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Two lightning cables for $13 w/ free shipping

T

theman510

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
May 13, 2009
642
140
New Jersey
Saw this on Amazon and figured it was worth a shot. Says in the description it's guaranteed to charge and sync.

They're 3 ft long (I believe the official Apple ones are 3.5').

Just in case anybody's interested

http://www.amazon.com/2pk-Pin-light...354208814&sr=8-2&keywords=Butterfly+lightning

Edit: Sorry about that. Copied and pasted the link from my shopping cart rather than the product page. This one should work

Edit for review and pictures:

I got both cables yesterday wrapped in individual sealed bags. Right off the bat you can tell the charging end (opposite the USB) is larger than the standard Apple one. There is no problem with it fitting and even though it looks larger with the naked eye this is probably just my eyes playing tricks on me as it has no problem fitting snugly into the phone exactly like the Apple one. It isn't too tight and it isn't too loose either. It is exactly 3 feet 4.5 inches long while the official Apple one is 3 feet and maybe 4.7 inches long. So it's slightly shorter than the Apple one.

I have it charging my phone right now and it has been for about 20 minutes. The phone isn't getting hot and this works for both wall charging as well as USB straight to a computer. Unfortunately, I'm at work now and my work computer doesn't have iTunes so I can't comment on syncing with it yet but I don't see why it wouldn't work. Windows recognizes the phone being plugged in so I assume iTunes would too.

Here are some pics to show the end that goes into the phone. I'm taking the pictures w/ my Iphone 5 so right now I don't have any way to show how the plug fits into the phone itself. I'll try to get one of those up later on tonight or tomorrow. If you guys have any questions just ask. In the first picture the "copy" cable is on top and in the second one the "copy" cable is on the left.

30jn4aa.jpg


1fwxvt.jpg
 
Last edited by a moderator:
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Orded 2. I am going to make my own dock for $7. Got to put on my thinking cap. It can't be that hard ;)
 
Damn, I bought 2 generic ones for about $9 shipped from Zagers. I would trust Butterfly Photo to be of higher quality. Maybe I will order these too.
 
theman510 said:
Saw this on Amazon and figured it was worth a shot. Says in the description it's guaranteed to charge and sync.

They're 3 ft long (I believe the official Apple ones are 3.5').

Just in case anybody's interested

http://www.amazon.com/2pk-Pin-light...354208814&sr=8-2&keywords=Butterfly+lightning

Edit: Sorry about that. Copied and pasted the link from my shopping cart rather than the product page. This one should work
Click to expand...

Thanks for the tip. Let us know how they work once you get them. I was looking at the Boxwave lightning connector but reviews say that the fit is a bit tight.
 
As an Amazon Associate, MacRumors earns a commission from qualifying purchases made through links in this post.
I went with cheap ones on ebay. Paid 6$ each shipped for ones in the U.S. already w 3 year warranty, but that is a good deal as well
 
Last edited:
Waiting for the review, and specifically whether they will work with cases on (ie how thick is the hub around the plug itself)

Thanks!
 
I got mine as well. The big difference between Apple's cable and these is that the one made by Apple has a metal tip which is rounded and thus is blunt as opposed to these which has wrapped metal sides which is tucked (mostly) under a plastic tip. You can feel the edge of the metal sheet on the cheap cable. I am sure there will be a thread about how these cable scratch the iPhone around the Lightening port.

What do I think? I think you get what you pay for. The Apple's cable is beautifully made, and this one is pretty descent but not the same quality. At 1/3 the price, I decided to take a nail file and soften the edge up a bit and call it good enough.
 
Thanks for the review. The "hub" is definitely bigger. I wasn't worried about it fitting the phone, I was worried about it fitting around my Speck CandyShell case. Think I'll probably have to pass. May just have to buck up and pay $19 for the Apple one.
 
my fake cables fit with my speck candyshell...the hole on the case is perfect for them..I wouldnt worry about that
 
I bought these same cables earlier last week.

The Lightning-side is noticeably bigger as in the pictures above. This may cause problems with cases as the connector's white plastic casing is no more than 1-2mm away from the iPhone's body when connected.

The USB-side of the cable lacks the USB symbol which is used to signify the "top" of the cable for easy input into your computer/wall charger. This means while you get to plug in the Lightning connector however you want you still have to do extra guesswork to get the USB-side in correctly.

The cable is thicker but doesn't feel cheaper or any more or less prone to bending compared to the Apple one.

When I bought my 2 pack of cables, one failed to work entirely. I noticed the Lightning-side end: the white plastic 'substrate' on which the 16 pins are located wasn't very well polished. The messiness of the plastic seemed to break the connection inside the iPhone/iPad, preventing charging or syncing of any sort. However I've already contacted the company and within one day they confirmed that they will do a 1:1 exchange without any issues.


In short you get what you pay for. If you want only high quality stuff get the Apple-branded ones but if you just need a mass of throwaway cables (i.e. traveling/commuting a lot where the cable is constantly being squashed in your bag) then these will easily do the job. The only concern I have again is the Lightning-side of the cable because of the plastic base possibly getting in the way of the 16 pins.
 
jplusc said:
Thanks for the heads up. I bought these because of the guarantee.
Click to expand...

The guarantee? lol. You think this anonymous personal seller is going to give a **** if your phone is damaged because of the ****** cable? If anything, you get $13 back and you're left with a damaged iphone.
 
iamthekiller said:
The guarantee? lol. You think this anonymous personal seller is going to give a **** if your phone is damaged because of the ****** cable? If anything, you get $13 back and you're left with a damaged iphone.
Click to expand...

The guarantee of charging and sync'ing. Not any guarantee that it won't damage my phone. Get a life and go troll elsewhere.
 
Lol got one of these and it just stop charging my phone just now, the plug feels really hot though, maybe the bootleg chip in there is fried
 
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