Identifying Fake Apple MagSafe Chargers

 I recently bought an Apple MagSafe charger and it seems like I was really lucky getting a genuine Apple product - while not paying the full retail price but ordering it from an online store.

A few weeks later I felt like I need more of these chargers, because you can do convenient things with them. So I went back online and checked for some low prices and ordered one, but this is what I received:

The most obvious difference is the inner chamfer, it is way too big. Also the inner white part is wavy and lower than the outer ring, which leads to scratching the backside of the iPhone.

The laser markings are larger and not as precise as the original one and the wheels are missing at the trashcan.

Here you can even see that the text is not lasered in a straight line.

Trash was shipped back to the seller. Next attempt:

This one was even worse: The carton on the bottom was not glued and the inner packing was far from the original

Again, trash was sent back to the seller. Attempt #3:

The packaging really looks genuine.

Even the inside packaging looks genuine, but it seems like the MagSafe charger was maybe swapped, because the inner carton on the right side was bent before, see the red marking. Also the carton had tiny scratches all over, maybe from fingernails.

Here you can clearly see the difference: The upper real one has precise laser markings.

Also the surface roughness of the fake one is not as fine as the original.

This one was hard to spot and I think almost impossible if you don't have a real one as reference. Maybe they used original packaging and just swapped the charger.

The last evidence is the easiest one: None of the fake ones were recognized on the iPhone under Settings > About. And none of the fakes were recognized as a USB MagSafe charger under macOS when connected to my Mac. So the easiest way to check for a genuine Apple MagSafe charger seems to be via software, if you are not sure.