hi Ken any idea on my previous post?
Thank you in advance! Best Regards Roberto

February 16, 2013 at 8:20 AM

One of the most interesting articles in this category that I have every read!! You kept the technology on a good level. Keep up the good work!!

March 14, 2013 at 6:40 AM

iPhone 3, iPhone 4, iPhone 4s iPhone 5, iPhone 5s ALONG WITH ALL MOBILE DEVICES AT THE BEST PRICES POSSIBLE, We have great success in repairing iPhone's that have been water damage
Belfast`s full time iPhone Repair, centre , with the latest diagnositc and repair equipment in Belfast for repairing idevices and logic board, we are eager to take calls.We maintain our edge through constant repair innovation and the use of the best practice and quality standards.We have developed our own technics to repair the iphone which is unmatched, we are probably the only company in Belfast which is able to offer you a successful logic board repair, we have a 90 % success rate at repairing mother boards, this is what makes us so successful in this field in Belfast. We will match any price for logic board repairs, this is how confident we are the cheapest for this service in Belfast.

April 9, 2013 at 9:28 AM

Great read and from one Geek to another - well done!!!
I have taken apart the iPad charger and am drifting through creating the exact schematic. Amazingly compact and designed in a way to create those much needed barriers to reduce noise and feedback into the rest of the circuitry. Thank you for creating this blog.

May 22, 2013 at 8:23 AM

Amazing article. Thank you for clearly explain all the details.
I always reccomend to use original accessories which are expensive but carry a value that it's not available from other supplier.

About power consumption during standby. Please be aware that it's no quite simple to measure. Also designers are facing some difficulties to do that. Probably today only Yokogawa WT3000 can measure it. And... Design is improving continuosly with targets of few milliwatts for coming years.

Thanks again
cc

June 1, 2013 at 1:09 PM

This comment has been removed by the author.

June 20, 2013 at 6:31 PM

Amazingly compact and designed in a way to create those much needed barriers to reduce noise and feedback into the rest of the circuitry. Thank you for creating this blog. One of the most interesting articles in this category that I have every read!! You kept the technology on a good level. Keep up the good work.

investing in farmland

July 12, 2013 at 6:34 PM

Perhaps this incident that killed a Chinese woman who was electrocuted using a charging iPhone could be traced to an after market charger?

http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2013/07/15/apple-investigates-china-iphone-death-allegations/?mod=yahoo_hs

July 15, 2013 at 7:23 AM

> high frequency by a _MOSFET_ switching transistor

Typo.

July 21, 2013 at 1:40 PM

The MOV is not properly protecting the diodes at the input of the rectifier. Current spikes induced in L1 and the input choke while plugging into a live socket (bzzzt, click, zap sound) can cause diode D4 to go short, resulting in mains voltage on the metal parts of the phone case.

Apple, fix your charger before more people DIE!!!!!

July 25, 2013 at 5:37 PM

About the Y capacitor, what voltage will fall across it when the prime is at 240V AC? From the picture it looks like a low-cost ceramic disc cap instead of a metalized film type. Ceramic caps tend to short when failed, while metalized film ones have "self-curing" feature that end in open when failed. Is this a safety concern?

July 28, 2013 at 8:03 PM

Quote [The Y capacitor labeled "MC B221K X1 400V Y1 250V" is a 220nF Y capacitor.] Sorry, Ken, but "K" after 220 means capacitance tolerance (J=+/-5%, K=+/-10%, M=+/-20%). The capacitance value is 22 times 10^1 = 220pF instead of 220nF.

July 28, 2013 at 9:20 PM

Ikem: thanks for pointing out the typo. I'm glad you weren't complaining that MOSFET transistor is redundant :-)

Technician: there are two grounds - a high side ground, and a low side ground - and they are not connected, so a failure of D4 won't put mains voltage on the output. The ground on the first page of the schematic is different from the ground on the second page of the schematic. I should have used a different symbol to make it clearer.

