Here's Why Apple's iPhone Chargers Are So Expensive

Yes, I agree that Apple's prices for things are crazy. I'd rather get 2-3 $5.00 chargers (they are that cheap online) than the actual apple product. Then again, that I'd get anything apple in the first place, that's a different story.

Pretty much the epitome of Apple's business model. Make a modest change to existing technology and sell it at a ridiculous premium.
I don't hate Apple products, but they are not at all worth the price when you can get similar products for much, much cheaper.

Apple unofficially non public motto: "Make is proprietary and then trap and exploit the consumer".

......................
SPOOKY!...... Life is

Apple's ultimate goals:

1. Eradicate all physical media and move everything to the cloud. You will see the slow manifestation of this in the next iteration of the Macbook Pro, which will have no DVD drive!

2. DO NOT ALLOW CONSUMERS TO FIX THEIR OWN EQUIPMENT ! = Forced Service contracts = More money for Apple. Bottom line is - It's all about money!

This has been evolving for a long time time - Case in point:

A. try fixing a Macbook charger on your own.
B. try replacing the battery on the latest generation of Apple's laptops (unibodies).
C. Has anyone ever been able to increase the RAM or HardDisk, on an iPad??

Apple's ultimate goal in their so called "post-pc" era is this:

Computing will be reduced to a service. All you will need is a screen. That's funny but I think we're already there and the iPad is leading the way. Now if that does not scare you, think about the cell phone industry, because that is exactly where it is headed. Once they got us . . .

THEY CAN DO ANYTHING THEY WANT.

BTW, I ONLY OWN APPLE COMPUTERS - JUST IN CASE YOU THINK I'M A HATER.

It kills me how in one article you can hear how Apple sucks for 'sending jobs overseas' while still selling those foreign-made items at a premium; then hear that people still want to buy the cheapest item for the lowest price, which was the cause of all those jobs getting shipped overseas in the first place, and Apple sucks for taking advantage of your cheapness.

Effect, meet Cause.

Stop bitching already, you folks make me puke.

All bunch of Lemmings, blindly following Apple. Buying what ever Apple puts out. Including over priced product. I wouldn't buy an Apple product even if it was made in America. I refuse to follow the masses.

no thanks. its tech i dont need. my laptop charger has a usb charger built in. i unplug when its full. never even used the one it came with.

If you read the actual tear-down article you will understand why the the $5 chargers aren't such a good deal.

The Apple charger is extremely well engineered. Whether or not you think it is worth $29 is up to you. It's the same when people choose between a Ford and a Mercedes. Either choice is valid.

As a tech that lives off of fixing Apple stuff, and owns a current laptop...

I don't care how good your flipping AC/DC converter is, the plug that attaches to the laptop still fails in (just) over a year. Even the new ones. FAIL, FAIL, FAIL.

To menoc,

Allowing users to fix their computer is bygone. Most people can't install RAM without breaking the receptacle or something completely unrelated. Not their fault, but also not there job. Apple's current M.O. relates to selling products to 40-50 year olds who, in turn, promote the products to their kids. All be it, the lesser products which only enable online complaining.

Those 40-50 year olds are lame with a computer, trust me. Apple knows that and is trying to figure out how to get the retirement money from them because their kids, or grandkids, are drowning in debt and can't sustain the company when the student discounts run out. They have to borrow it, guess from who, the family bank.