Fanboys Anonymous

Apple issued a voluntary recall on Thursday for certain models of its wall plug adapter, citing the risk of electrical shock, the company said in a blog post. The faulty adapters were shipped with every Mac and certain iOS devices between 2003 and 2015 and were included in the Apple World Travel Adapter Kit.


According to Apple, the two-prong AC wall plug adapters that were designed for use in Continental Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Korea, Argentina, and Brazil may break, leaving the user at risk of electrical shock if touched. Twelve incidents have so far been reported worldwide.

"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," Apple said, noting that wall adapters designed for the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, China, Hong Kong, and Japan were not affected. Apple USB power adapters are also not affected.

To identify whether your wall plug may be a hazard, an affected plug will have either four or five characters or no characters on inside slot where it attaches to the Apple power adapter. The redesigned adapters will have a three-letter regional code in its place (EUR, KOR, AUD, ARG, or BRA).

Though the chances of the adapters breaking are rare according to Apple, users are encouraged to exchange their potentially dangerous adapters at their local Apple Store or at an Authorized Apple Service Provider. The exchange program is free, though Apple is offering refunds to those that previously bought new adapters due to issues.