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Amazon and Monoprice Offering Certified, Low Cost Lightning-to-USB Cables

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MacRumors

macrumors bot
Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
63,543
30,851



monopricelightningcables.jpg
Both Monoprice and Amazon are now offering low cost Lightning cables, priced at $11.77 and $14.99, respectively, for a standard 3-foot cable.

That's a significant savings over Apple's official Lightning cables that are sold online and at retail stores for $19.99.

Monoprice is known for offering high quality generic cables at a deep discount. In addition to the standard 3ft cable, Monoprice is also selling a 6ft cable for $12.56 and a Slimfit cable for $12.73. The cables are all MFi certified Lightning to USB charge/sync cables, made to work with the iPad, iPhone, and iPod. The Slimfit cable from Monoprice is set to ship out in the beginning of March, with the other two cables following later in the month.

Amazon is only offering a 3ft MFi Certified cable at this time, but it is available to ship immediately.

While there are cheaper lightning cables available, the offerings from Amazon and Monoprice are MFi (Made for iPad/iPhone/iPod) Certified, which means they have been approved by Apple. Other low cost Lighting cable options are unofficial, which has introduced concerns about quality and compatibility.

Apple has been maintaining strict control over the Lightning connector and accessories that utilize the technology, insisting that Lightning-related accessories are manufactured in Apple-approved facilities. As a result, the introduction of lower-cost licensed Lightning cables has been slow.

Article Link: Amazon and Monoprice Offering Certified, Low Cost Lightning-to-USB Cables
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2013/02/12/amazon-and-monoprice-offering-certified-low-cost-lightning-to-usb-cables/
LimeiBook86

LimeiBook86

macrumors G3
May 4, 2002
8,001
45
Go Vegan
Awesome news! Of course I just purchased a knock-off adapter, but these will be of a much better quality. I love Monoprice's cables :) I'll just wait for the exact measurements of the Monoprice cable, hopefully it will work with the iPhone 5 case I got from them as well.
 
5

576316

macrumors 601
May 19, 2011
4,056
2,556
Isn't this something Apple would want to stop from happening? Don't they WANT people to pay £25 for an official cable?
 
D

dkersten

macrumors 6502a
Nov 5, 2010
589
2
Well its about time. Just goes to show the ridiculous profit margins Apple still makes on the new cables
 
A

afawcett

macrumors regular
Feb 23, 2010
129
10
San Diego
I know people have been getting cheaper cables from various venders, but I've heard many complaints that these cables will charge but not sync. Hopefully these cables will have better quality control.
 
japanime

japanime

macrumors 68030
Feb 27, 2006
2,916
4,844
Japan
jca24 said:
Most likely not for long. The cheap chi-com crap will burn you!
Click to expand...

You really don't believe the most of the cheap knockoffs aren't coming out of the back door of the same factory that makes the officially branded stuff? In other words, the same exact cable, minus the logo?
 
M

mrhick01

macrumors 6502
Sep 22, 2008
487
316
The market speaks.

Two companies with a penchant for quality lower-priced products have produced some.

Good.
 
Solomani

Solomani

macrumors 601
Sep 25, 2012
4,785
10,477
Slapfish, North Carolina
The Monoprice "slimfit" Lightning cable.... me wants!!!

Finally, someone put some thought into producing a cable. In this case, it means the cable can be easily connected to the iOS device without having to remove it from a case.
 
nutmac

nutmac

macrumors 603
Mar 30, 2004
6,057
7,320
dkersten said:
Well its about time. Just goes to show the ridiculous profit margins Apple still makes on the new cables
Click to expand...

I can pickup Apple's official cable from any Apple Store at $17.50 with employee purchase plan (available to employees of many large companies). So for me personally, saving few bucks by choosing Monoprice ($14.57 with shipping) or Amazon ($14.99) isn't worth the trouble.

Even at full $19, we are talking about just $4 more per cable.
 
oneMadRssn

oneMadRssn

macrumors 603
Sep 8, 2011
5,978
13,990
japanime said:
You really don't believe the most of the cheap knockoffs aren't coming out of the back door of the same factory that makes the officially branded stuff? In other words, the same exact cable, minus the logo?
Click to expand...

Have you actually compared the dealextreme/dailysteals cables to the real ones? They aren't similar at all. If they really are coming out of the same factory but through a different door, then I would expect them to be at least of similar construction. They are quite different, and therefore I suspect the cheap ones are inferior enough for the risk to be not worthwhile, in my opinion.
 
Casiotone

Casiotone

macrumors 6502a
Oct 12, 2008
825
111
JarScott said:
Isn't this something Apple would want to stop from happening? Don't they WANT people to pay £25 for an official cable?
Click to expand...

I would guess that Apple knows that some people will look for and find cheap cables anyway, certified or not.

By certifying them for the most popular cheap brands, they still make money and can try to insure that they work properly so that they don't ruin the experience of iDevice users.
 
R

rmwebs

macrumors 68040
Apr 6, 2007
3,140
0
jca24 said:
Most likely not for long. The cheap chi-com crap will burn you!
Click to expand...

Been using my ~£2.00 one for 3 months now. I have one in the car and one in the kitchen for charging - both work fine. You'd have a hard time telling them appart from the 'official' ones.
 
M

mscann

macrumors member
Feb 10, 2011
94
2
Why is it so hard to make the connector head the same size as the apple ones? None of these cables work on closed bottom cases
 
C

cameronjpu

macrumors 65816
Aug 24, 2007
1,367
78
japanime said:
You really don't believe the most of the cheap knockoffs aren't coming out of the back door of the same factory that makes the officially branded stuff? In other words, the same exact cable, minus the logo?
Click to expand...

That'd be nice. I bought 10 when I thought I saw a set that was highly rated on Amazon. 6 weeks later 3 have failed. 7 to go! I bought so many with a plan to provide them to my clients with new iPhones (I do computer repair/setup, etc) but clearly I can't give these things to my clients even for free. I got a refund of $12 from the seller (total cost was $45). The generics are not the same as the originals. Unfortunately that's because Apple went to such great lengths to make them hard to copy.
 
J

joeshmo2010

macrumors 6502a
Jun 25, 2009
564
101
Seattle, WA
If the cables were like 9.99, then I'd say it's worth it, but for only a few bucks less, to me the regular cables seem just fine. But again, that's just me ;)
 
N

noiseordinance

macrumors regular
Sep 12, 2012
249
8
Damn, at first I read this as a thunderbolt to USB cable. I was gonna say, I can finally make use of these worthless thunderbolt ports on my rMBP at last!
 
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