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Third party lightning cables work for a day then stop on iphone 5s

M

Mrfatboy

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Dec 15, 2008
316
6
I bought a pack of 5 third party lightning cables from china about 6 months ago. They have always worked on my iphone 5 (6.1.2). Now that I got my iphone 5s and the wife has the old iphone 5 (both on 7.0.2) these cables are dying one by one.

When I first plug them in you get the "this cable is not supported" but the cables still charge and sync for a day or so. Now they they are dying one by one in the last 72 hours. You get the 'not supported" message but no charge.

I can't believe they are just going bad all at once and it's weird that they work for a day or so after 7.0.2. was installed.

Is apple reading some 'id' off of these cables and blocking them? something else? Do third party lightning cables even work any more with ios 7+?
 
Your post is rather unproductive. I am more curious as why they stopped working after a day after install ios 7+.
 
Gjwilly said:
Did they die after plugging them into the iPhone 5S?
I also bought some cables that worked fine on the iPhone 5 and the iPad 4 (no error message) but the minute I tried to use them on the 5S they died and wouldn't work again after that.
Even when I went back and tried them again on the iPhone 5 and the iPad 4.
https://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?p=18075161#post18075161
Click to expand...


I can't guarantee it but I believe that they are dying after plugging them into the 5S. However, they do work initially. Maybe they are getting burned out or something or Apple is killing them off! :eek: Dun Dom Dun!
 
I had an non MFi cable working just fine (no alerts of any kind) with my 5s a couple of days and then it stopped working completely yesterday. Worked just fine with my friends 5 for the previous couple of months before he let me have it.
 
I have the same exact issue. This is an IOS 7 security thing and I had it happen to two of my chinese cables while out of the country. I was not happy.
 
blueprint1983 said:
I have the same exact issue. This is an IOS 7 security thing and I had it happen to two of my chinese cables while out of the country. I was not happy.
Click to expand...

It might be for Security but iOS 7 isn't to blame because it doesn't effect the iPhone 5 or the iPad 4. Only the 5S.
 
Gjwilly said:
It might be for Security but iOS 7 isn't to blame because it doesn't effect the iPhone 5 or the iPad 4. Only the 5S.
Click to expand...

It DOES affect the iPhone 5 after upgrading to iOS 7.

There seems to be a way around it

Connect USB power
Plug in lightning cable to iPhone
Dismiss any warnings
Unlock your iPhone.
Dismiss any remaining warnings.
Now with the screen turned on.
Unplug the knock off lightning cable.
Plug it back in.
Dismiss warning again
It should now charge.
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:
zybersniper said:
It DOES affect the iPhone 5 after upgrading to iOS 7.

There seems to be a way around it
Click to expand...

That's a different issue.
On the 5, the cables stop working but are still at least being recognized, hence the warning message. And yes, there is sometimes a work around.
On the 5S, the cables are seemingly being destroyed or at least permanently disabled.
No charging, no error message, no nothing.
It's like the 5S is short circuiting the cable.

Two different scenarios.
At least that's what I've experienced.
 
Last edited:
both my girlfriend and I have been using amazon's lightning cables with our 5s' and they've been working fine with no issues. and both are used daily in our cars.
 
hxlover904 said:
both my girlfriend and I have been using amazon's lightning cables with our 5s' and they've been working fine with no issues. and both are used daily in our cars.
Click to expand...

Amazon has an agreement with Apple to have the chip or whatever needs to be in the lightning chargers. So Amazon basic cables will work and they are half the price of the apple ones! I got some of my 5s!
 
Dealextreme is now offering cables with the original Apple IC in them for just $3.5 shipped. I've tested them and it seems to be perfectly working with iPhone 5/5S on iOS 7. They even look exactly like the original ones but are a little shorter and lighter.
 
zybersniper said:
Dealextreme is now offering cables with the original Apple IC in them for just $3.5 shipped. I've tested them and it seems to be perfectly working with iPhone 5/5S on iOS 7. They even look exactly like the original ones but are a little shorter and lighter.
Click to expand...


Can you provide the link?
 
zybersniper said:
Dealextreme is now offering cables with the original Apple IC in them for just $3.5 shipped. I've tested them and it seems to be perfectly working with iPhone 5/5S on iOS 7. They even look exactly like the original ones but are a little shorter and lighter.
Click to expand...

I tried those cables and three of them worked perfectly with my iPhone 5 but died stone cold dead after using them on my wife's 5S.
And the fourth, while still working on my 5, did generate an iOS 7 warning.
Unless I just got a bad batch.
 
i noticed that the third party cables that work on my old iphone 5 (and don't on the iphone 5s) are slightly bigger on the lightning connector end. They are more difficult to insert and pull out. Did apple change the lighting port slightly? There is a noticeable difference between the two.
 
Mrfatboy said:
Can you provide the link?
Click to expand...

http://dx.com/p/lightning-8-pin-mal...charging-cable-for-iphone-5-white-95cm-177876

Note that there are many different lightning cables offered on the site and only this one is a complete match of the lightning plug on the genuine cables. None of the other ones on dx work perfectly in ios7.

----------
Gjwilly said:
I tried those cables and three of them worked perfectly with my iPhone 5 but died stone cold dead after using them on my wife's 5S.
And the fourth, while still working on my 5, did generate an iOS 7 warning.
Unless I just got a bad batch.
Click to expand...

Are you sure you got the ones with the original IC in them? I'm using it on my 5S with no problems at all.
 
My 5 on ios7 is killing the cheap lightning cables as well. 3 of them. I get nothing at all now when plugging them in so I ended up spending $20 on the official cable.
 
Man the reason why I'm annoyed.

A) I've bought the cheaper cables for half price, and used them with my 5 for ages. I got warnings, but they always worked.
B) my iPhone 5S has killed the cables. All of them. Not even a charge symbol nothing. It's stupid annoying as someone who won a ridiculous amount of iRubbish. (iMac, last week bought a MacBook Pro retina 15, iPhone (all of them) iPods Apple extreme, TV and airport) forget it. It's really annoying they cash grab on the cables.
C) I own a golf r (Volkswagen) and this car came with an iPod or iPhone charger with the old plug.
My iPhone has the new lightning plug (5S). With the official leather case I can't use the little official converter plug I bought, without un packaging my leather case off my iphone every time if jump in the car. It's not needed. It's annoying. So I had to buy a knock off cable that has the stump end converter to lightning but also a 10cm cable part that will fit in my iPhone like normal. Thus me not needing to take off the case every time. It's friggin annoying. So official is not always beat because I spent money on an official plug, and cable but this doesn't suit my needs. Not everyone who wants the apple experience should be governed by a charging cable. That's just ridiculous.
 
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