HackerTube.dev

EEVblog #388 - Fake Apple USB Charger Teardown

EEVblog · 491K views · 2012-11-20 · 16:54

Open on YouTube ↗

If playback is restricted in your region, try opening the original video. Use Mark watched to add it to your marked videos.

Overview

Dave Jones of EEVblog tears down a fake Apple A1265 USB charger and shows the shortcuts that make it unsafe, such as poor isolation.

On Hacker News

HN points to it as an engineer's evidence of why cheap counterfeit chargers are dangerous.

Recommended by 1 HN people across 1 months · HN mentions 2016–2019

Topics

Search by tags

What people said

ageofwant · 2016-03 · Recommendation

Dave Jone's EEVBlog hosts a number of teardowns, here's a similar one from 2012: [VIDEO] Good channel generally.

Read the original HN comment ↗
behringer · 2019-02 · Reference

There's been multiple reports of people dying through headphones. Maybe they're all bogus, but considering an ER doctor presumably knows nothing about electronics, I'll disregard his opinion. Instead I'll listen to what an electronics engineer thinks about counterfeit chargers: [VIDEO]

Read the original HN comment ↗
klodolph · 2017-11 · Reference

This isn't an iPhone we're talking about, this is the charger which is connected to 220V AC power. The chargers are build very small, and cheap off-brand chargers have insufficient clearance between the LV and the HV side. This is dangerous, and can cause the 220V mains to go through to the USB port. This is also a very well-known property of cheap phone chargers, and you can find many teardowns online that show what I'm talking about. [VIDEO] [LINK] [LINK] I have also seen a few videos of teardowns of actual faulty chargers. For example, there was one where some of the insulation in the transformer windings were damaged, and you would get a continuous shock just by touching the LV side of any devices that are plugged in.

Read the original HN comment ↗

Sources

Video by EEVblog, played through YouTube.

Data and selection notes

HN summaries and labels may contain AI errors. HN dates refer to discussions, not video publication.

HN Library: HackerTube export (2026-10-31) and open-index/hacker-news. Upstream summaries and classifications may contain AI errors.

Views, duration and playback status refresh separately from the published catalog. When an update fails, existing data remains visible.

Selection checks
  • SaaS & AI candidates: Topic keywords do not match
  • Editor-approved picks: Editorial review is required

Rule matches identify candidates. They do not guarantee video quality or financial results.

About the library and its sources