Third-party USB-C Lightning cables made official at CES by Griffin

AppleInsider · January 7, 2019 5:01PM

Griffin is also coming to market with a third-party USB-C to Lightning cable suitable for connecting Apple's newest hardware to the iPhone.

5-foot premium USB-C Lightning cables (left three) 4/6-foot USB-C Lightninig cables (right two)

At AppleInsider, we've been looking for an official USB-C to Lightning cable for quite a while and it seems that at CES 2019 our dreams have been answered. Griffin was one of the first to announce its new line of USB-C Lightning cables set to be released early in 2019.

The cables come in two variations, a premium 5-foot or a standard version in 4-foot and 6-foot sizes. The standard cables are available in black or white, while the premium come in silver, black, or gold.

Opting for the premium doesn't just get you the sweet spot 5-foot length, but a braided cable and aluminum over-mold.

Pricing for the new cables isn't out of line with what we currently see with Apple's own Lightning cables. The short standard cables will cost $19.99, the 6-foot standard will be $29.99, and the premium top out at $34.99. We should see these cables hitting the market between April and May, just behind when we expected to start seeing them.

To pair with the new cables, Griffin is also releasing an assortment of new chargers as well. There is an 18W USB-C wall charger, a dual-output 18W USB-C plus 12W USB-A wall charger, and an 18W USB-C PD car charger, each of which comes bundled with a USB-C Lightning cable.

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MplsP · January 7, 2019 5:50PM

I don’t quite get why releasing 3rd party lightning - usb c cables was an issue. 3rd party lightning-USB A cables have obviously been around forever, and USB C is just a different form factor for usb 3.

That said, they’re really of limited use. Peter Schiller’s hallucinations aside, the world runs on USB A. The only benefit is to be able to directly plug into a MacBook Pro, but since the first accessory most people buy is a usb C-A dongle, even that isn’t much of a benefit

cheesehead dave · January 7, 2019 6:28PM

MplsP said:

I don’t quite get why releasing 3rd party lightning - usb c cables was an issue. 3rd party lightning-USB A cables have obviously been around forever, and USB C is just a different form factor for usb 3.

That said, they’re really of limited use. Peter Schiller’s hallucinations aside, the world runs on USB A. The only benefit is to be able to directly plug into a MacBook Pro, but since the first accessory most people buy is a usb C-A dongle, even that isn’t much of a benefit

I suppose then you can use the USB-C wall charger that you're already carrying for charging the MacBook or Nintendo Switch or whatever else, and additionally use it for charging your phone without the need for another charger.

randominternetperson · January 7, 2019 6:42PM

MplsP said:

I don’t quite get why releasing 3rd party lightning - usb c cables was an issue. 3rd party lightning-USB A cables have obviously been around forever, and USB C is just a different form factor for usb 3.

That said, they’re really of limited use. Peter Schiller’s hallucinations aside, the world runs on USB A. The only benefit is to be able to directly plug into a MacBook Pro, but since the first accessory most people buy is a usb C-A dongle, even that isn’t much of a benefit

Huh. I'm looking at the Dell notebook that I was assigned at work as a replacement for my desktop PC (as were the hundreds of other employees at my company). There is no USB-A port, just 3 USB-C ports. The tipping point has been reached. USB-A will be around for a long time, but it's losing its dominance.

(Having said that, I agree with the first point. What took so long to have an "official" third-party option?)

wood1208 · January 7, 2019 7:12PM

Good that consumers have more choices at price point. But, 2020/21, Apple might move to USB-C on iPhone and than all Apple devices are on the same port interface. I will miss reliability of Lightening port but who am I to say ?

anome · January 7, 2019 9:00PM

randominternetperson said:

MplsP said:

I don’t quite get why releasing 3rd party lightning - usb c cables was an issue. 3rd party lightning-USB A cables have obviously been around forever, and USB C is just a different form factor for usb 3.

That said, they’re really of limited use. Peter Schiller’s hallucinations aside, the world runs on USB A. The only benefit is to be able to directly plug into a MacBook Pro, but since the first accessory most people buy is a usb C-A dongle, even that isn’t much of a benefit

Huh. I'm looking at the Dell notebook that I was assigned at work as a replacement for my desktop PC (as were the hundreds of other employees at my company). There is no USB-A port, just 3 USB-C ports. The tipping point has been reached. USB-A will be around for a long time, but it's losing its dominance.

(Having said that, I agree with the first point. What took so long to have an "official" third-party option?)

I believe a large part of the delay was getting the new MFi spec for USB-C out of Apple. Then they have to assure compliance with the spec and get Apple to certify it. I seem to recall there was a delay in Apple releasing the updated MFi spec, much longer than it should have been when they were shipping products with USB-C 2 years ago.

MplsP · January 7, 2019 10:37PM

randominternetperson said:

MplsP said:

I don’t quite get why releasing 3rd party lightning - usb c cables was an issue. 3rd party lightning-USB A cables have obviously been around forever, and USB C is just a different form factor for usb 3.

That said, they’re really of limited use. Peter Schiller’s hallucinations aside, the world runs on USB A. The only benefit is to be able to directly plug into a MacBook Pro, but since the first accessory most people buy is a usb C-A dongle, even that isn’t much of a benefit

Huh. I'm looking at the Dell notebook that I was assigned at work as a replacement for my desktop PC (as were the hundreds of other employees at my company). There is no USB-A port, just 3 USB-C ports. The tipping point has been reached. USB-A will be around for a long time, but it's losing its dominance.

(Having said that, I agree with the first point. What took so long to have an "official" third-party option?)

