Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Amazon and Monoprice Offering Certified, Low Cost Lightning-to-USB Cables
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Have you seen first hand what these knock-offs look like? Huge connectors with terrible finish quality and solder points that look like they were done by the hand of a child. Not even remotely the same thing.
I got my iphone 5 about 2 months after release and was able to get an extra 2 connect cables for $10 ($5 each) on ebay from China. One stays at work, one stays in the car and one for home. I bet it only cost a buck to make.
I don't get it either - I have one in each car, one at work, and a few at home - when you buy crap generic cables online, usually on ebay, you're protected with paypal and ebay when they crap out on you (especially considering most of the early generics were either good or bad out of the package)
Now all you have to do is look on ebay for higher quality generics - the one on the left is OEM, the one on the right is generic. I can barely tell the difference, and I bet you could bring it to the apple store and they would exchange it for a real one without noticing. This cable was $3 - you simply can't beat that - and I dont notice a difference at all with the charge speed and data transfer. I bet I can make 5 generics (the cost of one amazon/mono cable) last at least twice as long as these cables.
You honestly can't tell the difference between those two cables? How about a profile shot or taking some measurements with calipers of the thickness of the connector?
On Amazon, the bottom-of-the-barrel cables are "$3.00" but actually $6.00 shipped - and that's for the cheapest of the cheap. On ebay they start at $4 shipped - and again, that's absolute bottom of the barrel.
I spent $400 for my phone, and I'll spend nearly $2000 for the supporting carrier charges over the its lifespan. I need 4 extra cables. Springing for the real thing is a total of 2.5% of the cost of owning that phone - and from past experience - the real cables will last me through at least 3 phone cycles. I think I can swing that...
Lol @ empty wallet! So you bought an iphone for $700 tax included and can't afford an extra cable for $19.99?
I'm just gonna start putting regular gas in my ferrari. Not a single "F" is given to logic sometimes!
Looking at Monoprice's website it appears that only the USB end is really smaller. The dimensions for the lightning end are the same as the other Monoprice cables (except it is a little shorter, but that won't help it fit with cases, which I assume is most people's concern). Monoprice's website says "The connector head on the Lightning end measures 3/16" thick, 5/16" wide, and 1/2" long." for the slimfit cable (the other cables lightning connector is 3/4" long).
I don't have a cable here to check to see how Monoprice's lightning end measures up compared to Apple's.
I bought these cables last week for $3.49 per cable - his prices have obviously gone up since then
http://www.ebay.com/itm/170976993543?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649
I personally spent $200 on my phone. Using your monthly cell phone bill cost to justify spending $19 per cable may make you feel better, but it is flawed logic...if you didn't have an iphone 5, you'd probably have some other smartphone (that most likely uses micro USB) and would be spending the same amount on your bill per month.
Like you, I need at least 4 cables (2 for cars, 1 for office, 1 for home) - so instead of your 2.5% I'd be more at 40% of my phone cost. Thanks but no thanks. I'll take my generic iphone cables, great value brand food products, and cheap polarized sunglasses any day.
It's not flawed logic; it's part of the cost of owning the phone. It's also why I don't worry about the extra $200 that getting the 64GB model that I really want costs over the 16GB version that would cause me frustration, or a free smartphone for that matter. Overall, it's a small portion of the overall cost of owning a device like this. Because the cost of the service is so high, sacrificing on the device end is of poor value.
This!
I'm not looking to save a couple of bucks, I need the reach. Apple, give me a 6ft cable and I'll buy it. If Apple doesn't I'll wait and buy the generic.
FWIW
DLM
Man, I sure would like a 6-foot slimfit cable. I can't stand how short the Apple one is. It makes it nearly impossible to do anything with your phone while charging (for me, usually at night while I'm in bed). I don't really like the bigger connector on the regular 6-foot one so I guess I'll wait and see if they make one soon... I've been suffering with a 3-footer this long already, so no reason to hurry into a new cable that's not really that much cheaper.
30% failure rate? I'll just buy the real thing.
----------
Lol @ empty wallet! So you bought an iphone for $700 tax included and can't afford an extra cable for $19.99?
Not a single "F" is given to logic sometimes!
Hey I put regular in my Acura that requires super unleaded... better gas mileage.
----------
I bought these cables last week for $3.49 per cable - his prices have obviously gone up since then
http://www.ebay.com/itm/170976993543?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649
I personally spent $200 on my phone. Using your monthly cell phone bill cost to justify spending $19 per cable may make you feel better, but it is flawed logic...if you didn't have an iphone 5, you'd probably have some other smartphone (that most likely uses micro USB) and would be spending the same amount on your bill per month.
Like you, I need at least 4 cables (2 for cars, 1 for office, 1 for home) - so instead of your 2.5% I'd be more at 40% of my phone cost. Thanks but no thanks. I'll take my generic iphone cables, great value brand food products, and cheap polarized sunglasses any day.
+1 for cheap polarized glasses. but umm, I'm all about eating healthy.
I wouldn't have a problem paying the extra $5 for the Apple cable if that's all it was about, but Apple does not have a 6' Lightning cable available. As such, I have no choice but to go elsewhere to purchase my cable.
It was an estimated guess admittedly but not far off. I understand that Apple get money from certified accessories so I guess it makes sense anyway.
30% failure rate? I'll just buy the real thing.
----------
Hey I put regular in my Acura that requires super unleaded... better gas mileage.
----------
+1 for cheap polarized glasses. but umm, I'm all about eating healthy.
I used to work for acura and it seems like you would be the type of cheap people that would go in to just do warranty because you did not know acura takes premium gas"yet you knew just being cheap", and get a free car wash!
It would suck for whoever gonna buy your used acura. I feel bad for the nexr owner.