New iPhone, iPad, or AirPods? Get Extra Apple-Certified Lightning Cables for Just $6

[MacRumors]

For those lucky enough to find a new iPhone, iPad, or AirPods under the tree today, now is the perfect time to outfit your home, car, work desk, bedside table, or elsewhere with extra Lightning charging cables.

Apple charges $19 for its 1-meter Lightning to USB charging cable, but you can save yourself $13 by purchasing an Apple-certified 0.9-meter Anker Lightning to USB charging cable for just $5.99 on Amazon.

The cable qualifies for free two-day shipping in the United States for Amazon Prime members. Without a Prime membership, free standard 6-8 days shipping in the U.S. is available on orders over $49 in total.

While counterfeit Apple cables and chargers on Amazon are common, and potentially dangerous, Anker claims its cable is certified by Apple under its MFi Program. MFi-certified products have been certified by the developer to meet Apple performance standards. The Wirecutter, owned by The New York Times, said Anker has the best Lightning cable.

This article is not affiliated with Anker, but MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Amazon and may get paid if you click one of the above links and make a purchase. Thank you to our readers for their continued support this year.

Article Link: New iPhone, iPad, or AirPods? Get Extra Apple-Certified Lightning Cables for Just $6

 

[chr1s60]

You can find lightning cables for cheaper than Apple charges pretty much any day. And didn't Macrumors recently posted an article saying something like 90% of non Apple chargers fail or don't work properly?

 

[WarHeadz]

Anker is a great brand. We use a lot of their products at the repair shop I work at, including their charging cables.

 

[polee]

Anker is a good brand, reliable.

 

[Caliber26]

Yes!! I'm so happy to see Anker getting a shoutout on here. I personally own serval of these cables and the quality is, hands down, superior to Apple's own cables. I've only had one cable corrode at the Lightning pin but Anker was quick to send me a replacement cable since my 18-month warranty was still valid (they did ask for a picture as well as my original Amazon order number).

 

[44267547]

More importantly, Anker customer service stands behind their product if there was an issue and will replace without question.

 

[pommie82]

Anker are great cables won't use nothing else and a good price too not to expensive

 

[576316]

Anker's a great brand for stuff! But is it really necessary to get Apple-certified cables? I can understand making sure you have genuine power adapters but cables don't seem necessary, you're just over paying. I got a very hand, very short lightning to USB cable from Tiger for £3.

Edit: I'm getting a few responses to this. I will just add that I bought the £3 cable as an emergency as I had no battery but knew I'd be at a computer all day and so just needed a Lightning to USB cable. The rest of my cables are genuine.

 

[andigital]

Great cables and amazing battery cases at a decent price. Hands down to their customer service as they sent me a Christmas present just for being their customer!

 

[anthorumor]

If only Anker products shipped to AU (and other countries).

 

[votdfak]

If only Anker products shipped to AU (and other countries).

They have eBay store... They ship around the world...

 

[apolloa]

Happy Christmas everyone

And buy the Amazon Basic cables, they are great and cheap and well made. Just make sure you get ones sold by Amazon and not a third party, should help rule out the copycats then.
Likewise with the Anker cables, make sure they are sold by Amazon and not third parties.

 

[Marx55]

"Apple charges $19 for its 1-meter Lightning to USB charging cable, but you can save yourself $13 by purchasing an Apple-certified 0.9-meter Anker Lightning to USB charging cable for just $5.99 on Amazon. "

Then, why are Apple cables so expensive (3,17 times more expensive)? Same for SSD, RAM, etc.

 

[freepomme]

Most people don't even have Airpods yet because like I told you, Apple was late, we won't have them until 2017.

 

[ryanwarsaw]

Not sure why you would need these because you found a new iDevice under the tree? They all come with the charging cable in the box. About the only thing you might want if you got Airpods as a gift is a charging plug for the wall.

 

[Fiestaman]

Anker's a great brand for stuff! But is it really necessary to get Apple-certified cables? I can understand making sure you have genuine power adapters but cables don't seem necessary, you're just over paying. I got a very hand, very short lightning to USB cable from Tiger for £3.

Yes. Most definitely. You must not have many Apple devices or are new to them. If they aren't certified, then yes you can charge with them, but at an insanely reduced speed. You'll get the error saying they aren't certified and charging gets reduced to a paltry speed to protect the device. There's a chip in the MFi cables that does data/power management and makes sure nothing is out of wack. Some say it's simply so Apple can make more money, which they do, but with situations like Samsung's Galaxy Note 7, maybe tighter restrictions aren't so bad. I guess the question is, with all the horror stories about fake chargers exploding and cables fraying and causing fires, why would you risk your $800 device just to save a couple bucks?


Anker's USB battery packs are phenomenal, too. I have several and they are well worth the money. Anker is definitely a brand I support and trust.

 

[uknowimright]

You can find lightning cables for cheaper than Apple charges pretty much any day. And didn't Macrumors recently posted an article saying something like 90% of non Apple chargers fail or don't work properly?

you didn't read the whole post, did you?

 

[darknyt]

Had these, not bad but still fail. Anker's power line is better.

http://m.thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-lightning-cable/

Better still I have some power line plus and they are built solid. No issues yet and that's a first for me.

 

[surfer3907]

You can find lightning cables for cheaper than Apple charges pretty much any day. And didn't Macrumors recently posted an article saying something like 90% of non Apple chargers fail or don't work properly?

You mean non-Apple certified cables, not non-Apple chargers.

 

[Fiestaman]

Had these, not bad but still fail. Anker's power line is better.

http://m.thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-lightning-cable/

Better still I have some power line plus and they are built solid. No issues yet and that's a first for me.

Seconded. These cables are phenomenal. I'll admit that I'm rough as can be on cables and chargers and these have withstood anything I can throw at them.

 

[itsamacthing]

Anker is a great brand, I have a lot of their cables, batteries... all A+ quality

 

[Morod]

Thanks for the heads-up, MR! Just bought an Anker Lightning to USB cable for my older iPad mini3. Sold by Amazon, $5.99 and free shipping.
Merry Christmas everyone!

 

[Yod4]

I've had 2 2m Anker Lightning cables fail on me (one I bought and a free replacement).

 

[Theophany]

Anker is a great brand. We use a lot of their products at the repair shop I work at, including their charging cables.

This. Anker's gear has always been top notch in my experience. Can't recommend them highly enough.

 

[GalaDaliGirl]

Sometimes get paid? Lol