There have always been rumors claiming that cheap chargers ruin phones, but no one really knew why. And it’s certainly easier to find cheap cords and charging blocks, which are available in most gas stations, than to find an Apple store.
It’s important to know that the term “bad chargers” includes bad charging bricks, bad charging blocks, and bad charging cords. All of these could ruin your phone. According to iFixit Answers, damage from a bad charging cord is extremely common. The post has thousands of comments and over 45,000 views, and that’s only for iPhone 5C devices.
How do you know if the charger/cord/block you’re buying is bad? For starters, if the price is too good to be true then it’s probably bad for your phone. If the device comes from sketchy brands or looks weird and is poorly assembled, then steer clear from them, if for no other reason than to be safe. Lithium batteries are highly unstable; you don’t want to add an extra stressor.
According to Motherboard, you should purchase Apple charging devices or those that have MFi certification, which guarantees that it was made for iPhone, iPad or iPod. MFi cables have a chip that will protect your device from voltage fluctuations that could cause some serious damage. While MFi certification doesn’t guarantee that your device won’t be affected, it dramatically lowers the risk of damage.
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A knockoff charging cord is bad news because it wants to give your phone unlimited power, and iPhones can’t handle all of that. This could lead to a fried Tristar chip, which would then ruin your phone’s ability to charge properly. To make matters even worse, damage of this sort affects your phone’s motherboard, so it can’t be fixed by replacing the charging port or the battery. Not even Tim Cook could fix damage of this level. Bye Bye iPhone forever.
