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Adrian Kingsley-Hughes
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Apple offers up iPhone micro USB adapter, complies with EU regulations

By | October 5, 2011, 11:45am PDT

Summary: Charge your iPhone from any micro USB charger.

Here’s an interesting little gizmo that’s appeared in the Apple Store:

This allows you to charge your iPhone using any micro USB charger that outputs 5V at 500mA.

This bring Apple into compliance with new European Union standards for smartphone chargers that the company signed up to in 2009. The standard is meant to reduce on electronic waste and to simplify the live of smartphone owners.

The adapter is currently only available in the UK and costs £8/$12 (pretty pricey for an adapter) and ships October 14. Apple rates the adapter as compatible with iPhone 4S, 4, 3GS and 3G. Not sure why it wouldn’t work with iPods and even iPads for just syncing.

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Topics

Apple iPhone, USB Adapter, Adapter, Apple Inc., European Union, Regulations, Government, Adrian Kingsley-Hughes

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes is an internationally published technology author who has devoted over a decade to helping users get the most from technology.

Disclosure

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes

All opinions expressed on Hardware 2.0 are those of Adrian Kingsley-Hughes. Every effort is made to ensure that the information posted is accurate. If you have any comments, queries or corrections, please contact Adrian via the email link here. Any possible conflicts of interest will be posted below. [Updated: February 23, 2010] - Adrian Kingsley-Hughes has no business relationships, affiliations, investments, or other actual/potential conflicts of interest relating to the content posted so far on this blog.

Biography

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes is an internationally published technology author who has devoted over a decade to helping users get the most from technology -- whether that be by learning to program, building a PC from a pile of parts, or helping them get the most from their new MP3 player or digital camera.

Adrian has authored/co-authored technical books on a variety of topics, ranging from programming to building and maintaining PCs. His most recent books include "Build the Ultimate Custom PC", "Beginning Programming" and "The PC Doctor's Fix It Yourself Guide". He has also written training manuals that have been used by a number of Fortune 500 companies.

Adrian also runs a popular blog under the name The PC Doctor, where he covers a range of computer-related topics -- from security to repairing and upgrading.

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RE: Apple offers up iPhone micro USB adapter, complies with EU regulations
HollyPMic 7th Oct
@tgschmidt
Well I wish they would've had this earlier. As an owner for multiple devices such as Blackberry, iPod, iPhone, and HTC phone (even my son's PSP can benefit from this), this would certainly come in handy.

But for 8 euros? No thanks, glad there are other options out there. I already bought the exact same thing from Mohzy, and it comes with a really nice looking flat micro USB cable. No other cable comes close in my opinion, it's the best looking "designer" cable out there that comes with the exact same Apple dock connector adapter for half its price. It's a steal. I only knew about Mohzy USB cable since a friend lives in Asia and she's told me about it (for people who would like to know more Google Mohzy USB or head to their website and check out where to buy). Good luck! I really like their color and pattern selection.
View in thread
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Apple ought to give these
tgschmidt 5th Oct
to you with the purchase of a compatible device. If you already have a compatible device, you should be able to get one free from your iTunes account. That would be the right thing to do.
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RE: Apple offers up iPhone micro USB adapter, complies with EU regulations
Droid101 5th Oct
@tgschmidt LOL! Apple, give their ridiculously expensive adapters away for free? Jokes, right?

Move to Android.
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RE: Apple offers up iPhone micro USB adapter, complies with EU regulations
Pete "athynz" Athens 5th Oct
@Droid101 Why? So I can send out an SMS and wonder if it went to the intended party? So I can download apps from the Google Marketplace and wonder if I'm going to be hit with malware? So I can be assured of having to either charge my device at lunch or change the battery after having charged it the night before?
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RE: Apple offers up iPhone micro USB adapter, complies with EU regulations
tgschmidt 5th Oct
@Droid101 Already there for over 2 years.
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'Complies' is misleading word, Apple willfully joined the micro USB project
DeRSSS 5th Oct
@Droid101
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RE: Apple offers up iPhone micro USB adapter, complies with EU regulations
HollyPMic 7th Oct
@tgschmidt
Well I wish they would've had this earlier. As an owner for multiple devices such as Blackberry, iPod, iPhone, and HTC phone (even my son's PSP can benefit from this), this would certainly come in handy.

