The first MFi USB-C to Lightning cable is up for pre-order, $3 cheaper than Apple's
Accessory producer Anker has opened preorders for its first USB-C to Lightning cables, giving iOS device owners a slightly cheaper alternative to Apple's own cable that can be used to charge iPhones and iPads.
Anker's PowerLine II USB-C Cable with Lightning Connector
Revealed at CES in January, the PowerLine II USB-C Cable with Lightning Connector is Anker's first attempt at producing a Lightning cable that connects via USB-C. Preorders for the cable are now open, with Anker expecting to start shipping it to customers later in February.
Measuring three feet in length, the cable is claimed to have a 12,000 bend lifespan, which should allow it to keep up with the rigors of everyday cable usage. According to Anker's internal testing, it is 12 times more durable than other cables, though it is unclear what that metric equates to in average usage. The company is confident enough to also offer a lifetime warranty on the cable.
It is one of the first cables to be offered under Apple's MFi licensing, meaning it is officially sanctioned for use with Apple products by the iPhone producer itself. Apple has been relatively slow in opening up this product category to third-party vendors, but it is likely that more options will be available in the coming months as other firms offer up their versions.
By connecting using USB-C instead of normal USB, the cable allows for owners of more recent iPhones to use its the protocol's Power Delivery support, enabling fast charging when used with a higher-wattage power adapter. It also enables for iPhones and iPads to be charged directly from a MacBook, without requiring any extra dongles.
Anker is pricing the cable at $15.99, undercutting Apple's own version by about $3. While it has been shown in other color options, it is at first only available in white.
Anker's PowerLine II USB-C Cable with Lightning Connector
Revealed at CES in January, the PowerLine II USB-C Cable with Lightning Connector is Anker's first attempt at producing a Lightning cable that connects via USB-C. Preorders for the cable are now open, with Anker expecting to start shipping it to customers later in February.
Measuring three feet in length, the cable is claimed to have a 12,000 bend lifespan, which should allow it to keep up with the rigors of everyday cable usage. According to Anker's internal testing, it is 12 times more durable than other cables, though it is unclear what that metric equates to in average usage. The company is confident enough to also offer a lifetime warranty on the cable.
It is one of the first cables to be offered under Apple's MFi licensing, meaning it is officially sanctioned for use with Apple products by the iPhone producer itself. Apple has been relatively slow in opening up this product category to third-party vendors, but it is likely that more options will be available in the coming months as other firms offer up their versions.
By connecting using USB-C instead of normal USB, the cable allows for owners of more recent iPhones to use its the protocol's Power Delivery support, enabling fast charging when used with a higher-wattage power adapter. It also enables for iPhones and iPads to be charged directly from a MacBook, without requiring any extra dongles.
Anker is pricing the cable at $15.99, undercutting Apple's own version by about $3. While it has been shown in other color options, it is at first only available in white.
Comments
I’d be surprised to see statistics that indicate most people are using their ports for iPhone backups and data transfer. The desire for that seems primarily a concern of people on these Apple tech forums. Anecdotally speaking, most people I know backup via iCloud, or not at all.
The advantage of having a ‘universal cable’ that will charge everything is not that you only have to bring one cable with, rather that if you forget one cable, you can use one of the others, or if you forget yours totally, there’s more likely to be someone else with one you can borrow.
Given that the majority of people use their cables only for charging, not data transfer, it would be nice to have cheaper, charging-only cables available.
In reality, though - your concern is exactly what we have with USB C. Not all cables (or USB C ports) are capable of all functions, so when you see a USB C connection you have no idea what you have, other than a USB C plug. It's part of what makes USB C a mess.
Then there's the issue of Apple's USB-C cables costing so much more than USB-A equivalents until recently. When I bought the absolute top-of-the-line laptop from Apple, even with the understanding that it meant replacing a bunch of cables, it was annoying in the extreme to discover that Apple's price for a USB-C-to-Lightning cable was half-again what it cost for a USB-A version. The difference has shrunk over time, but even now, two years later, the 2m USB-C cable still costs more than the USB-A version, and the A version was already more than double what it costs from other vendors. Given the insanely high margins in that product category -- in the hundreds of percent -- and the fact that for a long time Apple wouldn't even let anyone else make USB-C Lightning cables, yeah, that seemed like gouging.
NOW they do. For the better part of two years the C versions cost half-again what the A version did. Even now, the longer USB-C to Lightning still costs more than the USB-A version.
That's little comfort to those who already use Apple's latest computers and aren't able to wait for cable prices to fall.