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Last week, we reported that Apple, will soon kickoff a trade-in-program for third-party or counterfeit USB power adapters in its retail stores and select authorized resellers. The program will allow anyone with an unofficial USB power adapter for iOS Devices to exchange that adapter for an Apple-built unit at a discounted price of $10 dollars. The program comes in response to a couple of controversial situations in which people in China reportedly passed away or became injured due to faulty, counterfeit charging adapters…
The program will officially begin in the United States on August 16th, and it started in China on August 9th. Apple initially specified that the programs will be supported in the United States and China, but did not mention any other country.
Over the past couple of days, Apple has updated its Support Page for the USB trade-in-program to note a few other supported regions and the corresponding discount pricing: Australia ($14 AUD), Canada ($11 CAD), France (10 €), Germany (10 €), Japan (￥1,000), and the United Kingdom (10 €).
Like in the United States, the program will start on August 16th in each of these additional countries and end on October 18th.
We also understand that each Apple Retail Store will have at least one iOS Device ‘Genius’ on staff at all times to conduct the trade-ins for customers. Stores have already received training materials to learn how to apply the discounts.
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Since when did the UK use euros?! I still have a £20 in my wallet!
So I buy a USB adapter available at the drugstore below my office for $3.99, get a real Apple one for $10 and save $6. Seems like a slippery slope if Apple starts taking responsibility for every possible Chinese counterfeit (cables, headphones, other adapters, batteries).