The IT Nerd

Since my wife and I have started using the iPhone 5, we’ve both had to replace Lighting Cables a total of four times between the two of us. The issue on every occasion is this:

As you can see, the cable frays near the part of the Lightning cable that provides the strain relief which is supposed to stop this sort of thing from happening. Each time, we’ve taken the cable to the Apple Store, and you can tell that this wasn’t the first time they have seen cables like this. A couple times they replaced the cables for free. A couple of times we’ve had to buy new cables. But the same problem keeps reoccurring. We’re not abusive with these cables so it’s clearly a design defect that Apple hasn’t addressed. This is clearly an issue that is widespread as looking at the reviews on Apple’s online store shows lots of negative reviews from people with a similar issue. The thing is that this sort of problem is dangerous because this cable carries electrical power, thus the potential of a fire starting while your phone is charging exists. Thus this is something that cannot be ignored.

My wife and I have recently have given up on buying the Apple branded Lightning cables. Instead we’re using the RCA Lightning cables that are Made For iPod certified. The shielding on the cable is thicker and more durable than the Apple ones. Plus quite frankly they seem to be better constructed. Clearly RCA took some of the Apple Lightning cables and said “how do we make this better.” I’d recommend that if you have problems with the Apple Lighting cables, you should switch to the RCA cables.

Meanwhile, I’ll put this out there to Apple. Clearly you have a problem with these cables that you need to address. So why not step up to the plate, admit that you have a problem, and address it with a better quality cable. Admitting that you have an issue isn’t something that Apple typically does, but it would show that you are serious about addressing this. By staying silent, it gives the impression that you don’t care. I don’t believe that to be the case. But you have to show that I am right on that front.

So how about it Apple?

This entry was posted on March 8, 2014 at 10:56 am and is filed under Commentary with tags Apple. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.