Apple Battery Charger

I didn't see a post for this but I just noticed Apple released a AA Battery Charger.

US - $29
Apple Battery Charger - Apple Store (U.S.)

Australia - $39
Apple Battery Charger - Apple Store (Australia)

And I saw it, looked at it for a while. About 30 mins then I placed my order for one. I am sick of hunting for good batteries for my Magic Mouse. That's why it gets no use now. But with this I will be testing it and writing a review of it when it comes to my door in say a week.

And the 6 batteries it comes with are good for 3 Apple devices. Assuming they all use 2 AA's each. Or you can use them in other devices. And even if the batteries last half as long as the 10 years Apple claims they will I'll be happy. Plus the charger uses very little power which is nice.

The only downside is Apple don't say how many full charges the batteries will hold before their full charge capacity is diminished. I'd like to know that. But apart from that, I think it's a good buy. As even 5 years of non-rechargable use for the Magic Mouse will be more then $40.

And yeah Apple just killed the wired mini keyboard from their line up. So if you want the smaller Apple keyboard without the number pad you have to get it wired. Plus the no wired option for the Magic Mouse, I think Apple is aiming to remove wires from our lives.

I would not be surprised to see in a few years that there is no wired option from Apple at all. But my question is why does Apple hate wires so much?

the8thark said:

I would not be surprised to see in a few years that there is no wired option from Apple at all. But my question is why does Apple hate wires so much?

Click to expand...

They are expanding into making AA batteries and the move to no wires ensures they will be profitable in the battery world. ;P J/K

If you are saying the wired keyboard is not available I think you are mistaken. Check out this link:

Apple Keyboard - Apple Store (U.S.)

dude just go to walmart and buy one much cheaper.....I swear if Apple made a burger joint selling Bic Macs for $10 a piece, people would buy them

For one I live in Australia. No Walmarts here. And secondly an equal quality charger with good batteries is about the same price here. I've read all the arruements for and against the price of this charger and came to the conclusion it's reasonable. On the higher side of reasonable though.

If you're happy with a cheaper walmart or similar one go ahead. I'm not though.

And to mbohn: you just might be right and I just might be wrong about the keyboards.

So  is making a wireless charger?
Apple - Apple Battery Charger - The energy-efficient way to power your accessories.


Interesting. Are they making and selling their own batteries separate from the charger as well?

For those who want an Apple charger:

I placed my order on 02-08-2010 (2nd of August). And at the time it said ship time was 7-10 working days. But now I just checked my order status and it says:
Ships: 17/08/2010
Delivers: 19/08/2010

So if you want one of these chargers. And they look pretty nifty, you'll be waiting quite a while to get your hands on one.

the8thark said:

For those who want an Apple charger:

I placed my order on 02-08-2010 (2nd of August). And at the time it said ship time was 7-10 working days. But now I just checked my order status and it says:
Ships: 17/08/2010
Delivers: 19/08/2010

So if you want one of these chargers. And they look pretty nifty, you'll be waiting quite a while to get your hands on one.

Click to expand...

I think you accidentally reversed your 8 and 17 /19.

osxx said:

I think you accidentally reversed your 8 and 17 /19.

Click to expand...

That's how many countries format their dates. Remember he's in Australia, so it's not the same as U.S. format (MM/DD/YYYY). I hope this doesn't start a debate over date formats.

MYmacROX said:

That's how many countries format their dates. Remember he's in Australia, so it's not the same as U.S. format (MM/DD/YYYY). I hope this doesn't start a debate over date formats.

Click to expand...

As far as I know the US is the only country to have the M/D/Y format. The rest is D/M/Y.

A new post I know. But I want to say my Apple Battery charger arrived and I did a little write up on it (with a pic) here:

http://www.mac-forums.com/forums/ot...ery-charger-photos-my-review.html#post1100294

Take a look if you're interested in purchasing this product.

MYmacROX said:

That's how many countries format their dates. Remember he's in Australia, so it's not the same as U.S. format (MM/DD/YYYY). I hope this doesn't start a debate over date formats.

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The UK and Aus have it right! When you say a date it is Thursday 19th August 2010. 19/08/10 just makes sense. [/flamebait]

Just an FYI: It would seem that the "new" Apple batteries are actually re-branded Sanyo Eneloops. Amazon sells them in an 8 pack with a charger for $10 less in the States, not sure about in Oz though.

Apple's rechargeable AA batteries are rebranded Sanyo Eneloops? -- Engadget

Also, I've said this before and will say it again. The charger you use makes a HUGE difference. The charger that the Eneloops and the Apple batteries come with are absolute crap because they are rapid chargers and don't offer discharge, refresh or slow cycle options. So while you're likely to get much better battery life out of those compared to other types of batteries, you'd get much closer to the manufacturers stated lifetime if you used a better charger.

I personally use a LA CROSSE charger. There are other brands which are as good or better.

Doug

Thanks for the info Doug. I knew that already but others might not have a nice post.

And just to let you know. The Apple Charger is not a rapid charger. It has only one recharge speed and that is slow. Just the initial charge our of the box from whatever the % was to full was over an hour. And sure the Apple charger does not have any fancy discharge options or battery level display. And personally I don't think it needs it.

As I said in my review if I have to look at or think about the charger too much then it's failed. It's tiny, out of the way, uses very little electricity and is a nice pretty white. Sure some other chargers might be better. But even if the Apple ones keep the batteries going for 5 years (half Apple's recommended 10 years) I'll be happy.

You're probably right there are better chargers out there. But this one does the job and I like supporting Apple.

And the cost didn't bother me. I guess I'm just used to paying the premium to Jobs, Ive and co.

But I'd really like to see some stats of the Apple charger when the are released to see if Apple's claims are as good as they say.

How long does it take to fully charge a totally discharged/empty battery with the Apple charger ? Just curious.

Doug

thedoc said:

The UK and Aus have it right! When you say a date it is Thursday 19th August 2010. 19/08/10 just makes sense. [/flamebait]

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When we say a date, it's Thursday, August 19th, 2010. That's why it's always "September eleventh"or "nine-eleven."

But that's not right either!

The only correct format is ISO 8601, a totally unambiguous little-endian format that sorts properly lexically.
Use international date format (ISO) - Quality Web Tips

technologist said:

When we say a date, it's Thursday, August 19th, 2010. That's why it's always "September eleventh"or "nine-eleven."

But that's not right either!

The only correct format is ISO 8601, a totally unambiguous little-endian format that sorts properly lexically.
Use international date format (ISO) - Quality Web Tips

Click to expand...

The US Military says 19 August 2010. FYI.

That I don't know. When I have an empty battery (after use in my magic mouse) I'll let you know. I read 5 hours from various sources. But I'll only really know after my own testing.