But for 8 euros? No thanks, glad there are other options out there. I already bought the exact same thing from Mohzy, and it comes with a really nice looking flat micro USB cable. No other cable comes close in my opinion, it's the best looking "designer" cable out there that comes with the exact same Apple dock connector adapter for half its price. It's a steal. I only knew about Mohzy USB cable since a friend lives in Asia and she's told me about it (for people who would like to know more Google Mohzy USB or head to their website and check out where to buy). Good luck! I really like their color and pattern selection.
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RE: Apple offers up iPhone micro USB adapter, complies with EU regulations
mgrubb@... 5th Oct
Ok, as I'm not a fan of Apple because of their closed eco system, and ung-dly pricing, I would just like to point out that the purpose of the thing they signed was to reduce ewaste. Most other phone vendors have built in a micro USB slot on the phone body itself to comply with European Union Standards. And they don't charge extra for it. Leave it to Apple to find a way to avoid the spirit of the agreement so that they can charge their customers for it. And I don't know about all phones, but from what I can tell based on coworkers, friends, etc, is that Samsung, HTC, and Nokia have all standardized now and all include a micro USB port as one way to charge the phone if not the only way.

Of course we will NEVER see apple do something like that because hey, it would keep them from making as much money in licensing fees. And of course it would not be proprietary, and we know how much apple likes being proprietary.
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Absolutely right
toddybottom 5th Oct
@mgrubb@...
"I would just like to point out that the purpose of the thing they signed was to reduce ewaste"

This merely creates more ewaste.

And it also means that Apple has forced people to carry around an adapter for their iPhones which makes iPhones far less portable. The Apple fanbois are against removable batteries and memory cards because they make devices less portable since you have to carry around all these external batteries and memory cards. I actually agree with the fanbois here however they now have to admit that iPhones are now far less portable because you have to carry this adapter with you.
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RE: Apple offers up iPhone micro USB adapter, complies with EU regulations
Bates_ 5th Oct
@toddybottom Complain complain complain. That is all you people do.

I am an iPhone fanboy (not an Apple fanboy, I would never buy any other Apple product) and I love the fact that it has no SD card slot or a removable battery. Why oh why would anyone love that you ask? Well it is simple.

The internal storage is more then enough for my needs and I am sure a bulk of users can agree. The battery life is quite sufficient and because I am never far from a USB outlet or my car, my phone rarely goes without juice.

Those aren't the main reasons. God forbid I ever drop my phone in water, it has a way less chance of shorting out because there aren't as many openings and creases for water to sneak into. I have saved many iPhones from water damage (people I work with) because of this, while other phones are a different story. The biggest worry is the 3.5mm headphone jack which is where the water damage indicator happens to be located as it is one of the only areas water can get into.

People drop there phones in water and toilets all the time, knowing that my iPhone is more protected from water makes me feel a little better.

As far as this adapter goes, I like it. It's a little adapter, people need to stop complaining about such minute things like this.
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Bates: Who are you replying to?
toddybottom 5th Oct
It couldn't be me because I clearly stated:
" I actually agree with the fanbois here "

Like you, I believe the internal storage is more than enough and I have no battery life problems.

However, Apple has essentially pulled a "work to rule" move here where they have managed to actually increase the amount of eWaste by requiring people to carry around extra adapters in order to use the industry standard mandated micro USB connector.

Apple is obviously well within their rights to do this but it is still a d!ck move.

And yes, it does make the iPhone less portable for the exact same reasons that all the Apple fanbois claim that external batteries and external memory cards make non iPhone devices less portable.
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RE: Apple offers up iPhone micro USB adapter, complies with EU regulations
bitcrazed 5th Oct
@toddybottom - Had this been a Microsoft product, the EU would doubtlessly have prevented it's sale in the EU until Microsoft had added a MicroUSB port to the device itself.

How Apple, having signed-up to supporting the MicroUSB charging agreement in 2009 was NOT ordered to add a USB port for charging the iP[ad|od|one] is beyond me.
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RE: Apple offers up iPhone micro USB adapter, complies with EU regulations
Pete "athynz" Athens 5th Oct
@toddybottom You act like this adapter is huge when it's about an inch at it's longest point... How does that make the iPhone "less portable"? Besides what is all the fuss with this microUSB port anyhow? The iPhone ALREADY comes with an adapter from AC power to USB and supplies the USB to Apple Standard (the actual name of the port escapes me at the moment)... and a replacement costs next to nothing on eBay.

So no, by no means is the iPhone less portable because I do NOT have to carry this tiny adapter with me nor would it make it less portable even if I did.
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Sorry Pete, ZDNet not accepting my post
toddybottom 5th Oct
Too bad as there was nothing negative in it. What horrible forum software this is.
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RE: Apple offers up iPhone micro USB adapter, complies with EU regulations
nightbirdsf Updated - 5th Oct
Awesome. Although an Apple adapter might only be available in the UK, Amazon in the US offers several third-party adapters, at a lower price.

Thanks for bringing this up. It made me search for one I could use between my iPod Touch 4G and a Micro USB car charger for my Android smartphone.
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'Complies' is misleading word, Apple willfully joined the micro USB project
DeRSSS 5th Oct
The subject.
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Willfully joined and then sabotaged the efforts
toddybottom 5th Oct
@DeRSSS
This is not one of Apple's finest moments.
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'Complies' is misleading word, Apple willfully joined the micro USB project
DeRSSS 5th Oct
The subject.

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