Anonymous: the ceramic Y capacitor is designed not to short out. The point of a Y capacitor is it is designed to be used in a role where shorting out would shock the user. I believe it would have 240V AC across it (for half the cycle), which is within the rating.

Anonymous: I didn't think anyone actually read the footnotes, but you're right - the capacitor is 220pF. I did get it right on the schematic though.

July 28, 2013 at 10:31 PM

Ken: thanks for your reply. I'm still a bit confused about the voltage level across Y1, as you said in the primary stage the DC level is up to 340V after filtered by electrolyte cap, so I assumed Y1 will see up to 340V if the main is 220Vac. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

I also found the following document about Y capacitor comparison, it says that for ceramic Y caps failure mode tends toward short circuit; while metalized film caps have "self-healing" feature and failure mode is open circuit (page 19)

http://www.kemet.com/kemet/web/homepage/kechome.nsf/file/KEMET%20Kollege%20Presentations/$file/EvoxRifaRFIandSMD.pdf

July 28, 2013 at 11:35 PM

Excellent post! From what you described, I believe there is a legitimate safety concern to use Apple iPhone charger in countries with 220Vac mains electricity. The Y1 capacitor is only rated at 250Vac, that's less than 14 percent of voltage redundancy. In reality the power grid may be poorly regulated such as in some remote regions and the mains voltage can go as high as 250Vac, leaving zero safety redundancy on the sole Y1 capacitor.

Is Apple iPhone charge certified for transient immunity standards, such as IEC61000-4-x? and does it has protection features like OVP, OLP, SCP?

August 1, 2013 at 10:08 PM

Looks like the i-Spec circuit separation page is dead. Here's a copy from archive.org: http://web.archive.org/web/20120818141654/http://www.i-spec.com/Basics/circuit_separation.html

August 26, 2013 at 9:55 AM

Ken, keep on tearing them down to the bare metal! Your posts are thorough, thoughtful, and informative. Cheers. I've been working on the mother of all power supplies. See - TwistVolt on Dragon Innovation crowd funded Tuesday 9/24. Would love to know what you think of it! (I'll let you know how to take it apart without a hammer ;)

September 21, 2013 at 8:32 AM

Why is the blue component a capacitor and not a varistor?

September 29, 2013 at 6:37 AM

Nice work, can you compare to the BlackBerry charger please :)

September 29, 2013 at 3:16 PM

Anonymous: you ask why the blue component is a capacitor and not a varistor. It does look a lot like a varistor, and I thought it was one at first. But the X1 Y1 markings are a giveaway that it's a Y capacitor. Also, since it connects the primary and secondary it has to be a capacitor - if it were a varistor it would connect the wall AC directly to the USB ground which would be very dangerous.

September 30, 2013 at 11:23 PM

Hi Ken, your article is mind blowing! Thanks for the effort and I really enjoy reading it.
By the way, I am confused with the circuitry on the second board, particularly in the Q3 and Q4 transistors. I couldn't figure out how the logic work between PC2 and the two transistors.
Is it possible that the collector pin of Q4 is actually connected to pin 4 of PC1?
i.e. PC2 is switching the VCC to PC1. If PC2 is off, PC1 would be off too.
That seems to be a better match to return logic PC1 AND PC2 back to L6565 INV.
Is my wild guess possible?

November 6, 2013 at 11:15 PM

Props on this teardown!

November 26, 2013 at 8:20 AM

I am developing a wonderful TV remote seniors.
The UI is the key and mine is fantastic.
Now I need to simplify the setup procedure.

Does anyone know if there is a source (company) that
can supply the library of algorithms for operating TVs and STB for North America by brand AND model like Logitech?

December 7, 2013 at 8:09 AM

If you were to develop the STB, you can look out for Microsoft WinCE. CE stands for Compact Embedded.

Well, these could be your search keywords: Set Top Box, WinCE, WEC7, WEC 2013, Windows Embedded Compact, Windows Compact Embedded etc.

WinCE supports Silverlight Embedded, which should create a stunning UI. The other alternative is Android TV.

