Lightning Cables Failing Due to Corrosion, Cause Unclear

seble said:

Lies. Every apple charger (and headphone cable) I've had since 2007 has broken or frayed at some point. This goes for Macbook, iOS device you name it. They're simply terrible. The only Apple cables I've not had to replace are the ones in static machines (iMac) and in my 2003 powerbook, of which has that 'ugly looking' anti fraying device shown on the black cable that someone posted above.

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"Lies?" That is harsh. I could tell you "You need to learn to take care of your stuff" but that would be equally harsh.

Add me to the "never had a problem" pile. None of my Apple cables have ever malfunctioned, frayed, or been damaged in any way, and that includes:

a PowerBook G4 charging cable
2 MacBook Pro charging cables
2 iPad charging blocks (and cables)
2 iPhone charging blocks (and cables)
3 iPod charging blocks (and cables)
2 extra iPod/iPhone charging cables
multiple no-name, cheapo, dollar-store 30-pin charging cables

OK, I lied.. a couple of those dollar store cables failed, and I threw them away. But no problems with anything else.

Let us agree that there is a huge range of use/abuse scenarios including ambient weather conditions that contribute to wear and tear (humid climates, extreme cold, etc.)

It is quite simple... Stop pulling the cable instead of the connector.

Dr McKay said:

iPod/iPhone cables have never been Apples strongpoint for durability.

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Dr McKay said:

iPod/iPhone cables have never been Apples strongpoint for durability.

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It's no different than high fashion shoes/sneakers versus industrial work boots. Apple sells stuff that tends to the former objective, as that's where lots of customers pay enough to produce big profit margins. iPads are not niche market ToughBooks/et.al.

Got 3 lightning cables at home for phones and iPad and one in the car. Never had a problem

seble said:

Lies. Every apple charger (and headphone cable) I've had since 2007 has broken or frayed at some point. This goes for Macbook, iOS device you name it. They're simply terrible. The only Apple cables I've not had to replace are the ones in static machines (iMac) and in my 2003 powerbook, of which has that 'ugly looking' anti fraying device shown on the black cable that someone posted above.

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I've never had this happen to me and I've been using Apple products since 2003. Still use a FW cable to sync my 3G iPod. But I'm also sick of lending my cables out to friends and family that broke theirs!

But I am crazy careful with my own stuff.

Corrosion on metal? No Way Man!!!! But seriously, I actually rubbed pro Gold conditioning treatment, which is used for high end audio/video cables, on all my lightning cables. It leaves a protective coating which is supposed to clean enhance and preserve performance. And I originally only did this to help with connectivity, clean it etc. As I do with all my cabling. Not sure about this corrosion thing, as I have apple connectors from the iPod early days, still like new.

notjustjay said:

"Lies?" That is harsh. I could tell you "You need to learn to take care of your stuff" but that would be equally harsh.

Add me to the "never had a problem" pile. None of my Apple cables have ever malfunctioned, frayed, or been damaged in any way, and that includes:

a PowerBook G4 charging cable
2 MacBook Pro charging cables
2 iPad charging blocks (and cables)
2 iPhone charging blocks (and cables)
3 iPod charging blocks (and cables)
2 extra iPod/iPhone charging cables
multiple no-name, cheapo, dollar-store 30-pin charging cables

OK, I lied.. a couple of those dollar store cables failed, and I threw them away. But no problems with anything else.

Let us agree that there is a huge range of use/abuse scenarios including ambient weather conditions that contribute to wear and tear (humid climates, extreme cold, etc.)

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My wife and I each have charging cables on our night stands. The only time we plug them in is when we go to bed and unplug them when we get up. Both of us have had to replace our original lighting cables because they stopped working. Was it fraying? Got me, but now my replacement only works when I plug it in one way. Flip it around and the device doesn't see it and won't charge.

bearbo said:

It's amazing how people don't take care of their products, and go blame the manufacture when they break their things. Out of the 20 some OEM Apple USB cables and power adapters that I used over the last 10 years, none of them shows sign of fraying. Some power adapters eventually failed, but not from frayed cable.

Not saying Apple's products and peripherals don't ever fail, but frayed cables are usually the users' fault.

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I have had the same experience as you. Zero issues with over 10 cables. I bought two amazon basic cables (4 inch) for my wife and in to use in our cars. Both stopped working after four months.

QuarterSwede said:

My wife and I each have charging cables on our night stands. The only time we plug them in is when we go to bed and unplug them when we get up. Both of us have had to replace our original lighting cables because they stopped working. Was it fraying? Got me, but now my replacement only works when I plug it in one way. Flip it around and the device doesn't see it and won't charge.

