Knockoff lightning power cords

[StarShot]

Ongoing iPhone problems for me…

My IP6 “broke” around the 1st of Sept (wouldn’t charge). Without going into any detail, Apple gave me a reconditioned one which I sold about a week later while waiting for my new IP6 S.

I then “inherited” my wife’s old IP5 S. Within a couple of days, it did the same thing (wouldn’t charge). This time the Apple Genius told me he thought the problem had something to do with the charger port and couldn’t be fixed. I then paid $269 for a replacement since it was a year out of warrantee.

On this past week, my NEW IP6 S did the same thing (wouldn’t charge). This time the Apple Genius said they wanted to keep my phone for a few days before making a decision to fix or replace it. In the meantime, they gave me a loaner. Today they gave me what they said was a brand new 6S in a white box. However, they couldn't tell me what the problem was with my bricked IP6 S.

All 3 showed a similar malfunction. When I had the problem with the 2nd one, the Apple Genius said it was the charging port. Going back to my original IP3, I’ve used knockoff charger cords from China without ever having a problem. However, sometimes, plugging them in, I occasionally get an immediate message on the screen that said something like “this device is not compatible with this phone”. Hitting the home button made this message disappear and the knockoff cords then charged the phones.

I’m semi wondering if I’m part of the problem with the above 3 phones. Remember, all this happened since Sept 1st. If I have to live with dumping my knockoff charger cords, so be it. The problem is they look exactly the same to me as Apple's $20.

The Apple Genius (above on 2nd phone) told me the charger port is sensitive to the male end of the lightning charger cord if not plugged in straight or removed by pulling straight down. Once again, I’ve been using these knockoff cords for several years now without any problem on the 3G, 3G S, IP4, IP4 S, IP5, IP5 S and the IP6 and now on the IP6 S.

I would be interested in ANY info in regards to using knockoff charging cords and especially thoughts about knockoff lightning cords.

 

[lamborghini392]

Usually the wall plug is at fault in these instances, but the cable can certainly damage the phone if it's shorting somewhere. First off, there's a difference between third party cables and knockoff ones. You don't necessarily need to spend extra on official apple ones to be high quality. Have had plenty of official Verizon, Anker, and Belkin lightning cables, never any problems (besides them wearing out of course). I bought an unbranded (knockoff) cable for $2 on vacation once and it refused to charge my phone. I would start by trying it with an official Apple one, possibly a different wall plug too. If that works no problem, you can probably use other reputable third party cables in the future.

 

[maxsix]

My charging ports have held up fine. But I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the way Apple rips us off, like highway robbery, by including a cheap, thin, sub-par cable with a new premium high priced iPhone.

Once it begins to fail, they rip us off again for another inferior, but "pretty white" cable.....ARGH!

Finally a new cable has arrived. Called a MOS Spring Lightning Cable it's very strong, lifetime warranty and it looks great. I'll never buy another cable from Apple.

http://www.amazon.com/MOS-Spring-Li...59&sr=1-3&keywords=mos+spring+lightning+cable

 

[Foggydog]

Some time ago a thread similar to this came up. Supposedly, official Apple cords have a chip in them and this is how the phone knows its not compatable, As I am a trucker, at truck stops they all sell cheap charge cables. After buying a cheap one for 10.00, it only charged my phone for 2-3 days and then I got the same message. After that, the cable no longer would charge the phone. Just for clarification, I am using it in a 12V setup. not plugged into the wall. I am currently using the white Apple cord that I purchased after the first got frayed. In my computer bag, I also have a Belkin braided cord that is really nice, except it is a 4' cord.. kinda long inside the truck.

 

[Laserducky]

Ongoing iPhone problems for me…

My IP6 “broke” around the 1st of Sept (wouldn’t charge). Without going into any detail, Apple gave me a reconditioned one which I sold about a week later while waiting for my new IP6 S.

I then “inherited” my wife’s old IP5 S. Within a couple of days, it did the same thing (wouldn’t charge). This time the Apple Genius told me he thought the problem had something to do with the charger port and couldn’t be fixed. I then paid $269 for a replacement since it was a year out of warrantee.

On this past week, my NEW IP6 S did the same thing (wouldn’t charge). This time the Apple Genius said they wanted to keep my phone for a few days before making a decision to fix or replace it. In the meantime, they gave me a loaner. Today they gave me what they said was a brand new 6S in a white box. However, they couldn't tell me what the problem was with my bricked IP6 S.

All 3 showed a similar malfunction. When I had the problem with the 2nd one, the Apple Genius said it was the charging port. Going back to my original IP3, I’ve used knockoff charger cords from China without ever having a problem. However, sometimes, plugging them in, I occasionally get an immediate message on the screen that said something like “this device is not compatible with this phone”. Hitting the home button made this message disappear and the knockoff cords then charged the phones.