Hope it helps.

December 8, 2013 at 9:43 PM

UK version has all components including Y-cap on one thin board. And the capacitor is 1206. I can make a photo if it is interesting. e_glu at mail dot ru

December 15, 2013 at 5:06 AM

excellent work ken.

December 16, 2013 at 11:02 AM

Hey that was a very nice experiment. i would like to have same thing for samsung galaxy note 3

December 24, 2013 at 4:22 AM

Is this technically a forward converter (isolated, step down)and not a flyback? Please Confirm! (I am learning..)

December 30, 2013 at 11:01 AM

Nevermind, i didnt look at the schematic closely enough. It is a flyback.

December 30, 2013 at 11:24 AM

Great read. Very engrossing.

January 6, 2014 at 10:17 PM

I'm probably a bit late to the party, but I just stumbled upon your blog looking for the IRremote library, and then I found this great article which fascinated me. I find power supplies intriguing, and this really hit the mark. I'm adding your blog to my reading list right away!

May 4, 2014 at 4:46 AM

Hi Ken,

I have a power supply (UK plug) which when I opened it up looks really quite nice.

The only think I am concerned about is that there are two capacitors that go directly from the live and neutral pins, through the capacitors, and are connected to the earth pin.

Is this safe?

Thanks,
Aaron

June 10, 2014 at 9:12 AM

Greetings from Australia. Recently a woman was killed here by a knockoff USB power supply. By the way, one thing I don't understand is the IRFP250 MOSFETS. They are only rated at 200 volts, but in Australia the mains is 240V and peak to peak this could be 340V. Can you explain this?

July 6, 2014 at 12:42 AM

Anonymous: the two capacitors you saw between live/neutral and earth are Y capacitors. They are specially designed for this, so it is okay.

Anonymous: good catch on the IRFP250 MOSFETs on the schematic. That's just an error because I picked the wrong schematic symbol. They are really 1HNK60 600V MOSFETs.

July 6, 2014 at 7:23 AM

I had the a 1300 european charger with problem overheating and i go to an authorized shop and they give me free the a 1400 gharger but is has the apple logo on it. Is genuine?

July 25, 2014 at 2:21 AM

Hi, I just stumbled across this and love it!

Just one thing though, where can I buy the type of transformer used in these?

For example do you know the part numbers etc of any transformers that are equivalent that I can get from farnel, digi, rs components etc.

Or what do I search for etc.

March 3, 2015 at 5:21 AM

Hey! The review is detailed and informative! I have teared down a Blackberry(750mA) charger. It has a very small transformer. I have the photographs. I fit is possible, could you explain the circuitry in the charger?? Would really appreciate it!! Thanks a lot!

March 18, 2015 at 10:29 PM

Terry: most of the flyback transformers in chargers are custom built. But parts companies like Digikey sell flyback transformers, so you'd need to find what they have that would work. Or you could wind your own, which people actually do. But really, you're generally better off buying a power supply than building one yourself.

Nipun: I can take a look at your photographs and see what I can explain.

March 19, 2015 at 12:12 AM

Recently had one of these die. Took it apart, found C1 (4.7uf) dead, bulged/leaking. The ye olde capacitor plague! C2 looks ok (6.8uf) but ordering new parts to see if I can get it working.

The layout of my A1402 is different (although similar) and some parts are different like C1/C2 etc.
Will post back when working.
Brendan

March 23, 2015 at 8:14 PM

Ok Replaced C1/C2...all working again!

C1 was bulged leaking, C2 looked ok but replaced on spec.

Other cct checks confirmed all was ok just replace the caps!

Brendan

March 31, 2015 at 5:12 PM

Hello, thanks for the good article. I have to admit I was just about to buy a 4 dollar one today but I see now that I would just be buying more landfill space. I've seen those images on the net of burned homes caused by chargers and that led me to this article. thanks

April 24, 2015 at 6:36 AM

I thought I read somewhere that real Apple chargers have 10 watts and counterfeit ones have 5 watts. Is that true?

