Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) has announced a voluntary recall of AC wall plug adapters designed for use in Continental Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Argentina and Brazil. It appears that “in very rare cases” the adapters are prone to break and if a customer touches it they can be at risk of electrical shock.
The most valuable brand in the world stressed that plug adapters designed for Canada, China, Hong Kong, Japan, UK and the U.S. are not affected by the electrical issue. That being said, Americans who own a World Travel Adapter Kit could be at risk.
“Customer safety is always Apple’s top priority, and we have voluntarily decided to exchange affected wall plug adapters with a new, redesigned adapter, free of charge. We encourage customers to exchange any affected parts using the process below,” wrote the company in its support site.
To identify if a an adapter is affected by the program, customers must look at the inside slot, where it attaches to the power adapter. The redesigned versions have a 3-letter regional code (EUR, KOR, AUS…), the affected versions that need to be replaced have four characters, five characters or no characters inside the slot.
Apple recalls are not usually common, when comparing it to other tech companies. However, a similar situation occurred in 2006 when the company replaced the battery of 1.8 million notebook batteries that were built by Sony, because it was reported that some of them could overheat and catch fire.
In 2015, the company also made a recall of Beats Pill XL audio speakers because some batteries could overheat and catch fire. Heating appears to be a continuous issue for tech developers. Last week Microsoft reported that it will voluntarily replace the power cords of Surface Pro, Surface Pro 2 and Surface Pro 3, AC adapters.
The tech giant leaded by Satya Nadella, said that when some power cords are twisted or pinched over an extended period of time, they are prone to overheating and as a consequence a fire could be caused.
2016 started with great news for tech makers, since scientists from Stanford University presented a new lithium-ion battery that does not overheat. This new technology is capable of detecting high temperatures that could cause damages such as fires, and it automatically shuts down. After it cools down, it starts functioning again without having affected the cooling cycle or the performance.
Source: Apple Support