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So what's the consensus on 3rd party lightning cables?

I

itsjustmeee

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Dec 28, 2008
603
7
I'd like to pick up a couple of spare lightning cables for my ipad and iphone but I'd rather not spend 18 bucks a piece on amazon for them. Can anyone recommend a quality cheaper alternative that they've been using?

Thanks.
 
I personally stay away from 3rd party cords just because you never know what can go wrong. Sure you save a lot when you buy $1 generics but what if they cause damage worth hundreds? I buy directly from apple. If anything goes wrong with them, they replace them since I have AppleCare+.
 
There are fake ones on eBay that work but as posted above you never know when it can go bad. Spending a bit more to have your phone not blown up is more worth it.
 
I got 2 and they worked well. The end is not as well finished as Apple's, but other than that, I see no difference. I paid $13 for 2 on Amazon.
 
I stick with Apple to prevent any uncertainty. The price, while arguably high, isn't high enough to sway me towards an unknown third party manufacturer.
 
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A lot of opinions here.

I have used cheap 3rd party cables for years on all my phones - never had a problem.
 
Risco said:
Would you put a £20 battery in a Ferrari?
Click to expand...

Would you put a £20 bottle of wine in your body? Well, your body is worth infinitely more than a Ferrari, yet you would.

The "Would you put a _some_thing_cheap_ in a _something_expensive " logic makes no sense to me. Less expensive things doesn't necessarily mean unsafe things.
 
Bought one off ebay since it was 3 bucks and if I didn't work... it's only the price of 2 cheeseburgers.

Works perfectly. I keep it on my bedside to charge my iPad Mini overnight and never had it explode on me... My only worry was that it wouldn't sync properly with my Macbook, but it does. You can feel the quality isn't there though and if it doesn't last more than a few months, oh well. Apple's cables aren't designed well either, I have to attach a pen spring to keep them from fraying.

I attached a few photos comparing the real lightning cable and a fake one. You can see the fake one is more bulky and the tip isn't fully metal with the connection bits, but it's like 3 sheets of small metal surrounding the innards.
 

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meistervu said:
Would you put a £20 bottle of wine in your body? Well, your body is worth infinitely more than a Ferrari, yet you would.

The "Would you put a _some_thing_cheap_ in a _something_expensive " logic makes no sense to me. Less expensive things doesn't necessarily mean unsafe things.
Click to expand...

That is a silly comparison. A bad cable that causes your macbook to go wrong invalidates the warranty and can potentially irreversibly damage the hardware.
 
I bought 2 more original cable in my case. 1 for home, 1 for car and 1 for
office.


How much we can save by buying those 3rd party cable?

So I can save ~36 bucks but I might have to go through problem and headache... by just checking the reviews from amazon.com... I don't even want to try it...

I don't want to mess up the phone, even it is under 1 year warranty but it is annoying to bring it to the store and swap the phone... re-enter all the email account password... apply a new screen protector...


I upgrade my iPhone every year, so all the original cable will be under Apple warranty~
 
Risco said:
That is a silly comparison. A bad cable that causes your macbook to go wrong invalidates the warranty and can potentially irreversibly damage the hardware.
Click to expand...

Yes, a bad cable may do that. But an inexpensive cable does not have to be a bad cable. Take hdmi cables for example. You can pay $50 or $10 for one and a good $10 cable is as good as a good $50 cable. There are many articles written about this.
 
meistervu said:
Yes, a bad cable may do that. But an inexpensive cable does not have to be a bad cable. Take hdmi cables for example. You can pay $50 or $10 for one and a good $10 cable is as good as a good $50 cable. There are many articles written about this.
Click to expand...

A HDMI cable does not provide charging for a battery. The signal is digital, hence why expensive cables are a total con.
 
My point is that it is economically feasible to market a $6 Lightning cable. They are not that complicated. Yes, you will be safer buying an Apple cable, but I don't think there is an inherent risk buying cables from 3rd parties if you are a bit careful. Check the feedbacks from other users, and may be not go for the $2 ones.
 
The problem is that you can't just choose one from Amazon based on reviews. You also have to know which seller to choose, as the quality can vary a lot. I found one that worked perfectly for me, if you want to try them, and I'm not associated with them at all, I just got lucky.

I made a post about it here:
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1514180/
 
Risco said:
That is a silly comparison. A bad cable that causes your macbook to go wrong invalidates the warranty and can potentially irreversibly damage the hardware.
Click to expand...

Actually, his comparison is perfectly apt. Cheap food can kill you. So why would you spend more money on a cable for your iPhone than on food?

Buying cables from Apple is like audiophiles buying Monster cables: stupid and a waste of money.
 
SomeDudeAsking said:
Actually, his comparison is perfectly apt. Cheap food can kill you. So why would you spend more money on a cable for your iPhone than on food?

Buying cables from Apple is like audiophiles buying Monster cables: stupid and a waste of money.
Click to expand...
Monster Cables are very inexpensive compared to other audio cables.
 
SomeDudeAsking said:
Actually, his comparison is perfectly apt. Cheap food can kill you. So why would you spend more money on a cable for your iPhone than on food?

Buying cables from Apple is like audiophiles buying Monster cables: stupid and a waste of money.
Click to expand...

This is around the 3rd thread I've seen where you have been burned by saying something that is so off base it should be embarrassing. But please keep it up, it's quite humorous for the rest of us.

utahusker said:
Monster Cables are very inexpensive compared to other audio cables.
Click to expand...
 
BHP41 said:
This is around the 3rd thread I've seen where you have been burned by saying something that is so off base it should be embarrassing. But please keep it up, it's quite humorous for the rest of us.
Click to expand...

OMG, it's called an analogy. Look it up.Next you are going to tell me to buy extended warranties, too.
 
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