Latest iphone update disables 3rd party cables, opinions?

FireFish said:
artits

jdagenet said:

So while everyone is bitching about how greedy Apple is because they force you to buy their products, they might've just saved your life with this.

If they were going for that, they could've just had it bring up an obnoxious message that essentially said "CHEAP CHARGERS ARE CHEAP. CHEAP CHARGERS WILL KILL YOU."

I'm pretty sure this is just Apple being Apple.

jdagenet said:

So while everyone is bitching about how greedy Apple is because they force you to buy their products, they might've just saved your life with this.

Too bad that such a protection system only ensures that the Holy & Closely Guarded Apple Seal of Approval is hidden somewhere in the circuit. From an electrical standpoint, an "approved" charger could be just as dangerous as a knockoff, and, viceversa, a non-approved one could be better engineered than an "approved" one.

Having a lockout chip != guarantee of safety. Let alone that by far the most unstable component as well the major cause of charging accidents (and the source of nasty explosions, fires, gases etc.) are the lithium batteries.

Both the chargers and (especially) the cellphones include protection circuits against overvoltage and overheating, but beyond that, a crap battery can explode and catch fire just the same.

Jaxxoon R said:

If they were going for that, they could've just had it bring up an obnoxious message that essentially said "CHEAP CHARGERS ARE CHEAP. CHEAP CHARGERS WILL KILL YOU."

I guess they could've tried that route, but people would've still used 3rd-party chargers regardless if they knew they were deadly or not.
It's like trying to tell someone not too smoke because it'll kill you -- cigarettes kill you, we all know that, but people still smoke them.

Maes said:

Too bad that such a protection system only ensures that the Holy & Closely Guarded Apple Seal of Approval is hidden somewhere in the circuit. From an electrical standpoint, an "approved" charger could be just as dangerous as a knockoff, and, viceversa, a non-approved one could be better engineered than an "approved" one.

So you're saying an approved Apple charger could pose just as high of a risk as a cheap Apple charger could?
I have a 50/50 chance of getting electrocuted when I hook up my phone tonight?

I'm sorry, but I don't believe it.

jdagenet said:

So you're saying an approved Apple charger could pose just as high of a risk as a cheap Apple charger could?

For all we know, yes.

jdagenet said:

I have a 50/50 chance of getting electrocuted when I hook up my phone tonight?

It could be 70/30 or 80/20 or 90/10 or whatever, but the exact odds don't matter.

The point is that a product being "approved", sadly, in today's marketing parlance, doesn't necessarily mean "Approved after exhausting safety testing", it just means that the manufacturer paid a royalty to Apple to ensure (obviously, heavily protected by NDAs) access to the Holy Protection Circuit (in the sense of protecting Apple's IP, not of being some sort of active electrical protection).

jdagenet said:

I'm sorry, but I don't believe it.

You're free to believe that because Apple put its stamp of approval on a particular cable, that it will be inherently safer than one without it, without any further credentials or references. That doesn't make it necessarily true, though.

Plus, in the modern world of consumer electronics, there are just too many variables involved. The manufacturer of the charger is just one. The manufacturer of the PCB matters more, and the manufacturer of the individual components (power transistors, capacitors etc.) is even more critical.

With devices that connect electronics directly to the mains (pretty much every modern electronic switcing-mode PSU and charger), and with every lithium battery being a small air-activated bomb in disguise, you can never be sure from where the magic smoke will come out.

Chargers, power adapters and compact fluorescent light ballasts are pretty much the bottom feeders of modern consumer electronics -they have gotten cheap to the point of being almost complete jokes, with safety coming last. Sadly, putting a DRM chip inside one of those products can't compensate for what really matters -design, materials and workmanship. If those are still made-in-china garbage, then all the DRM in the world won't help fixing it.

Doesn't have an iphone crew. Sucks.

Wait, are we talking about the chargers or the USB cables?

^ Good point. Though it could be presumably be either (both chargers AND cables "protected" by the Holy Apple Seal of Approval). Of course, in the case of an "approved" cable connected to a crap power source, you have no guarantee whatsover that it won't blow up, but HEY IT WILL NOT BE BLOCKED BY THE FIRMWARE!!!11

Heh. I'd be annoyed now if I'd bought one of these.