The concept of trying to impress people with a gold charging cable makes me feel sad for those that think they need this in their life.
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.
Anker Launches $100 24K Gold-Plated USB-C to Lightning Cable
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
That “guy” would be Angela Ahrendts.Maybe the guy that decided that an Gold Apple Watch would sell, now designed this.
Can you imagine the internal Anker meeting when this concept was first proposed? And all the subsequent ones including manufacturing? No me neither. Anyone with their name attached to this embarrassment ought to spend a month out here in the real world, community service or similar as a punishment. It deserves to put the company seriously out of pocket.
There is no pride and ego here, just laughter and puzzlement because many commenting already own Anker products and know them for quality at mostly cheap prices.
You know that this a forum filled with Apple product buyers. There are probably far more here who can afford to drop $100 on a product than not. This is not about being able to afford a $100 cable. It's about seeing the value in said $100 cable.
And you're right, this product isn't probably for most here. I'm not the target market here. What benefit is there to this $100 gold-plated cable over the many other cables that Anker sells for $20 or less? Will it match all of the other crass looking gold-plated electronics that the buyer had done custom-made? At least the Magnolia sales reps could try to offer (lie) that the gold plating on the HDMI connector will offer better conductivity - this thing has the same contacts and bend life as the <$20 cables.
For some strange, uncertain reason, I kinda want this (That sort of explains my passion for the ‘odd ends’ of tech). The presentation looks really nice in terms of the box/leather folio, but I guess I don’t really see the value in a lighting accessory for $100 either.
Instead they were smarter than you and told all the white guys to stop and understand the Chinese marketplace, particularly the millennial-old cultural significance of gold, red, and green in Asia, instead of naively assuming that Western traditions and taste apply to the entire world.
Easy. The 2021 iPhone has no ports. They’re trying to cash-in while they still can.
You buy them monthly? Why? Are they so unreliable or do you just lose them all the time?
Funny you should say that, because Anker is a brand that primarily targets the western market. The are a very small player in China.
It's meant to go along with this:
James Bond’s Car Comes to Life With Oil-Slick Sprayer, but No Ejector Seat (Published 2020)
Aston Martin is re-creating the Bond DB5, as seen in “Goldfinger,” with all the (responsible) spy gear it could stuff into it.www.nytimes.com
At least the Aston has style.
No this is the present.
Apple at least succeeded to get the watch onto the minds of fashion magazines and the like. I don’t think for a minute they were seriously pitching this to any other target group. Will this cable make it on the cover of Vogue or Elle or similar?
Gold plated exterior, but didn't make the actual contacts gold plated (where it would actually make a long-term difference)?
Maybe this was an April fool's that got posted late?
Maybe this was an April fool's that got posted late?
Hardly hate. People are likely voicing their dislike for something they perceive as very little value with a huge markup. Feedback is breakfast for champions, you know?
From what I've been able to tell, they don't make their stuff. They take the better Shenzen products and act as a conduit for Amazon. Somebody in China was already making it, or something similar they could easily modify.
24k Gold-Plated Fast Charge USB Cable For iPad iPhone (Buy 2 to get 15% off; Buy 4 to get 20% off)
Packaging Details Type: 8 Pin Features: Reversible Compatible Brand: Apple iPhones Product Type: USB Cable 8 Pin Mobile Phone Cable For iPhone Color: Gold Silver Rose Gold Grey Function 1: For iPhone USB Cable Data Line Wire Cord Function 2: For iPad Data Line USB Cable Wire Feature: Fast Charge...
seasbuyer.com
If Apple managed to sell 10,000 Gold Edition Apple watches, that is $100,000,000 net. Given Apple's normal 40% or more mark up, I think that the Gold Edition probably didn't lose a lot of money. The biggest problem was that it was kind of an embarrassment for an Apple product but as you note, it probably met its marketing goal for getting fashion notice.
And it's 6-inches long?
But this could be cool. (Although I had a box of 'gold plated clip Papermate pens'. They were some of the worst pens I've ever owned. *sigh* (OF COURSE I bought them because of the gold clip. Boy did I feel silly)
But this could be cool. (Although I had a box of 'gold plated clip Papermate pens'. They were some of the worst pens I've ever owned. *sigh* (OF COURSE I bought them because of the gold clip. Boy did I feel silly
)
First claim above was for the “Gulf” market, then somebody thought it would be mainly for Russians and now this. You folks need to get your stereotypes aligned!
Pennies?
EDIT: I worked at a company that assembled Ford steering console wiring assemblies. One included a small leaf of copper plated steel that a machine drove a small gold rivet into the end. The rivet was about the size of a sesame seed, and the company searched people that worked that machine before they left to make sure they didn't take any of them with them. We are talking something the size of a literal seed on hte top of a hamburger bun! It's value would be a fraction of a penny. Someone would have to take the entire box of tubes of small seeds to make it worth taking any of it. Such a scant fraction of a dollar. They had 'security' (he usually was sleeping somewhere) walk the pill bottle sized tube of those seeds from the safe to the hopper for the machine, and the operator had to sign for the delivery with the 'security' guy. The day I was 'released' for not fitting in, I had worked that machine during the afternoon. As I was taking my jeans off, I noticed something skittering across the floor. It was one of those precious rivets. OMG!!! I 'stole' a fraction of a pennies worth of REAL GOLD from that poopshow. Oooooo! I felt so naughty... I put it on my turn table, and days later, it was gone. I'm sure someone broke in and stole it! It was 'valuable'. The condescension the company radiated onto the employees was pretty epic. Looking back on that, the use of gold was probably to avoid arching in the primitive switch they designed. It was, on a whole, a waste of money. The switch unit failed with an alarming degree of frequency. 'Made in America' (This was the late 80's too) WAKE UP!
Last edited:
I’m not sure what you mean with the timing comment. The market for luxury products certainly has not gone away and these folks are probably trying to widen their audiences.
Roll’s Royce isn’t going to stop making expensive cars either.
It might if the pins were gold.
But it's just the outside of the connector that's covered in gold.
Call it an "appearance package"
Sorta like adding racing stripes to your car.