Are Apple’s cables and adapters fragile?

[hajime]

Hi, I have OCD. I always take very good care of my stuffs but three Apple cables/adapters have failed with light use. USB-C to Hdmi AV adapter started to have loose connection issue between the short cable and the adapter after less than a year of light use. iPad Pro lighting to HDMI adapter started to have connection issue about 1.5 years of light use. iPhone lighting cable also gave connection issue.

Is Apple intentionally making them fragile so that we have to keep buying? Never had this kind of issues before the start of dongle hell era.

 

[nothingtoseehere]

From a very personal point of view, I wouldn‘t have gotten the idea that Apple cables are failing. The adapters in my too big box work rather well over the years. Especially Lightning is rock solid. I am not so sure about USB-C, not only in Apple devices. Some of my USB-C-connections look also very solid, other ones rather loose. I wonder how long the connectors on my LG Ultrafine 5K will last... Lightning gives this satisfying „click“ when the connection is established, comparable to physical clicks as in Ethernet connections, or, aeons ago, with parallel ports
With miniaturization, we do not longer have this centimeter-long process of shoving in as with USB-A... HDMI of course is comparable. You write about the cable rather than the connectors... well one Apple cable, I incidentally roll over it for years with my desk chair casters, and it still survives. Another one, with light use, suddenly split up.
To end my mulling over this topic: My experience with Apple cables does not differ to my experience with non-Apple cables. The vast majority works fine for a long time, a minority fails.

 

[hajime]

I mean the very short cable that attaches to those adapters. No video images? I need to bend the cable several times at different angles to get the images.

 

[MBAir2010]

 CABLES ARE GREAT!
i purchased an non-apple (not Anker) cheap 10 foot cable for my  iPad and the lighting part broke into the connection. i had to replace the port, which needed to be re-soldered. i purchased an  TV this year just for the extra cable and HBO and never use th eipad plugged in because a battery is cheaper to replace than a port! My 2010 late MacBook airs cables wen ton my power supply twice but lasted over 5 years each which saw a lot of twisting and turning but alway was illuminated. I have 2007 iPod with the same cables that are fine, even the nano and 2 GB shuffle dock works great today.

 

[ght56]

I think they are more fragile than some of the high quality aftermarket cables (that are much thicker) and less resistant to withstanding frequent bending, but I don't consider them to be particularly fragile. I do think they would likely replace your faulty ones, even if they are a few months out of warranty.