A US federal district court in Chicago, Illinois, plaintiff Penny Manzi is claiming in court that early last year a defective MagSafe adapter ignited the oxygen in the mask she wore for her chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder, asthma, and emphysema.

"On January 17, 2018, defendant Apple's MagSafe Adapter defectively sparked and started a flash fire, engulfing the plaintiff Penny K. Manzi's face and skull in flames," the complaint says.

Mazi suffered "serious and substantial personal injuries" as a result.

Despite flogging the MagSafe adapter as safe. Apple acknowledged that its MagSafe Adapter was prone to fraying, sparking, melting, and overheating through an extended warranty program in which customers who had "seen a spark" were advised they could receive a free replacement.

However, the case claims Apple did not make knowledge of this defect adequately known to its customers.

Apple offered MagSafe Adapters on its notebook computers from 2006 through 2016, when it switched to USB-C.

In 2011 Apple reached a proposed settlement in a class action lawsuit involving older models of its MagSafe power adapters.

Those adapters, the 60W and 85W versions that shipped on earlier models of the company's MacBook and MacBook Pro portable computers, were prone to splitting and became the target of a class action lawsuit.

Apple made it clear when it made the pay out that the settlement was "not an admission of wrongdoing".