April 27, 2015 at 9:36 AM

Anonymous: counterfeit chargers vary in wattage. When I looked at a counterfeit iPad charger (details), I found it was 5W but claimed to be 10W. The genuine iPhone charger is 5W and the genuine iPad charger is 10W.

April 27, 2015 at 11:05 AM

I referred to your Apple smps tear-down and also to its schematic.But i just wanted to know about the Q1 and Q2 Mosfets.Are they really IRFP250? Because i have seen them they are very big but your tear-down photographs shows some different transistors.
One more thing i wanted to know about the ground of the circuit.Is it isolated or non-isolated?The schematic shows a single type of ground sign for all the grounds.
It would be great if you could clear my doubts.
Thanks...!!

June 2, 2015 at 5:47 AM

Anonymous: you are right about the schematic. The transistors are 1HNK60 MOSFETs, not IRFP250. And yes, the grounds on the primary and secondary are isolated from each other.

June 3, 2015 at 8:48 AM

Thanks for clearing my doubts Ken.

June 4, 2015 at 4:00 AM

Hi Ken! I'm really sorry for replying so late! This is regarding the BlackBerry(750mAh) Charger posted on March 18, 2015. I Couldn't find your e-mail id so here are the links to the photos that I have uploaded. Let me know when you check them out and whether you need a clearer picture of any component!

http://postimg.org/image/qv6867151/

http://postimg.org/image/a64saa4jp/

http://postimg.org/image/xhoalmtfp/

http://postimg.org/image/cics7vh51/

June 5, 2015 at 4:06 AM

nipun: I took a look at your Blackberry charger photos. In the first photo, the secondary (output) is at the left. The primary (input) is at the right. You can see the flyback transformer with electrolytic filter capacitors above and below it. Wires go from the transformer to the secondary. The secondary has a filter capacitor above the USB connector and a filter inductor below.

The second photo shows most of the circuitry.
The primary side is on the bottom and is separated from the secondary by a slot in the board. First, the AC is converted to DC by the bridge rectifier (ABS10). The control IC (Pow3er Integration SC1106DG) also contains the switching transistor and controls the power to the transformer. Underneath the control IC are various resistors, capacitors, and diodes. The IC gets a feedback signal from the transformer (rather than from the secondary side).

At the top, the main secondary components are the diode (S34) to convert the output to DC and the tantalum capacitor (E8) that filters the output.

June 7, 2015 at 1:43 PM

I have a bike light (night rider) that uses a USB charger. It charges fine from a computer USB but with the iphone cube it doesn't reach full charge. Any idea why?

June 25, 2015 at 12:37 PM

Hello Ken,I am using a Dimmer circuit to dim an Led of 18W.I have used its Driver(70v 300mA) to Power up the Dimmer circuit.In short i have placed dimmer in between Led and its Driver.And my problem is the Led flickers every 5 secs when it is fully ON.My question is that "Is it due constant current driver i am using to power up dimmer or not?"

August 14, 2015 at 5:54 AM

This comment has been removed by the author.

September 24, 2015 at 2:12 PM

Hi Ken
Great work, i love the whole work. can you avail schematic that has the values of info of all components?

September 24, 2015 at 2:29 PM

Ken, fantastic investigative journalism of a geeky kind! Apple has gone the extra mile to build a better product and has profited handsomely as a result and for good reason. Good design still triumphs over manufacturing prowess and I'm glad the US has near monopoly over electronic and computer design.
Another area I always wonder about is the need for wall warts vs. building in the adapter into the device itself. The Apple TV, Mac Mini etc., don't have wall wart power supplies but you plug them into 110/220v supply directly. However most other comparable devices (Intel NUC, for example) have wall wart supplies. Why is this?

October 17, 2015 at 11:31 PM

Ks. said ... Another area I always wonder about is the need for wall warts vs. building in the adapter into the device itself. The Apple TV, Mac Mini etc., don't have wall wart power supplies but you plug them into 110/220v supply directly. However most other comparable devices (Intel NUC, for example) have wall wart supplies. Why is this?


