Apple Battery Charger Review

Posted 10/11/2010 at 11:08am | by Ray Aguilera

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Leading the charge

When Apple released a battery charger, it was something of a head-scratcher. After all, we’re used to Apple releasing interesting and innovative products that break new technological ground. But honestly, how much room for innovation is there in the field of rechargeable batteries? While the Battery Charger is hardly the game-changer that the iPad is, if you’ve got a desk full of the latest Apple gear, it actually makes quite a bit of sense to pick up a Battery Charger to support it.

With six included AA cells, your Mac's Bluetooth peripherals should always be at the ready.

In classic Apple style, the Charger is small and sleek. It has the familiar fold-down prongs for power via a wall outlet, and the prongs also pop off for use with an existing AC power cord from another Apple product. It’s a small detail, but it’s useful for MacBook users who can’t spare an extra outlet. And at 3.8 ounces with a pair of AAs installed, the Battery Charger is small enough to fit easily in a pocket or to be added to a laptop bag that’s already stuffed with gear.

The Charger comes with six 1900mAh AA batteries, enough to power your Bluetooth keyboard and a Magic Trackpad or Magic Mouse, with a spare set always in the charger, ready for deployment when one of your devices runs out of juice. Using it is as simple as can be—just plug it in and go. The top-mounted LED glows amber while batteries are charging (a full charge takes about five hours), and the lights turn green when your batteries are fully powered up. Best of all, Apple included low-discharge cells that maintain up to 80 percent of their power after a year of storage. And for lazy types (i.e., most of us), the charger is designed to cut power to a trickling 30 milliwatts once the batteries are charged, which, in a small way, helps delay the inevitable heat death of the universe. But yes, the ideal solution is still unplugging the charger when you’re done.

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If you don’t already own rechargeables for your Mac peripherals, Apple’s Battery Charger is well worth your $29.

Battery Charger
COMPANY: Apple
CONTACT: www.apple.com
PRICE: $29
REQUIREMENTS: AC wall outlet
Compact. Comes with six rechargeable AA batteries. Matches all your other Apple stuff. Works with your existing AA NiMH rechargeables.
Only charges AA batteries.