Apple has launched its own plug-in charger for AA batteries, extending its wireless device and energy efficiency strategies. In addition to making its wireless keyboards and mice more user friendly, the company’s new product will slash the amount of power that's demanded by competing chargers.
The Apple Battery Charger includes six AA batteries in the device’s $29 price tag. This hovers around the price of many of the other chargers on the market, but Apple says it has built in a little extra: the ability to save money, however little, on electricity.
A lot of other chargers continue to suck power even after the batteries they carry are fully juiced. Apple’s spin is that the product consumes 10 times less electricity than these rivals -- about 30 milliwatts once its charge cycle is finished (as opposed to an average 315 milliwatts), the company says. If the batteries included in the purchase are charged regularly, they can last for upwards of a decade.
The battery charger may pale in comparison to Apple's newly-launched Magic TrackPad -- which incidentally depends on AA batteries -- but it fits a real need in the market, demonstrating how Apple is widely surveying opportunities for it to make a difference for its customers in large and small ways.
Apple has garnered fairly positive reviews on its environmental efforts, even from GreenPeace, especially after the launch of the iPad made cloud computing and the prospect of eliminating energy hog servers more of a reality. The white, compact charger is a small contribution to the same green roadmap.