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I've only owned my Lightning cable for half a year or so, so I'll have to report back later if I start having similar issues.

My 30-pin stuff has all been fine, though.

There are some fantastic third-party Lightning cables that are certified by Apple, one of them is an AmazonBasics brand cable:

http://www.amazon.com/AmazonBasics-...973486&sr=8-4&keywords=AmazonBasics+Lightning

These cables are officially licensed by Apple, and work very, very well. However, I am sure that Apple will correct any problems that exists with their own cables, so that this problem will not last long in any case. And, as has been reported, you can have your Apple Lightning cable replaced for free!

God I hate it when people use these threads as evidence of rates of failure.

The only true way is by percentage studies and comparisons with other brands - thats not to say I'm saying it doesn't or does happen and it can't be met by consensus, but people who post 'well it happened/didn't to my 10 cables over the last 10 years' and use that as proof...eesh.

danielsutton said:

There are some fantastic third-party Lightning cables that are certified by Apple, one of them is an AmazonBasics brand cable:

http://www.amazon.com/AmazonBasics-...973486&sr=8-4&keywords=AmazonBasics+Lightning

These cables are officially licensed by Apple, and work very, very well. However, I am sure that Apple will correct any problems that exists with their own cables, so that this problem will not last long in any case. And, as has been reported, you can have your Apple Lightning cable replaced for free!

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If its a licensed cable, then the connector on the end is still made by apple.

bearbo said:

It's amazing how people don't take care of their products, and go blame the manufacture when they break their things. Out of the 20 some OEM Apple USB cables and power adapters that I used over the last 10 years, none of them shows sign of fraying. Some power adapters eventually failed, but not from frayed cable.

Not saying Apple's products and peripherals don't ever fail, but frayed cables are usually the users' fault.

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It's amazing how some people immediately jump to Apple's aid and blame the user for everything when an Apple device fails or has a design oversight.

PBUser167 said:

It is quite simple... Stop pulling the cable instead of the connector.

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All of my Apple cables did it after about a year or so. I don't pull them out by the cable, that wouldn't be the result of the fraying anyway. Its when you coil cables up, move them around etc and the end of the cable bends, from every day usage and storage. It happens, none of my other cables that have that plastic sleeve on them have done it. I've had generic Micro-USB cables for years that have undergone the same treatment and they're fine.

pmz said:

Yeah when they replace them for free it certainly seems that way.
/sarcasm

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that's a very green policy they have there. "bad design failed? lets give them more that will fail in the same way"

arian19 said:

use a toothbrush to scrub that corrosion off, and you are back in business.

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Never had to do this with a micro USB cable. Heck, you can buy micro USB at the dollar store.

funny. everyone talks on here about "we're not using the cable right" and other various insane claims that try to absolve apple of responsibility.

i have an original ipod usb cable, with the anti-fraying bit on the cable. it's at least six years old. it still works perfectly fine and has no fraying



the usb cable that came with my four-month-old 5S is already fraying.

Davmeister said:

God I hate it when people use these threads as evidence of rates of failure.

The only true way is by percentage studies and comparisons with other brands - thats not to say I'm saying it doesn't or does happen and it can't be met by consensus, but people who post 'well it happened/didn't to my 10 cables over the last 10 years' and use that as proof...eesh.

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Well it's pretty sad that a $10 lighting cable is more durable and longer than the crap Apple is peddling for double the amount.

christarp said:

am I the only one that has never had any problem with their apple cables?

Even my original 30 pin on my ipod video (2005) still works perfectly (even the buttons you need to press to release it from the device!) and has no fraying at all. Every 30 pin I have and every lightning cable I have is still in near perfect condition.

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I'm with you.

Some people seem to be unfurtunate, and other people seem to be smarter when using apple gear. I'm over here sitting with the smarter crowd.

christarp said:

am I the only one that has never had any problem with their apple cables?

Even my original 30 pin on my ipod video (2005) still works perfectly (even the buttons you need to press to release it from the device!) and has no fraying at all. Every 30 pin I have and every lightning cable I have is still in near perfect condition.

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Nope, you're not the only one. I've never had a problem with Apple's cables.

My wife, on the other hand, does *something* to hers, and ends up with that classic split outer shielding issue on all of hers.

