4 ms·

Unlikely but possible. Even if the odds are very low, it's bound to happen at some points. This is the first time I hear about an electrocution from a charging

Unlikely but possible. Even if the odds are very low, it's bound to happen at some points. This is the first time I hear about an electrocution from a charging cable, it happened to one girl out of millions of users. That's someone being very unlucky. We also don't know the details of where that cable was plugged into. Some electrical wiring out there is pretty wild.

wlesieutre 9y ago
Things can be designed with large enough safety margins that "unlikely but possible" is effectively "never going to happen." If it's unlikely enough, you're up in "electrons could quantum tunnel through the insulation and electrocute someone" territory. It could happen, but I'm pretty comfortable assuming that it won't. For an example in a similar vein, power grids send electricity around at voltages that are well outside what the wiring in your house (or anything plugged into it) is designed to handle. The primary side of a distribution transformer (the cylinders you see on utility poles) is something like 13,000-25,000 volts. I've never heard of that getting shorted into the secondary side with 25 kV being put into the residential power system. If you look at the teardown/comparison between genuine and counterfeit power supplies (linked in other comment), I'd absolutely believe that with a large number of those adapters in use it would eventually kill someone. The high voltage side is poorly isolated and they went so far as including a fake grounding pin that isn't even connected to ground. But a well designed switching power supply is designed to not kill you. It's scary to think that some people have these counterfeits and don't realize it's not a genuine power cord. That's the real risk here that needs to be dealt with.
- Raphmedia 9y ago
  Meant "Unlikely but possible" as in there was a reverse miracle going on. Some incongruous sequence of event like a lightning hitting the wiring. The electricity coming from an illegal wiring (DIY directly from a random pole). The wiring of the house was FUBAR and following no regulations. The humidity level was low enough to allow sparks. The wire was completely frayed and fully wrapped around the child. The child was sleeping in a wet bed. Something VERY unlikely but possible. I'm not putting the blame on Apple but I don't understand why everyone assume that it's completely impossible that this could have been a genuine charger.

wlesieutre 9y ago

Things can be designed with large enough safety margins that "unlikely but possible" is effectively "never going to happen." If it's unlikely enough, you're up in "electrons could quantum tunnel through the insulation and electrocute someone" territory. It could happen, but I'm pretty comfortable assuming that it won't. For an example in a similar vein, power grids send electricity around at voltages that are well outside what the wiring in your house (or anything plugged into it) is designed to handle. The primary side of a distribution transformer (the cylinders you see on utility poles) is something like 13,000-25,000 volts. I've never heard of that getting shorted into the secondary side with 25 kV being put into the residential power system. If you look at the teardown/comparison between genuine and counterfeit power supplies (linked in other comment), I'd absolutely believe that with a large number of those adapters in use it would eventually kill someone. The high voltage side is poorly isolated and they went so far as including a fake grounding pin that isn't even connected to ground. But a well designed switching power supply is designed to not kill you. It's scary to think that some people have these counterfeits and don't realize it's not a genuine power cord. That's the real risk here that needs to be dealt with.

Raphmedia 9y ago
Meant "Unlikely but possible" as in there was a reverse miracle going on. Some incongruous sequence of event like a lightning hitting the wiring. The electricity coming from an illegal wiring (DIY directly from a random pole). The wiring of the house was FUBAR and following no regulations. The humidity level was low enough to allow sparks. The wire was completely frayed and fully wrapped around the child. The child was sleeping in a wet bed. Something VERY unlikely but possible. I'm not putting the blame on Apple but I don't understand why everyone assume that it's completely impossible that this could have been a genuine charger.