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I agree; complexity costs money. But I guess I'm wondering if there is still a lot of profit margin built into the cost of the apple charger that could be shaved by a decent third-party such as Monoprice.

Take lightning cables: I can buy the Apple lightning cable for $25, or I can buy a perfectly good Monoprice, MFi-certified lightning cable for $7, or I can buy a no name, non-certified cable (that will likely have issues) for a buck or two on ebay.

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I would expect any 3rd party manufacturer seeking to replicate the safety margins of Apple's own power adapters may ultimately find it difficult to produce a competitive alternative, once you factor in costs of NDAs with Apple and such. (Apple likely works to ensure it stays this way.) Cables are passive, USB chargers are generally low wattage, while the Macbook adapters have active regulation, plus higher power ratings.

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