Apple’s Lightning cables?
Q My iphone’s charging cable split at the end, so I bought a new cable online. That worked for a while, but then that stopped working too. My friend told me that this cable was a fake, and real Apple cables cost much more (I paid £2 for mine, from ebay). Comparing my original broken cable and this apparent fake, I can’t tell the difference. How on earth would one know? As well, I’ve been on to Apple’s site to look for an original, but the company wants £20 for it! How on earth can it justify such a high price for a bit of wire? Dennis Small
A Let’s start with the cost: Apple’s reputation is not exactly that of a manufacturer of cheap goods. In other words, pretty much everything the company makes arrives at a premium price. That, inevitably, includes Apple charging cables.
We’re not remotely defending the £20 that the firm demands for its own-brand Lightning lead – for that figure is truly preposterous – but the cord is manufactured to a rigid set of quality and safety standards that undoubtedly push up the price. In particular, it contains a tiny microchip that performs various safety and security functions, including keeping an eye on the voltages flowing through the cable.
You can be certain that dirt-cheap generic cables purchased from ebay do not include this Apple chip, and they’ll be generally less well made. Indeed, some are so poorly put together they could even damage your phone by creating a short circuit between the charging contacts. Sadly, Far East manufacturers are past-masters at creating fakes that to the untrained eye look just like the real thing. Apple has published a guide on how to spot these, at www.snipca.com/34905 (pictured).
However, Apple is not averse to third-party cables. The company runs a certification scheme called ‘Made for iphone/ipad/ipod’ (MFI), which allows manufacturers who adhere to its standards to apply an Apple MFI badge to their own cables. So, non-apple cables that are both safe and reliable do exist, and they’re considerably cheaper than Apple’s own offerings. The Mfi-certified Amazonbasics Lightning cable, for instance, costs £8.79 ( www. snipca.com/34906).
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