Woman dies using a charging iPhone 5, Apple vows to aid in investigation

AppleInsiderAppleInsider
Posted:
in iPhone edited January 2014
Apple has said it will aid in the investigation of the death of a Chinese woman who was allegedly electrocuted when she answered a charging iPhone 5.

China


In an e-mail sent to Reuters, Apple said the company is "deeply saddened" by the "tragic incident" that killed 23-year-old Xinjiang woman Ma Ailun. Apple vowed to "fully investigate and cooperate with authorities in this matter."

Police say Ma was killed when she answered a call on her charging iPhone 5. The story gained traction when her sister wrote on the microblog Sina Weibo to warn other users to be careful.

Prior to the incident in China, there have been no widespread claims about faulty charging with the iPhone 5. Apple did recall iPhone 3G power adapters back in 2008 over a shocking risk that affected just a "very small" number of adapters.

Negative publicity in China regarding warranty policies prompted Apple to issue a formal apology in April. Since then, the company has been more aggressive in publicly responding to negative reports from the Chinese media.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 108
    andreidandreid Posts: 96member
    Was the charger original ?
  • Reply 2 of 108
    MacProMacPro Posts: 19,665member
    Not that I am saying this is what happened here but a friend of mine had a new charger unit for his MBP which he purchased on Amazon. After discovering he kept getting small shocks from his MBP's case I checked it out. It turned out to be a cheap Chinese knock off and had zero earthing. Apple use a pretty sophisticated ground balancing technology in their chargers. I can imagine had the fake Apple charger he had, become wet from the outlet and no GFI in circuit, a potential major shock could have resulted. I am not sure the phone chargers work the same way as the MBP chargers.
  • Reply 3 of 108
    postulantpostulant Posts: 1,272member
    I'm wondering why AI left out the part that she got out of the bathtub to answer a call while dripping with water???
  • Reply 4 of 108
    technotechno Posts: 737member


    I too would investigate the possibility that it was a knockoff charger.

  • Reply 5 of 108
    nkhmnkhm Posts: 928member
    This woman deserves a Darwin Award. She got out of the bath and got hold of an electric device plugged into the mains? Seriously? That's not a design flaw, it's an act of stupidity. An unfortunate accident definitely, and a sad loss for her friends and family, but no technological issue here, a biological one!
  • Reply 6 of 108
    lord amhranlord amhran Posts: 902member
    Umph. Just a tragic loss of life. Thoughts & prayers to the family.
  • Reply 7 of 108
    MacProMacPro Posts: 19,665member
    nkhm wrote: »
    This woman deserves a Darwin Award. She got out of the bath and got hold of an electric device plugged into the mains? Seriously? That's not a design flaw, it's an act of stupidity. An unfortunate accident definitely, and a sad loss for her friends and family, but no technological issue here, a biological one!

    I'm not sure the post above mentioning a bath and dripping wet was serious. Do you know the bath comment to be true?
  • Reply 8 of 108
    postulantpostulant Posts: 1,272member
    I'm serious. 9to5 Mac is reporting it too.
  • Reply 9 of 108
    MacProMacPro Posts: 19,665member
    postulant wrote: »
    I'm serious. 9to5 Mac is reporting it too.

    Oh, OK. Thanks for update. Seemed too far fetched not to be a joke... ! And this is being investigated... seriously? I guess she didn't have a GFI in her bathroom!
  • Reply 10 of 108
    tenfingerstenfingers Posts: 28member
    Other sources say that it was the original charger and that she originated the call. She was not wet or in the bathtub from anything I read (not sure where you got that, unless you were joking).

    BUT, this is china people. The place where they the government was intentionally trying to promote misinformation about apple through celebrities postings, etc. So I'm skeptical. Especially, considering there have been no other similar reports and the are millions of iphones in use. Of course, I'm sure some 'copy cat' problems will suddenly emerge.
  • Reply 11 of 108
    gazoobeegazoobee Posts: 3,754member


    This is really, really, really, unlikely from an engineering standpoint unless there was a bare spot on the cable.  In which case, who's fault is that?  Not Apple's. 

  • Reply 12 of 108
    ronboronbo Posts: 669member


    Shouldn't report this kind of thing if you're not going to mention the most important detail. People will read this and think she was just sitting there in her living room or something.

  • Reply 13 of 108
    apple ][apple ][ Posts: 9,233member
    Ma's sister said she hopes to seek justice from Apple.

    This whole thing sounds fishy, and it should be fully investigated to rule out any foul play.

    It could be a money grab, it could be carelessness on the part of the user, the user might have been using one of those crappy Chinese knockoff chargers, the possibilities are endless.
  • Reply 14 of 108
    tenfingerstenfingers Posts: 28member


    deleted post

  • Reply 15 of 108
    gazoobeegazoobee Posts: 3,754member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Postulant View Post



    I'm serious. 9to5 Mac is reporting it too.


     


    Actually there is nothing about a bathtub there, so if they did report that, they've since taken it down. 

  • Reply 16 of 108
    copelandcopeland Posts: 298member


    But when she grabs the phone and not the charger all she can touch are ~5V (USB voltage).


    That shouldn't even be enough for a tingle on the skin (even when dripping wet).


    On the other hand if the charger was broken and supplied 110V AC (220V AC?) the phone should have been fried already?


    Besides the tragedy for the family I have got some skepticism on the report.

     

  • Reply 17 of 108
    ubiquitousgeekubiquitousgeek Posts: 66member
    Wouldn't the cable going to the iPhone only be carrying a standard 5V USB charge? No one is going to die from a 5V at ~1A.
  • Reply 18 of 108
    postulantpostulant Posts: 1,272member
    [IMG]http://forums.appleinsider.com/content/type/61/id/28358/width/200/height/400[/IMG]

    What does this say?
  • Reply 19 of 108
    themacmanthemacman Posts: 151member
    The South China Morning Post is reporting that Apple is investigating reports that a Chinese flight attendant was fatally electrocuted when getting out of the bath to answer a call on her iPhone 5 while it was plugged into the charger.

    Just grabbed it from 9to5mac
  • Reply 20 of 108
    MacProMacPro Posts: 19,665member
    copeland wrote: »
    But when she grabs the phone and not the charger all she can touch are ~5V (USB voltage).
    That shouldn't even be enough for a tingle on the skin (even when dripping wet).
    On the other hand if the charger was broken and supplied 110V AC (220V AC?) the phone should have been fried already?
    Besides the tragedy for the family I have got some skepticism on the report.

     

    The water was possibly conducting directly from the live pin in the wall then along the wet cable to her, bypassing the charger completely.
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