The products that have an internal supply - Mac Mini, better monitors with a NEMA Plug input, etc. having line voltage input, and a metal case, etc., it must then meet more stringent standards, of: CE, FCC, UL, CSA, etc. which costs tens of thousands of dollars, or multiples of tens of thousands... to be tested and verified that they meet CE, FCC, UL, CSA, etc. standards. Having a jack for a Wall Wart (WW) costs almost nothing in comparison, and while the WW if it is a switcher supply, does need to be certified, usually the cost is borne by another company - the one making the WW. So sets with external WW supplies can be made for half the price or less than that of a set like the Mac Mini. Got it?

Ken great job on the teardown and all that, very interesting! -Steven L. Bender

October 24, 2015 at 12:14 AM

That makes sense. Thanks for the explanation.

October 24, 2015 at 4:18 AM

Great article. Very informative . I'm not technically mind yet I found this a good read. I"ve take away with me some new knowledge. I will be a better informed shopper from now on.

More articles please...


Thank you.

November 14, 2015 at 6:28 PM

The charger was not designed at all by Apple. It was both designed and manufactured by Flextronics' power division.

January 7, 2016 at 2:46 PM

In your reference [9] you show GND being connected to D7 etc which is not how it appears in the patent. Your circuit doesn't show where the source of the switching MOSFET goes.

Other than that - great !

August 3, 2016 at 12:50 AM

I ve got a genuine from my iPhone 6S's box but it exploded on my face last night

August 11, 2016 at 8:58 AM

(b)Who ever wrote this most be crazy.....but crazy in a very good way!!!(/bold>


Thanks for the detailed information and all the time you must have spent working on this!

I had just did a quick yahoo search to find the voltage and current output from an original Apple charger.

All my original Apple chargers from apple,(in a brand new sealed box) have no specs at all on them. I don't have time to read all this, but I an going to buy an oeiginal Charger no matter what the price is! THANKS!

October 27, 2016 at 9:32 PM

If I took a black wire and red wire and coiled it around the apple charger, would it still work if the input was a DC source.

January 16, 2017 at 1:46 PM

Or Do I need an inverter to convert the dc source to AC so that the charger can finally convert it back to DC so i can use. PLz help me its for a science fair project.

January 16, 2017 at 1:51 PM

Anonymous: I'm not sure what you're trying to do for your science fair project but this sounds like a hard way to get DC voltage. Coiling a black and red wire around the charger isn't going to work. You could maybe feed 150-300V DC into the charger instead of AC (since the AC gets converted to DC internally), but that's dangerous voltage to be messing around with. The inverter would be an easy and relatively safe approach. Or you could get a car adapter charger and feed it 12V, which would be another easy approach.

January 16, 2017 at 11:14 PM

Thank you so much for your response. I am testing out the power of a DC motor. I want to see if it could charge an iPhone faster than just using the regular outlet. The motor is small so it can produce about 7V. In addition, I can't find a cheap inverter for less than 20$. Could anyone please guide me in the right direction. Thank you so much.

January 17, 2017 at 4:50 PM

Very Nice .. It's really innovative good job. really PCB circuit design tiny as well as efficiant...

March 7, 2017 at 2:26 AM

fantastic article!

July 21, 2017 at 1:49 PM

Agreed completely

October 15, 2017 at 8:09 AM

Is it not desirable to connect the charger to the iPhone first before plugging the charger into the AC outlet. This will probably avoid breaking of the charging current by the connector at the iPhone.
Raki

October 16, 2017 at 12:15 PM

Is it not desirable to connect the charger first to the iPhone and then plug the charger to the 120V AC outlet? This will prevent breaking the current at the connector on the iPhone side..

October 16, 2017 at 12:20 PM

Hello~sir,I have bought a L6565 from website,and the L6565 Datasheet is given.
my question is how VFF(voltage feed-forward) pin of L6565 IC works. What is the principle?
Anyone here can help me?
Thank you in advance.