I’m semi wondering if I’m part of the problem with the above 3 phones. Remember, all this happened since Sept 1st. If I have to live with dumping my knockoff charger cords, so be it. The problem is they look exactly the same to me as Apple's $20.

The Apple Genius (above on 2nd phone) told me the charger port is sensitive to the male end of the lightning charger cord if not plugged in straight or removed by pulling straight down. Once again, I’ve been using these knockoff cords for several years now without any problem on the 3G, 3G S, IP4, IP4 S, IP5, IP5 S and the IP6 and now on the IP6 S.

I would be interested in ANY info in regards to using knockoff charging cords and especially thoughts about knockoff lightning cords.

I used a knockoff charger for my iphone 5 once. It went bonkers (didn't receive any messages onscreen).

1.) Phone would take forever to full charge : 10+ hours even though it was quite fast before
2.) Lose charge like crazy : down to 10% in a couple of hours.
3.) Heat up abnormally during and after charging.

Better sense prevailed as I didn't want a $5 charger ruining my $800 phone and I got the Apple one. All the aforesaid mentioned problems disappeared.

Cheers !

 

[Foggydog]

I used a knockoff charger for my iphone 5 once. It went bonkers (didn't receive any messages onscreen).

1.) Phone would take forever to full charge : 10+ hours even though it was quite fast before
2.) Lose charge like crazy : down to 10% in a couple of hours.
3.) Heat up abnormally during and after charging.

Better sense prevailed as I didn't want a $5 charger ruining my $800 phone and I got the Apple one. All the aforesaid mentioned problems disappeared.

Cheers !

Agreed 100% If I lost my phone out here on the road, I would have no way to get it replaced or repaired quickly as I am a long haul trucker in a BIG TRUCK.

 

[nbourbaki]

http://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-accessories-iphone-ipad/

Just page down to the power cord section. I can vouch for the Anker cords, I have them in the 3ft and 6ft and haven't had a single one give me the error message that it's not compatible. I use them for both charging and for data transfer on both my iPhone and iPad and haven't had a single problem

 

[BigMcGuire]

I've had cheap chinese lightning cables restart my iPhones but never kill them. The last batch of chinese iphone cables I bought will only charge at barely 1amp hence why people say it takes FOREVER to charge (and won't charge an iPad with the iPad on). I second Anker cables. They're the only ones I use now for my primary cables (Amazon). Yeah, iPhone cables are expensive but for an expensive device, I wouldn't chance it.

You never mentioned what power brick you were using. As another poster here said, that could be a problem too. I only use Apple's chargers and Anker chargers with my cables (I use my chinese cables if I have to (6ft) and I'm not in a rush to charge).

 

[nbourbaki]

I mostly use the Anker 6-port, 4-port or 2-port. I also have the Anker 7-port USB 3.0 hub with BC 1.2 charging on every port. I used to use the Apple chargers and still have them as spares, but I have too many devices that need to be charged on the go and a single port taking up an outlet doesn't cut it for me.

 

[alFR]

I would be interested in ANY info in regards to using knockoff charging cords and especially thoughts about knockoff lightning cords.

Do any of them show pin changes similar to those shown here? I've seen speculation that whatever's causing this can damage the lightning port on the phone, which can in turn damage other cables which can in turn pass on the damage to other devices. Never seen a proper explanation of the cause though.

 

[StarShot]

...You never mentioned what power brick you were using. As another poster here said, that could be a problem too. I only use Apple's chargers and Anker chargers with my cables (I use my chinese cables if I have to (6ft) and I'm not in a rush to charge).

In home I usually use the iPad power brick, but I've also use the smaller Apple 5v brick. My IP6 S went haywire plugged into my car's USB port. On my road trip last week when the phone bricked, I was running it while connected to the USB port because I was using Waze and didn't want to run the battery down on my 2 hour drive. I also had the phone running with the power save set to NEVER. When I got to my destination, I forgot to switch the power save to 3 minutes ( what I usually run). I had NO errors shown when connect to these knockoff cables on the way down.

Just as I was about to start back home (another 2 hour drive ), I noticed the battery was down to 1%. I immediately connected up to the same power cord, but this time I got the "this device is not supported" or whatever the message says. The phone then went dark and would not charge again. It did show the graphic that shows an end of a lightning cable pointed toward a dead battery. Finally that graphic disappeared, never to appear again.

This phone was my brand new iP6 S. Today Apple gave me another IP6 S to replace the bricked one. I still find it hard to believe this would happen 3 times to me with 3 different phones in 60 days.

 

[IphoneIssues]

Ongoing iPhone problems for me…

My IP6 “broke” around the 1st of Sept (wouldn’t charge). Without going into any detail, Apple gave me a reconditioned one which I sold about a week later while waiting for my new IP6 S.

