How to spot a fake Apple charger.

Counterfeit Apple adapters are copied from the outside in, so the tells are all in manufacturing quality: how much it weighs, how the plastic was joined, how the text was printed and what safety marks are missing. Nine checks, roughly a minute.

The nine physical checks

#	Check	Genuine	Counterfeit tell
1	Weight	Dense for its size; matches the figure on Apple's own tech-specs page	Noticeably light — smaller transformer, less filtering, sometimes hollow
2	Prong finish	Matte, slightly textured, evenly coloured metal	Bright chrome plating, or dull grey with visible tool marks
3	Prong fit	Rigid; folding models snap open and shut with a firm detent	Wobble at the base, mushy or over-stiff fold, uneven prong spacing
4	Moulding seam	Ultrasonically welded, so fine a fingernail will not catch	A ridge, a step between halves, or visible glue
5	Text and kerning	Crisp, thin, evenly spaced in Apple's typeface	Bold, blurry, uneven letterspacing, or wrong capitalisation
6	Safety marks	UL or ETL mark plus FCC, moulded or printed cleanly	Marks missing, or CE only — which proves nothing on its own
7	Model and serial	An A-prefixed model number (the 20W USB-C is A2305) and a unique serial	Missing serial, or the same serial on every unit in a multi-pack
8	USB-C port	Evenly moulded, centred, no adhesive visible inside	Off-centre tongue, glue residue, rough plastic burrs
9	Behaviour in use	Warm at most; the device reports the expected wattage	Hot to hold, buzzing or crackling, device drops to 5W

Checks 1 and 5 catch the most units on their own. Apple publishes the exact weight of each adapter on its specifications pages, and a kitchen scale settles the question in seconds — copies routinely come in well under, because the parts that make up the weight are the parts that make it safe. For the mark on check 6, see charger safety and certifications: UL and ETL involve an independent lab, CE is a manufacturer's own declaration.

Where the listing gives it away

Before the box arrives, the page usually tells you. Wording that means "not made by Apple": OEM, original quality, genuine compatible, for Apple, A+ quality. Structural red flags: a five-pack of "Apple" 20W bricks at a unit price below Apple's, one listing whose variation dropdown mixes 5W, 20W and 30W, photos that are renders or that never show the safety marks and the model text, and a product title that stacks device names rather than naming one product. Apple does not sell its adapters through general marketplace resellers, so a third-party seller name on an "Apple" brick is itself the answer.

The commingling trap: even a listing fulfilled by a large retailer can ship stock pooled from multiple sellers, so "sold by" is weaker evidence than the nine physical checks. Do the checks when the box arrives, whatever the listing said.

The same pattern analysis applied to third-party brands is in avoiding counterfeit listings.

What to do with one you already own

Stop using it. The risk in a counterfeit is not slow charging, it is the isolation barrier between mains voltage and the 5V your fingers touch — teardowns of fakes routinely find under a millimetre of clearance where the standard calls for several, and no proper isolation transformer. It is also not repairable and not worth the salvage; put it in e-waste recycling rather than a drawer where it will be grabbed in a hurry.

For a replacement, either buy Apple's brick from Apple or an authorised reseller, or buy a certified third-party unit and stop worrying about counterfeits of it — the 20W USB-C page lists both routes, and official vs third-party covers when the Apple premium is worth paying. If your existing adapter is simply old rather than fake, replacing a lost charger maps each Apple model to a current equivalent.

FAQ

Is a fake Apple charger actually dangerous or just slow?

Dangerous. The most common defect is inadequate isolation between mains and the low-voltage side, which is a shock and fire risk independent of how fast it charges.

Does the Apple logo or the box prove it is genuine?

No. Packaging, holograms and moulded logos are the easiest parts to copy. Weight, seam quality, printed kerning and the safety marks are much harder to fake convincingly.

Will a counterfeit charger harm my iPhone?

It can. Poor voltage regulation and missing over-voltage protection can damage the charging IC, and iOS may refuse to fast-charge on an adapter that behaves out of spec.

Are third-party chargers the same thing as fakes?

No. A certified charger from a named brand is a legitimate product tested to the same safety standard. A fake is a unit pretending to be Apple's, usually with the safety engineering removed.