October 27, 2017 at 2:39 AM

Apple has multiple suppliers, so it wouldn’t be a surprise if the internals were different. The one I got last year with my iPhone was made by the Finnish company Salcomp, which was originally spun off from Nokia. Also, this blog article is six years old, so the internals could easily change even with the same manufacturer.

March 24, 2018 at 7:38 AM

Excellent post!

I've been wondering why the presumably high-quality samsung charger that came with my Galaxy Nexus emits an ultra high pitched squeal (which wavers a bit) when plugged in, but that goes away when the phone's plugged in.

Based on your article I'm guessing it's the switching frequency, which you said is usually ~70kHz but varies depending on load, so maybe it dips into the top of the audible range when there's nothing plugged in? I'm still left wondering what's physically resonating to create the sound...

I believe the model on the charger is ETA0U80JBEBSTD.

July 19, 2018 at 1:15 AM

Valuable Information, Thanks a lot!

November 3, 2018 at 2:31 AM

Good article!
I am also an electronics engineer in huaqiang, and I have seen a scr module 3TA80GK03NB/04, I just want to ask about more detials of this kind of scr moudle like how it working and etc.

August 16, 2019 at 2:15 AM

Thanks a lot for the information!
I'm a student in Electrical Engineering, with a particular interest in electronics and telecommunications.
Yesterday I managed to open a cheap $1 charger that I had bought years ago. I couldn't remember the particular reason why I stopped using it, but I certainly didn't want to try it out lest I ruin my electronics in the process. And when I finally opened it... cricket sounds. What is this chip for? why does the transformer have 6 pins instead of 4? and boy did I find the answers in this article.
Thanks to your post I could also understand what made my charger low-quality. And the article about interference on touchscreens! truly illuminating; turns out that was the reason why I stopped using the charger. Of course, back then as a twelve-year-old when I bought it, I would've never come even close to understanding the issue. And I don't really understand it yet; hopefully, I will, one day.

May 13, 2020 at 10:21 PM

Excellent article! Thank you for taking the time to explain everything so well and in such fine detail!

July 13, 2020 at 3:17 PM

Can you tell me what the material is that looks like copper, at the end of the charger that plugs into the actual phone? There are 8 little slices of it on each side. It seems to get worn down and then the charger doesn't work anymore. Can I put a thin piece of metal (copper?) over the grooves that get worn down so that it protects them and keeps every effin plug from breaking? Thanks in advance for your advice!

March 2, 2021 at 6:03 PM

C3 , c13 , d7 , d10 value pls

May 18, 2021 at 11:55 PM

Ken,

ODM’s like Flex usually have a design/engineering department where a customer can give the requirements and packaging specifications and they will do the design.

Joe

August 3, 2021 at 5:14 PM

Looks like there is an error in [8] Resonant circuit schematic diagram. The primary winding is shoterned to the ground. The proper connection of the bottom side of the primary winding should probably be to the other side of the capacitor.

August 26, 2021 at 12:49 AM

During your testing, what is the AC supply voltage and do you hold it constant for all the test measurements?

September 18, 2021 at 12:29 PM

I didn’t realise I had any interest in what the inside of my Apple charger looked like, but I was so engrossed in reading this that I polished off my coffee and half a pack of ginger nuts (ginger cookies) without even noticing. Really well written and curiously enjoyable!

June 30, 2022 at 11:57 PM

Hello~sir,I have bought a MAX4473EUA from website,and the MAX4473EUA Datasheet is given.
my question is how VFF(voltage feed-forward) pin of MAX4473EUA IC works. What is the principle?
Anyone here can help me?
Thank you in advance.

July 13, 2022 at 11:49 PM

People always forget about the design costs which are often hours of work by the design team, then there is testing and fixing, then there are charged for using another companies tech, then there is the cost of very expensive machinery , maintenance, factory running costs, staff and more.

October 25, 2022 at 7:09 PM