I then “inherited” my wife’s old IP5 S. Within a couple of days, it did the same thing (wouldn’t charge). This time the Apple Genius told me he thought the problem had something to do with the charger port and couldn’t be fixed. I then paid $269 for a replacement since it was a year out of warrantee.

On this past week, my NEW IP6 S did the same thing (wouldn’t charge). This time the Apple Genius said they wanted to keep my phone for a few days before making a decision to fix or replace it. In the meantime, they gave me a loaner. Today they gave me what they said was a brand new 6S in a white box. However, they couldn't tell me what the problem was with my bricked IP6 S.

All 3 showed a similar malfunction. When I had the problem with the 2nd one, the Apple Genius said it was the charging port. Going back to my original IP3, I’ve used knockoff charger cords from China without ever having a problem. However, sometimes, plugging them in, I occasionally get an immediate message on the screen that said something like “this device is not compatible with this phone”. Hitting the home button made this message disappear and the knockoff cords then charged the phones.

I’m semi wondering if I’m part of the problem with the above 3 phones. Remember, all this happened since Sept 1st. If I have to live with dumping my knockoff charger cords, so be it. The problem is they look exactly the same to me as Apple's $20.

The Apple Genius (above on 2nd phone) told me the charger port is sensitive to the male end of the lightning charger cord if not plugged in straight or removed by pulling straight down. Once again, I’ve been using these knockoff cords for several years now without any problem on the 3G, 3G S, IP4, IP4 S, IP5, IP5 S and the IP6 and now on the IP6 S.

I would be interested in ANY info in regards to using knockoff charging cords and especially thoughts about knockoff lightning cords.

I have a few Apple-certified cables from Amazon. Got them in varying lengths, and they work beautifully. Seems that's the way to go. Not as tricky as when I had the Note 3, and I ordered some "official" cables that turned out to have Samsung stamped on them, but weren't really USB 3.0

 

[cynics]

In home I usually use the iPad power brick, but I've also use the smaller Apple 5v brick. My IP6 S went haywire plugged into my car's USB port. On my road trip last week when the phone bricked, I was running it while connected to the USB port because I was using Waze and didn't want to run the battery down on my 2 hour drive. I also had the phone running with the power save set to NEVER. When I got to my destination, I forgot to switch the power save to 3 minutes ( what I usually run). I had NO errors shown when connect to these knockoff cables on the way down.

Just as I was about to start back home (another 2 hour drive ), I noticed the battery was down to 1%. I immediately connected up to the same power cord, but this time I got the "this device is not supported" or whatever the message says. The phone then went dark and would not charge again. It did show the graphic that shows an end of a lightning cable pointed toward a dead battery. Finally that graphic disappeared, never to appear again.

This phone was my brand new iP6 S. Today Apple gave me another IP6 S to replace the bricked one. I still find it hard to believe this would happen 3 times to me with 3 different phones in 60 days.

Just to verify, the 6S died while plugged into your cars integrated USB port? If so, were the previous phones also plugged into the same USB? And exactly which cord were you using (Apple, 3rd party Apple certified, knockoff)?

 

[Chatter]

As others have said, there is a difference between knockoff and 3rd party. Get a MFI certified from Anker or Belkin if you want to save money. I just got 3 for $12 on an Amazon special and they work fine without the message popping up. Good luck.

 

[StarShot]

Just to verify, the 6S died while plugged into your cars integrated USB port? If so, were the previous phones also plugged into the same USB? And exactly which cord were you using (Apple, 3rd party Apple certified, knockoff)?

I don't think the car USB port had anything to do with the problem. For that matter, I don't know if the cable had anything to do with it either. The day the IP6 S failed to charge, I used the same cable on for over 2 hours while running Waze. When I got ready to drive back (because I forgot to turn Auto-Lock from Never back to my normal 3 Minutes), the battery was down to 1% when I plugged into the SAME cord I used earlier. This time it didn't charge and a couple of days later, Apple gave me a replacement.

On second thought, I was perhaps harsh on so-called knock off lightning cords. I was referring to the 3 for $5 on eBay from China.

On the first phone of 3 that apparently failed in the same manner, the Apple tech at the Genius Bar told me the pins inside the Lightning port can be damaged by roughly inserting or pulling a lightning connector at an angle rather than straight in and out. Whether that's true of not, up until 60 days ago I've never had a problem inserting/removing charger cords from any of my previous phones (3G, 3GS, IP4, IP4S, IP5, IP5 S, IP6 or IP6 S). Then all of a sudden, an IP5S, an IP6 and an IP6 S brick. All 3 were replaced by Apple.

I'm getting VERY tired of going through the "restore" feature for these replacement phones.

 

[BigMcGuire]

I'd toss the cables to rule them out either way. Buy Anker ones or some other certified cable - use those and if you have any failures you know, at least, that it wasn't the cable.