Engineering:Apple Battery Charger
 A European Apple Battery Charger | |
| Also known as | A1360 |
|---|---|
| Developer | Apple Inc. |
| Type | Battery Charger |
| Release date | July 27, 2010[1] |
| Discontinued | 2016 |
The Apple Battery Charger is a battery charger which was sold by Apple Inc. and bundled with six AA batteries. It was introduced in July 2010 and marketed as a way to charge Apple's wireless Magic Mouse, Magic Trackpad and Apple Wireless Keyboard.[2] The charger was discontinued around 2016,[3] after Apple revised their peripherals with built-in batteries that can be charged with a Lightning connector.[4]
Charger
The charger has a white design, with a small indicator light on top that glows amber while the batteries are charging, and green once they are charged. It can charge two NiMH batteries at once,[2] and takes five hours for a full charge.[5]
Apple's main marketing claim for the product was that the charger had a standby power draw of 30 mW, compared to an industry average of 315 mW.[2][6][7]
Batteries
The charger was sold with six rechargeable AA batteries that use low self-discharge NiMH technology,[8] have a silver design and no Apple branding, and have an advertised capacity of 1,900 milliampere-hour (mAh).[2] Czech website SuperApple identified the batteries as likely being rebranded Eneloop HR-3UTG 1.2 volt batteries manufactured by Sanyo.[8][9]
According to Apple, these batteries were designed to have a service life of up to ten years and retain 80% of their capacity even after being stored for a year.[10] Engadget says the Sanyo Eneloop batteries are able to retain 75% of their charge after three years.[8]
Reception
Engadget criticized Apple for selling their charger and six batteries for $29 when Sanyo sold a charger and eight batteries for the same price.[8] SuperApple noted that Apple's then-current wireless peripherals used two AA batteries, but older Apple Wireless Keyboards used three; Apple's charger could only charge two at once.[5]
Apple marketed its battery charger as environmentally friendly due to a lower standby power draw, although Massachusetts Institute of Technology engineering professor Gerbrand Ceder criticized Apple for shipping peripherals that require disposable batteries, instead of non-removable lithium-ion batteries like many of Apple's competitors.[11]
See also
- Rechargeable battery
- Magic Mouse
- Apple Wireless Keyboard
References
- ↑ Dziuban, Laura June. "Apple Battery Charger gets official: a battery charger, only you know, better (update: hands-on)". https://www.engadget.com/2010-07-27-apple-battery-charger-gets-official-a-battery-charger-only-you.html.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Hughes, Neil (2010-08-03). "First look: Apple Battery Charger and AA batteries" (in en). https://appleinsider.com/articles/10/08/03/first_look_apple_battery_charger_and_aa_batteries.
- ↑ Rossignol, Joe (2021-10-04). "Remember Apple's AA Battery Charger? It'll Be a Vintage Product Soon" (in en). https://www.macrumors.com/2021/10/04/apple-tv-3-and-apple-battery-charger-vintage/.
- ↑ Laporte, Christophe (2017-11-26). "Avis de disparition : le chargeur de piles Apple" (in fr). https://www.macg.co/aapl/2017/11/avis-de-disparition-le-chargeur-de-piles-apple-100522.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Janeček, Vláďa (11 August 2010). "Apple Battery Charger: nabíjí a svítí (Zkušenosti)" (in cs). https://superapple.cz/2010/08/apple-battery-charger-nabiji-a-sviti-zkusenosti/.
- ↑ Burns, Matt (July 27, 2010). "Apple's Innovative New… Battery Charger?". https://techcrunch.com/2010/07/27/apple-battery-charger/.
- ↑ Bertolucci, Jeff (July 27, 2010). "Apple Battery Charger slays vampire draw". https://www.macworld.com/article/1152977/batterycharger.html.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 Ricker, Thomas (August 12, 2010). "Apple's rechargeable AA batteries are rebranded Sanyo Eneloops?". https://www.engadget.com/2010/08/12/apples-rechargeable-aa-batteries-are-rebranded-sanyo-eneloops/.
- ↑ Janeček, Vláďa (12 August 2010). "Apple baterie a nabíječka: hloubkový pohled, který jinde neuvidíte" (in cs). https://superapple.cz/2010/08/apple-baterie-a-nabijecka-hloubkovy-pohled/.
- ↑ Hughes, Neil (August 3, 2010). "First look: Apple Battery Charger and AA batteries". https://appleinsider.com/articles/10/08/03/first_look_apple_battery_charger_and_aa_batteries.
- ↑ Worthington, David (July 27, 2010). "Apple debuts reusable battery charger" (in en). https://www.zdnet.com/article/apple-debuts-reusable-battery-charger/.
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