Recently an image of what’s claimed to be Apple’s redesigned US 5W USB power adapter surfaced on Weibo (via Gizmobic). This alleged new design, isn’t actually that new to everyone though. Australia currently has a very similar USB power adapter in terms of shape and size…
As you can see in the images above and below, this possible redesign closely mimics the Australian adapter, but instead uses the plug standard found in the US. The corners are more rounded than the original US power adapter and it also has two groves on each side that may make it a bit easier to pull away from an outlet. The Weibo user also included a picture of the rumored fully reversible Lightning to USB cable, which we recently covered in a couple of short videos demonstrating its capabilities. It’s possible that this new design is better optimized for the rumored reversible USB cable, but either way all details will be revealed very soon.
As far as legitimacy goes, it’s hard to tell if the above image is of a genuine Apple power adapter, but it does carry Apple’s “Designed by Apple in California” signature on the prong end. Because this design isn’t actually new to Apple power adapters, but for the US adapter, it’s likely that we may see this design with the launch of the iPhone 6.
Apple is set to unveil the iPhone 6 on Sept. 9, 2014 at a media event that has yet to be announced. If all goes well, it’s possible that we’ll see the iPhone 6 and this redesigned US 5W power adapter launch soon after the announcement.