Why do cheapy aftermarket charge/sync cables stop working?

[takeshi74]

Not sure why would assume that only visible damage would cause a cable to fail. The wires in the cable have to be attached to the connectors at the ends of the cables and these are very common points of failure -- especially if the connectors do not have sufficient strain relief.

There are certainly reputable brands that build quality third party cables. Try Anker.

 

[1melissa3]

Lol, okay, obviously..

That's like telling somebody in a Kia "you get what you pay for" when their car won't start. But that doesn't explain why their car won't start.

I'm merely curious what could universally be going "wrong" with these cables to cause them to all stop working completely. Blaming it on being "cheap" doesn't really satisfy that curiosity. I'm mainly asking because I recently purchased two 6 ft. charge/sync cables on eBay that I loooooove and, alas, both recently stopped working.

I take my bases apart. Sometimes, like say with car chargers, it is a mere fuse.

 

[JokerABC]

What about that conspiracy that Apple engineers have figured out how to send different currents to aftermarket products and thus, slowly “wearing” them out.

The nylon cables on Amazon are good quality tho.

 

[Apple_Robert]

Because many are not Apple certified and are cheaply made.

 

[Neebee]

Buy only Apple certified cables and home chargers. ADATA and cables at Costco are relatively inexpensive. Finding a safe good car charger is the big challenge though.

 

[Easttime]

So as a summary of the useful posts, sounds like some reasons include:
- poorly mating connectors that could corrode or physically damage the device’s connectors.
- weakly constructed connections between the wires and the connectors leading to stress breaks or increased resistance.
- poor quality of the conducting wires, also leading to physical breaks or increased resistance.
- poor quality of or missing stress relief features at the cable ends.
- missing components like filters and processors, or poor quality components if they are present that degrade in time.
- weak covering and sheathing that fails to protect the wires from stress damage and interference.

Even the best cables wear out over time in heavy use (plugging, unplugging, bending). I just went through the bing-bong chime problem on my iPhone that went away when I replaced the 5 year old Apple charging cable with a new Apple cable.

Couple of interesting links:
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-choose-good-usb-data-charging-cable-your-mobile-phone-kevin-chen
https://www.macworld.com/article/32...-top-notch-cables-that-are-meant-to-last.html

 

[JokerABC]

https://www.macworld.co.uk/feature/apple/why-you-shouldnt-buy-cheap-iphone-cables-3661782/

 

[RNBjnbNLB]

I don't even know why this question even needs to be asked. It's common sense not to buy such cheap cables. You get what you pay for and they are cheap for a reason. They're not licensed and most likey reverse engineered and definitely going to be of poor quality.

Yes sir, we all understand cheap = lowER quality. That was never the concern nor question on the origial post. The question was WHY/HOW/WHAT is making these cheap cords & imo chargers as well, fade in charging speed overtime and eventually just stop all together. We know they are cheap and wont work for as long or as well as the oem but even oem stop working after a period of time. ...i mean thats what i took from the original post and have found a couple answeres above but no clear cut reason other than cheap materials... correct me if im wrong though JAMES92SE

 

[aakshey]

Delete

 

[Sylenceo]

Anybody notice this?

All of the eBay/cheapo charge/sync cables and car-chargers I've bought over the years (probably a dozen between all my iPhones over the years) have all stopped working within a few months of getting them.

Now, some of them where so thin that they broke on the ends and frayed and this is obviously why they stopped working (and frustratingly the same can be said for the stock cables, too). But even all the others with no obvious wear/fraying have done the same thing.

And it's always the same process each time - work fine for several weeks/months. Then they start to cut in and out randomly. Then they just one day don't work at all.

I just don't understand what would be going "wrong" with all of these sets that would make them all universally stop working.

You are so right... I'm from Arkansas and I've been thru 8 chargers in 2 months.. So sad
[doublepost=1527374329][/doublepost]I have kids that need them as well as me and the wifey