“Shoddily made.”
“Complete disgrace.”
“I hate this thing with a passion of 100 suns.”
“Who knew an iPhone cable could engender this much animosity?” Sam Grobart reports for Businessweek. “Well, it would appear that Apple’s ‘Lightning to USB Cable (1 m)’ can.”
“Sold as a $19 accessory, it is the same cable that ships with new iPhone 5S and 5C models, and boy, do people hate the dickens out of this thing,” Grobart reports. “Of all the products Apple makes, it is far and away the worst-reviewed, with an average rating of two stars.”
“The vast majority of reviewers are cheesed because, they say, the cable just plain breaks,” Grobart reports. ” Frayed ends, broken connectors, and unexplained failure to charge are some of the common complaints made about the product.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: We treat our cables as if they have delicate metal wires within and keep them in Tom Bihn cable bags inside our Crumpler backpacks when traveling, so since we’ve never had an Apple cable fail, we’re probably the wrong ones to comment. Come to think of it, none of our iPhones have ever had a case, but they all somehow manage to look like new after their requisite year of use (they only go into pants pockets and center condoles that are devoid of change and keys; call us crazy, but that seems like a simple and good rule).
So, do you treat your electronic equipment and accessories like a gorilla? If so, how could Apple make their Lightning to USB Cable indestructible in your hands/feet?
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Brawndo Drinker” for the heads up.]
Let me start at the end. My 5s is my first lightening device. I simply ordered 2 3ft and 1 6ft from monoprice. Total cost maybe $30. One stays in car, one stays in my travel kit and one is by my computers. Always have one handy.
I did have a problem with syncing to iTunes with the original Apple cable with my iPhone 3g so I bought a new one from Apple and ordered 3 as above (30pin) from monoprice.
The “no orientation” of lightening is an improvement.
My vote goes to the cable connected to the “Puck” mouse 🙂
I can’t understand this. I love the lightening cable especially compaired to the 30 pin.
What a coincidence. I just had my Apple Reseller replace a broken Lightning/USB cable about 15 minutes ago.
All my cables look like new, even the really old ones. Once I find a home for a cable it doesn’t move, I have about 3 that I use on a regular basis: one by the bed, one plugged into my iMac, and another in my car. They’re all stafionary, which I believe is key, but even so how can you ruin your own stuff? Take better care of your own shit.
My cat chewed on the ends of two of my older style cables and now the wires are visible — but they still work. Does that count? No?
That said, the outer covering, at the phone end, of three Apple cables quickly failed when I had my 3G. I photographed them and mailed a complaint to Apple. What did they do? Sent me three new ones. Can’t argue with that.
Sounds like your cat needs a bone to gnaw on……
(just sayin’)
What is this hit-whore idiot on about?
Forget the cable. By far, the worst product was the hockey puck mouse!!
Right now it is iMovie. It is driving me nuts with parameter error messages.
Of all the cables I’ve got, Apple and third-party ones, I have only one that’s had the cable outer split where it joins the 30-pin connector, and it still works fine, although I keep meaning to dab some hot-glue on it to protect it. My Lightning connector for my iP5 is perfect, but it never goes out of the house, only charging the phone overnight. I have two spares, but they’re rather whizzy ones with woven outers, like old-school mains cables. Only ever used one once, in an emergency with a back-up battery.
Trouble with some people, they handle stuff negligently, and expect it to last indefinitely.
Then whine and bitch because it doesn’t due to their negligence. Always the other guy’s fault; how long before some asshole with a sense of entitlement starts a class-action over this?
My 2010 MBA magsafe charging cable has split open. The abusive treatment, keeping it plugged in and moving it back and forth like 30 degrees from the side table to the lounge chair. Wonder if it’s an impostor cable from China?! At least no electrocution…
Apple‘s worst product: financial analysts
A wonderful company Apple Inc. is indeed, if all people have to pick on are product accessories rather than the products themselves. Americans playing the “instant gratification” card again. If they don’t get what they want they whine like babies.
Fer Christsake. Slow news day. Passion of 100 suns…drama queen and by queen I mean bitch.
I’ve had my first cable start to go back and that’s from leaving it plugged in at the head of my bed and constantly grabbing my phone to look at it several times during the night. That leads to unintentional twisting of the cable, which it clearly won’t be able to handle well.
start to go “bad”
I don’t know about the Lightning cable, but yes — despite careful care, I’ve had a number of 30-in and power cords fray at the “neck” over the years. This is an area where Apple could improve. (I am, however, writing this on a 2009 notebook with its original power cord which is doing fine.)
I’ve had 1 iPhone cable fail since the 3G… And that’s only because it got beat down. I have a lightning cable showing insulation and cable and works completely fine
I thought it might be the Hockey Puck mouse……
Monoprice has 2m cables for 11 bucks. Done and done.
I use the included apple cables as well but all my extras came from monoprice. The build quality is extremely high. I’m not a shill, btw. Haha
I use mine all the time, never had to replace it. If you treat your crap like crap it will break.
I’m going to call total BS on this. I have an iPhone 5, mini and iPad 4, all bought on launch days (I’m waiting for my launch day order of the Gold 5S).
I’ve been intentionally abusive to my cables all year. I make a point of yanking on the cord. I wad them up and throw them in my back back or have had them on my car floor and stepped on them. I’ve taken them on my jet ski where they’ve been knocked around and splashed lightly from time to time.
These things are indestructible I tell you.
Moreover, I love them!
Why the fuck, and I mean, why the fuck would you bring your Lightning cable with you on a jet ski? Are you charging your phone while you’re riding the jet ski? What a load of bollocks. You’re a pretentious fool. And a shit face to boot.
@Seamus
I often take my jet ski out and ride about 30 miles, stop at a restaurant where I’ll spend a couple of hours reading the news, checking email, check in with work, maybe make a few calls, hike for 2-3 hours while listen to music, import/edit/post video from my GoPro, etc… This can drain my battery to a level where I don’t feel comfortable if I need to rely on my iPhone in an emergency situation while out on the water. Thus, as part of my safety package, I bring a portable battery based charger and a Lightning cable.
As for the name calling… you might want to think long and hard about what that’s all about and what you’ve got going on.
Mirror, mirror on the wall…
The cables are bad but not top of my hate list.
I hate iTunes and all the syncing. Really doesn’t know how it works and boomzzz my files are gone. Damn
Basic common sense and care for any consumer product will invariably increase its longevity.
Pages 5 for Maverick gets my vote hands down.
Apple has cut this baby down with a chain saw and gaffer taped the rough edges back. To say it sucked big time is to suggest it actually does something useful.
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/5468056?tstart=0
The cable has not been a problem but the earbuds have! They don ‘t fit. They don’t stay in the ear. They cost too much! I can buy a $10 pair of Rocketfosh earbuds from Best. Buy and I get the same sound quality and they fit and the last as long as the apple earbuds!The earbuds are the only Apple product I have a real complain about.