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haruhiko

macrumors 604
Sep 29, 2009
6,529
5,875
The apple able is not a 10 cent cable. THere is considerable amount of electronics inside the end shells. In the 30 pin version there is an entire audio interface inside with A/D converters. Basically there is a tiny computer inside the cable.

Next we can ask if this is a smart design or not. Bt it is not a simple cable.

Wow, that's BS.
 

spasticapple

macrumors newbie
Sep 16, 2012
15
0
I'm all for buying Apple branded accessories but charging $50 for a video adapter is absurd. It's because of the new Lightning's chip that they feel the need to justify the price raise.

Why couldn't they just lower the prices on the 30-pin video adapters to like $30, set the Lightning video adapters to $40, and follow that same pricing on the other accessories?

Basically there is a tiny computer inside the cable.
There is? Can I run an old stripped version of OS X on it? :|
 

MacDarcy

macrumors 65816
Jul 21, 2011
1,011
819
$9 plus $4 shipping for a knock off that Apple charges $19 for? Puh-lease. I'll spend the extra $6 and get the real thing.
 

ouimetnick

macrumors 68040
Aug 28, 2008
3,552
6,341
Beverly, Massachusetts
Most companies have the connecter short circuit protected. What I'm saying is that I doubt you would damage the device with these cables.

Also, yes it has some active electronics. Still not expensive. The chips and such used probably add up to under a $1 anyways.

Its still a rip off.

Apple has always ripped people off with their dongles, adapters, cables, chargers. All of their accessories are overpriced anyways.
 

allpar

macrumors 6502
May 20, 2002
365
122
Ok...

While I see the attraction in saving $10, I agree with the guy who said, "So you risk a £400 device for a saving of £10 on a cable."

Apple most likely gets a greater profit, but it also gives you, almost certainly, a higher quality product. If you want to support "the cheapest crap we can ship while still passing the test for a week or two," feel free.

I've always felt it better to spend a bit more for something that's likely to last ten or more years.

I have my original iPods -- all of them as I upgraded -- I have an original clamshell iBook that's still in daily use (kids!), ... I could go on. Apple generally has high quality standards. Not always but in those cases they usually stand behind them. That's worth a bit of extra payout now. My time and stress level are worth more than $10.

Oh, and I DO remember SCSI cables. Only a fool would skimp on those. A good cable would save you endless troubleshooting.
 

tempusthales

macrumors newbie
Aug 23, 2012
8
42
Good Luck

I wouldn't touch these cables with a 10 foot pole. Next thing you will have is that something goes wrong and you go to Apple to try and have your device fixed and they won't because you used an unauthorized cable.

Anything that is made from a Chinese manufacture that is unauthorized is very risky and wouldn't justify the cheaper cost.

I would rather wait till Belkin or Griffin come out with something than try these. At least they will be certified by Apple.
 

Rocko1

macrumors 68020
Nov 3, 2011
2,070
4
$15 for a 3rd party cable that will inevitably break or stop working soon after purchase? No thanks. Ill spend $4 more for the real deal.
 

burnside

macrumors 6502
Jun 8, 2010
474
14
Apple most likely gets a greater profit, but it also gives you, almost certainly, a higher quality product. If you want to support "the cheapest crap we can ship while still passing the test for a week or two," feel free.

I've bought about 50 accessories in the past 5 years for Apple devices, all after market, and not one has bricked or fried my iDevice. Some may have not worked after a year, but hell, even the stock cables I got with my iPhone have had to be replaced within a year.

This cable is definitely different than the previous ones, but it ain't rocket science in the end. It's all hardware based, no software... which makes that one guy's statement about there being a computer in the cable laughable. Yes, using the base definition of a computer, there is one in that cable. Then again, a 10 year old car has over 100 computers in it, lol.
 

realeric

macrumors 65816
Jun 19, 2009
1,152
1,544
United States
It does not appear to contain any true authentication features to prevent unauthorized connections from being made. At best, a Texas Instruments chip found in the connector provides only basic security in the form of a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) to ensure data integrity.

This. There are no authentication chips in the lightning cable. Making lightning cable is not so difficult as we think.
 

everything-i

macrumors 6502a
Jun 20, 2012
827
2
London, UK
Most companies have the connecter short circuit protected. What I'm saying is that I doubt you would damage the device with these cables.

Also, yes it has some active electronics. Still not expensive. The chips and such used probably add up to under a $1 anyways.

Its still a rip off.

Apple has always ripped people off with their dongles, adapters, cables, chargers. All of their accessories are overpriced anyways.

I used to think that way until a cheap iPhone charger copy I brought from Amazon market went bang and almost set my house on fire. Luckily it was in and put it out and the phone wasn't fried but it's not worth the risk. Also remember that the chips in the cable are only a fraction of the cost of manufacture by the way.
 

Chupa Chupa

macrumors G5
Jul 16, 2002
14,835
7,396
Good news but I'll let someone else be the guinea pig. A $10 savings isn't worth frying my $600 iPhone.
 

Dwalls90

macrumors 603
Feb 5, 2009
5,427
4,411
why is a 10 cent cable $20 ?

Apple is turning into Best Buy :mad:

Where have you been? Apple has been the leader of price gouging on electronics forever.

And it actually costs a few dollars to make.

The apple able is not a 10 cent cable. THere is considerable amount of electronics inside the end shells. In the 30 pin version there is an entire audio interface inside with A/D converters. Basically there is a tiny computer inside the cable.

Next we can ask if this is a smart design or not. Bt it is not a simple cable.

Exactly. I believe the cost from the 30 pin to lightning is a about a 1000% increase.

Wow, that's BS.

Call it whatever you want, but facts are facts. The lightning cables have more technology in them and thus cost more.
 

danielwsmithee

macrumors 65816
Mar 12, 2005
1,135
410
At best, a Texas Instruments chip found in the connector provides only basic security in the form of a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) to ensure data integrity.

This sentence is a disservice to the otherwise great post. CRC does not provide basic security, it is not related to security at all.
 

alphaod

macrumors Core
Feb 9, 2008
22,183
1,245
NYC
Not old enough to remember SCSI drives, eh? A SCSI cable and a terminator would set you back more than this. WAAY more.

The problem is SCSI wasn't designed for regular folks, at least it wasn't adopted by regular users. Cost was one of these reasons. Regular folk had PATA, which was cheap.

The Lightning connected is like Parallel cables in your comparison; it's for regular folks, not for enterprises. The Lightning cable doesn't even have fast connectivity.

So yes there was a time where cables were expensive, but those were for enterprises and non-consumers. These are very expensive.
 
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