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You do realize not a word you spoke here makes any sense in regards to the article? A mistake from the factory assembly doesn't make the Apple cases poor quality. I do agree that 3rd party products tend to offer more for your money but what you stated doesn't represent the article.
Being defective (not meeting specification) is the definition of poor quality.
 
There used to be a QA step in the manufacturing process that went
“and though the holes are rather small, you have to count them all”

Unfortunately, this process step had to be removed following a copyright notice from Apple Records.
 
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Being defective (not meeting specification) is the definition of poor quality.
No, based on the previous post I quoted that person stated that Apple's accessories are ALL poor quality as he was using this news article as an example, and he couldn't be more wrong.
 
You do realize not a word you spoke here makes any sense in regards to the article? A mistake from the factory assembly doesn't make the Apple cases poor quality. I do agree that 3rd party products tend to offer more for your money but what you stated doesn't represent the article.

How come it doesn’t? This is an Apple-branded case, even if the “factory assembly” screwed up they are ultimately responsible for the product.
 
While looking at the second picture, the one with the blue case, the cutout for the lightning port looks very rough, much alike something you'd buy from AliExpress or MonoPrice. These might not even be genuine Apple cases purchased from Apple.
 
How come it doesn’t? This is an Apple-branded case, even if the “factory assembly” screwed up they are ultimately responsible for the product.
You didn't pay attention to a word I even stated. You stated that Apple's cases and cables accessory products in general have poor quality. Those were your own words. I'm saying that just because of a factory mistake doesn't mean all of Apple's accessory products have poor quality. That simply isn't true. I never said Apple wasn't responsible.
 
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As I have said before: Apple cases and cables are of poor quality, specially compared to third-party manufacturers that are half the price.

The most expensive cases I have owned I purchase from Apple and they have been the least durable.

And cables... well, they tend to self-destroy around a year. I still have third-party lighting cables from other manufacturers, I leave them in the car (heat/cold), travel with them, and still look perfect after years.



Right there, the leather cases are the least durable in their catalogue.

Yep. Can confirm.

My Otterbox-branded Lightning cable is so resilient that it actually managed to outright destroy the TouchID button on my old iPhone 5S and get partially mangled by the latter's aluminium frame (which it also bent out of shape, mind you) in a spectacular slow-motion fall (basically I slipped, cartoon-character-stepping-on-a-banana-peel-style, on one of those fatally wet and polished Lisbon sidewalks and crushed the whole ensemble with my hipbone against the cobblestones), and yet, incredibly, I've been using it non stop with my new iPhone 11 and it still works without issue.

The outer braided lining is completely frayed on that spot, and the intermediate plastic lining also has some gouges, but those didn't reach the cable shielding. Really impressive stuff. So much so, that I use the Otterbox cable both at home and on the go with a powerbank, and not even the repeated insertions at both ends seem to matter. It's seen so much use that the coating on their aluminium casings is already wearing off, but the connection is still rock solid. By comparison, except for the one which came with my iMac for charging its peripherals (which I treat like a baby and only use on my desk connected to an IKEA triple-USB-port charging hub), all my Apple-branded Lightning cables quickly self-destructed in one way or another.

Heck, even the plastic casing on my old 32-pin connector with manual-release clips, which came with my old 5G iPod (which, sadly, was stolen), managed to split in half at the seam. I glued it back on and the cable would work fine either way, but it now looks like complete crap… And the ones which came with the iPod Classic and the iPad 3/Retina, while more solid at the plug level as the caps are solid, don't have the old-school cable stress-relieving moulded piece and are already on the verge of fraying.

And, of course, the same goes for those pesky [MacBook] MagSafe cables. I had to replace some of those already and I know what a pain that procedure is, so I treat them as if they're made of paper and will always use my special wrapping technique (first I'll wrap the AC extension between the charger brick's ears, so that the DC cord will wrap around those and the AC cable in a circle instead of an oval/oblong shape, and will always leave a generous length of cable before I start wrapping it and make sure it's facing up inside of my bag). So far, they've been holding up nicely, but having to go through that every time I have to stow away my Mac after use, instead of thoughtlessly coil and throw into my bag a detachable and, thus, also easily replaceable USB-C cable, is an absolute chore.

Besides their C13 AC cords and those proprietary, earthed C7-based extension cords, which are built like tanks (or else…?), about the only decent cables from Apple I have at home are those permanently attached to my classic bathtub-style USB keyboards and one of those extension cables for connecting those to PowerMacs/Mac Pros. Those are thicc and durable, I'll give you that. Interestingly enough, those on the Mighty/Apple Mouse don't look any different from the 32-pin and Lightning ones, but seem to survive a bit better. I've used one of those almost daily from their launch in 2005 until 2009, when I got my first 27'' iMac, and occasionally since when my batteries run out or I have to use some random old Mac, and it's still going strong.
 
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As I have said before: Apple cases and cables are of poor quality, specially compared to third-party manufacturers that are half the price.

The most expensive cases I have owned I purchased from Apple and they have been the least durable.

And cables... well, they tend to self-destroy in around a year. I still have third-party lighting cables from other manufacturers, I leave them in the car (heat/cold), travel with them, and still look perfect after years.



Right there, the leather cases are the least durable in their catalogue.

I had a saddle brown leather on a 8 that only lasted 6 months before literally falling apart. I have a black leather on a XS that is still perfect after a year. I carried both phones simultaneously. Very mixed results.
 
"One customer was told by an Apple advisor that the case wasn't meant to have speaker holes"

I too have spend I guess a hundred hours or more on the phone with Apple service hotline on various issues (such as audio issues on my Mac or discolouration of the aluminium casing etc). In summary a total waste of time, not helpful at all. Some of the agents I spoke to seemed to be people coming from an unemployment program, albeit highly motivated and TRYING to be helpful, who were put in front of a computer with a help WIKI, and were told to look up information based on customers questions... something like that... not complaining, just saying that getting Apple Care just to be eligible for Apple service hotline is a waste of money.
 
I can't actually believe that people pay $50 to buy this case!! No wonder Apple is a Trillion Dollars company!
 
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