I couldn't tell you what the differences are, but it distinctly points to a user-induced-wear issue when two people in the same house have such distinctly differing 'luck' with the same type of cable. But to be clear, even with the split *outer* shielding, my wife hasn't yet actually killed a Apple cable yet. (I did throw one out, but that was because our kitten, who was teething at the time, had decided to chew the living crap out of it.)

Off brand cables (you know, the generic, $6 at a convenience store counter types, bought because we forgot to pack a cable on a trip) don't tend to last us more than a couple weeks with no *external* wear visible. Sticking with name brand, even if that name isn't Apple (Belkin, etc.), has done well for us.

This corrosion issue? Dunno. Unless some of the connectors aren't up to spec from a metal-purity stand-point, this is pretty danged unusual.

PBUser167 said:

It is quite simple... Stop pulling the cable instead of the connector.

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But.. its so much easier to pull the cord! Just loop you're fingers around the cord near the plug and pull strait out.....

I do this for all ear buds to because it makes the end of the cord more bendy so it fits better when I put my Iphone in my pocket with the plug sticking down (I need too do this so that the screen stays rightside up like the old models use to).

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Davmeister said:

God I hate it when people use these threads as evidence of rates of failure.

The only true way is by percentage studies and comparisons with other brands - thats not to say I'm saying it doesn't or does happen and it can't be met by consensus, but people who post 'well it happened/didn't to my 10 cables over the last 10 years' and use that as proof...eesh.

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Nah, case studies man. No need to think that complexly about it, the answer is obvious.

All of our individual anecdotes are obvious proof that Apple dropped the ball and that they are covering it up by hiring people to say that their cables lasted 10 years.

Same thing has happened to my cable that came with my iPhone 5. A few of the pins on both sides are showing corrosion. It almost appears like the pins gold coating is scraping off. I assume it's a gold coating anyway.

My cable still works at the moment but I don't think these cables will last more than two years of normal use.

Never had an Apple data cable go bad but the insulation on every white MBPro Magsafe power cable I've owned has eroded and failed - the insulation starts to crack (not at the ends - about a foot away from the Magsafe) and green corrosion begins to ooze out. I've had 3 Magsafe MBPros so far and Apple replaces the first AC adapter that fails this way under AppleCare but all subsequent failures for that laptop have to be replaced on my own dime.
It's obviously something I'm either doing or my body chemistry because my wife & I replace our MBPros at the same time and her MagSaf cables last the life of her book.

Had this happen to my cable that I keep in the car. Apple replaced it for me without an appointment at the genius bar. Its starting again on the replacement one, still working for now though.

notjustjay said:

"Lies?" That is harsh. I could tell you "You need to learn to take care of your stuff" but that would be equally harsh.

Add me to the "never had a problem" pile. None of my Apple cables have ever malfunctioned, frayed, or been damaged in any way, and that includes:

a PowerBook G4 charging cable
2 MacBook Pro charging cables
2 iPad charging blocks (and cables)
2 iPhone charging blocks (and cables)
3 iPod charging blocks (and cables)
2 extra iPod/iPhone charging cables
multiple no-name, cheapo, dollar-store 30-pin charging cables

OK, I lied.. a couple of those dollar store cables failed, and I threw them away. But no problems with anything else.

Let us agree that there is a huge range of use/abuse scenarios including ambient weather conditions that contribute to wear and tear (humid climates, extreme cold, etc.)

Click to expand...

I totally agree with you, and am in the same boat. Have NEVER had a problem with ANY of my cables, going back to 2003. I STILL have all of them, working find. On the other hand, I do handle them with care. I'll say, SOME people are just plain ole' sloppy.

OC40 said:

I have had the same experience as you. Zero issues with over 10 cables. I bought two amazon basic cables (4 inch) for my wife and in to use in our cars. Both stopped working after four months.

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Same thing here. I first purchased 6 Amazon cheap lightning cables. Within 4 months all were dead. I purchased 10 Apple Lightning cables and have have zero failures since then. Same experience with the old sync cables. I have a wall of 6 Lightning cables for iPhones and iPads that get charged every night, plugged in and out, zero failures. Never have had a frayed power cable either. My old boss would complain that his Mac's charging cable would break every 6 months; always yanking by the cable, well duh.

Lightning cable has been a sweet invention, small, and convenient and being able to be plugged in, in the dark, without looking, is awesome.

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jimmueller said:

It's obviously something I'm either doing or my body chemistry because my wife & I replace our MBPros at the same time and her MagSaf cables last the life of her book.

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What are you doing to that poor thing? That's horrible. Look like you're running it under something that is rubbing on it. Something isn't right there.