Two separate incidents in China that involved the use of a counterfeit USB charger for the iPhone 4 resulted in the death of a woman and injury and coma for a man July. As a result, Apple announced a program that will allow people to swap their counterfeit charger for an official one at reduced cost in the US and China. That program has now been extended to cover other countries too.
The program begins on August 16th and runs until October 18th. During that time, anyone can bring in a USB adapter made for the iPhone, iPad or iPod to an Apple store or an authorized Apple dealer for disposal.
At the same time, those same people can purchase new official USB chargers from Apple for just $10 in the US (down from $19); £8 (from £15) in the UK; and in Australia where a new charger will cost $14 AUD. Canada ($11 CAD), France and Germany (€10), and Japan (1,000 yen) are also on Apple's updated list. Customers must bring both their old charger and their iPhone, iPad or iPod with them in order to take advantage of the special offer.
You can check out the updated page on the Apple website to see if your country is also listed. This page also shows users how they can identify if their USB charge is a genuine Apple product, such as the above image for the iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, iPhone 5, and iPad mini.
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