Kitz Forum
Computers & Hardware => Apple Related => Topic started by: Weaver on December 26, 2015, 02:10:10 AM
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Is it the case that the stupid lightning cable has to go in the right way round? Or is it supposed to be OK either way?
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Either way round is fine.
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I ask as I have some clones that are no good one way round, for some reason.
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Apple devices seem to be quite fussy about the origins of their accessories. I have a non-Apple SD card adapter I use with my iPad and each time I insert it the iPad complains bitterly that it is an unsupported device, but immediately relents and allows the photos to be imported. ???
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I think lightning cables are effectively 'chipped' to prevent cloning. Hopefully this would see an end to the cheap fakes that appeared to work some of the time, but were too flakey to be reliable.
I recently bought a cheap 'Amazons Basics' car charger which was cheap as chips and worked fine, but it was approved by Apple, bearing the 'Made for iPhone' logo.
See also
https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT204566
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Even the Apple ones have a half life of a few months in my experience. Expensive and very poor.
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Even the Apple ones have a half life of a few months in my experience. Expensive and very poor.
I'm afraid it was the extortionate cost of Apple cables, chargers and other accessories which made me fell a disgruntled apple owner and that Apple were taking the pee. £30 for a spare charger is stupid money and I agree that the leads do break easily. Im not rough with mine, but I had official Apple cable split near the device end.
I cannot see how they think £15 for a cable and £15 for a plug is acceptable. Genuine Samsung/HTC equivalents are just a couple of quid. You can even use and pick up reputable branded items from just £2 (Im not talking Taiwan cheapos, but proper certified goods through reputable outlets.)
When Apple charge silly money for things like the basics, then its no wonder people turn to cheap Taiwan alternatives.
I've recently bought a Samsung which is equivalent hardware spec to an ipad. When I claim my £50 cash back that applies to anyone who bought an S2 between 1st - 31st of Dec will be very slightly under half the cost of an ipad. Yep I did love my ipad, but ripped off I feel.
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See LP braided MFI lightening cable.
I buy braided MFI licensed products for the car and various charging points £6. They outlast the originals. The trade off is its less flexible. I send the oem ones back if they break as not to cost me a penny under warranty. I've never bought a oem lead. The design of a rigid end with soft rubber and constant bending because of the location is bound to cause issues.
You don't have to buy genuine lightening leads. There are good quality ones out there. Apple love their margins and nothing is going to change. I don't see how anyone can say people turn to other cheaper models when year on year the iPhone has increased in sales. Everyone likes different things about their phones. Personal choice that fit in their budget. If you don't like a company simply don't support them. There are plenty good phones in the market. For a lot of people it's buying into the Eco system where I think Apple excel and my personal fav, they don't sell your info.
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I do agree the cables Apple cables are flimsy and easily damaged, I am not surprised to hear that problems arise. But to their credit I've not had a lightning cable fail on me yet. That includes my development machine where, during a busy day, devices are mercilessly attached/detached dozens of times over, for loading test builds.
The only actual failures have been one old-style (pre lightning) charger cable that was in an awkward place behind the sofa and prone to 'tugging' when detaching it from the device, and a keyboard cable. The latter being mostly own fault as I'd allowed it to get trapped and squashed, the nasty surprise was that the damage was so severe and worse, the cable was hard-wired and non-replaceable. >:(
In contrast, prior to MFI branding, the only non-Apple cable I ever purchased was effectively DoA I could use it for development and debugging but it wouldn't charge any of the devices. I also recall going through at least 3 or 4 different third party car chargers (mini/micro USB?) before finding one that would actually work as advertised for feeding a Samsung phone in the car. :-\