Outside of the MacBooks, that's the only computer I've seen or heard of with no USB A ports. I have seen others with USB C ports, but they're pretty uncommon, so you can't say the tipping point has been reached. I was at the Apple store the other day, and aside from dongles, had a hard time finding *any* USB C accessories. I think I found 1 USB C flash drive. When my son asked for a new flash drive, I searched for a good UBS A/C model and only found a few that were either horribly over priced or, in the case of the one on Apple's site have persistent problems overheating.

Beyond that, *Every* charging station I have ever seen uses USB A. I just took a trip - The hotel has a USB A port on the night stand. the airport has USB A charging ports. The rental car (and my car) only has USB A ports. The battery packs sold at the airport have USB A ports. (and except for the MacBook bricks, every charger sold by Apple has UBS A.) Go into Best Buy and try to find a USB C charger - you can't.

As I said, the world runs on USB A, and except for MacBooks, it works just fine.

longfang · January 8, 2019 3:39AM

MplsP said:

randominternetperson said:

MplsP said:

I don’t quite get why releasing 3rd party lightning - usb c cables was an issue. 3rd party lightning-USB A cables have obviously been around forever, and USB C is just a different form factor for usb 3.

That said, they’re really of limited use. Peter Schiller’s hallucinations aside, the world runs on USB A. The only benefit is to be able to directly plug into a MacBook Pro, but since the first accessory most people buy is a usb C-A dongle, even that isn’t much of a benefit

Huh. I'm looking at the Dell notebook that I was assigned at work as a replacement for my desktop PC (as were the hundreds of other employees at my company). There is no USB-A port, just 3 USB-C ports. The tipping point has been reached. USB-A will be around for a long time, but it's losing its dominance.

(Having said that, I agree with the first point. What took so long to have an "official" third-party option?)

Outside of the MacBooks, that's the only computer I've seen or heard of with no USB A ports. I have seen others with USB C ports, but they're pretty uncommon, so you can't say the tipping point has been reached. I was at the Apple store the other day, and aside from dongles, had a hard time finding *any* USB C accessories. I think I found 1 USB C flash drive. When my son asked for a new flash drive, I searched for a good UBS A/C model and only found a few that were either horribly over priced or, in the case of the one on Apple's site have persistent problems overheating.

Beyond that, *Every* charging station I have ever seen uses USB A. I just took a trip - The hotel has a USB A port on the night stand. the airport has USB A charging ports. The rental car (and my car) only has USB A ports. The battery packs sold at the airport have USB A ports. (and except for the MacBook bricks, every charger sold by Apple has UBS A.) Go into Best Buy and try to find a USB C charger - you can't.

As I said, the world runs on USB A, and except for MacBooks, it works just fine.

Just because it works just fine doesn’t mean we should not look for improvements. With type-C I get power delivery for faster charging, and I can travel with just the MacBook charger in my bag and still be able to charge all my devices at their maximum charge rate.

payeco · January 8, 2019 8:02AM

MplsP said:

randominternetperson said:

MplsP said:

I don’t quite get why releasing 3rd party lightning - usb c cables was an issue. 3rd party lightning-USB A cables have obviously been around forever, and USB C is just a different form factor for usb 3.

That said, they’re really of limited use. Peter Schiller’s hallucinations aside, the world runs on USB A. The only benefit is to be able to directly plug into a MacBook Pro, but since the first accessory most people buy is a usb C-A dongle, even that isn’t much of a benefit

Huh. I'm looking at the Dell notebook that I was assigned at work as a replacement for my desktop PC (as were the hundreds of other employees at my company). There is no USB-A port, just 3 USB-C ports. The tipping point has been reached. USB-A will be around for a long time, but it's losing its dominance.

(Having said that, I agree with the first point. What took so long to have an "official" third-party option?)

Outside of the MacBooks, that's the only computer I've seen or heard of with no USB A ports. I have seen others with USB C ports, but they're pretty uncommon, so you can't say the tipping point has been reached. I was at the Apple store the other day, and aside from dongles, had a hard time finding *any* USB C accessories. I think I found 1 USB C flash drive. When my son asked for a new flash drive, I searched for a good UBS A/C model and only found a few that were either horribly over priced or, in the case of the one on Apple's site have persistent problems overheating.

Beyond that, *Every* charging station I have ever seen uses USB A. I just took a trip - The hotel has a USB A port on the night stand. the airport has USB A charging ports. The rental car (and my car) only has USB A ports. The battery packs sold at the airport have USB A ports. (and except for the MacBook bricks, every charger sold by Apple has UBS A.) Go into Best Buy and try to find a USB C charger - you can't.

As I said, the world runs on USB A, and except for MacBooks, it works just fine.

A lot of Hyatt hotels still have speaker docks in their rooms with 30 pin dock connectors in them. What point does that prove? Apple should abandon lightning and revert to 30 pin?

Yeah, USB-C isn’t ubiquitous yet, but what is your argument? Give up on it all together and just stick with USB-A?

The world is already being strongly pushed to USB-C by Android devices. Phones are being shipped with USB-C on the phone and the charger. MacBooks kickstarted USB-C just like iMacs kickstarted USB-A in Wintel world. If we listened to people like you we’d still be using RS-232 for everything because hey, it works just fine.

MplsP · January 9, 2019 12:51AM

payeco said:

MplsP said:

randominternetperson said:

MplsP said:

I don’t quite get why releasing 3rd party lightning - usb c cables was an issue. 3rd party lightning-USB A cables have obviously been around forever, and USB C is just a different form factor for usb 3.

That said, they’re really of limited use. Peter Schiller’s hallucinations aside, the world runs on USB A. The only benefit is to be able to directly plug into a MacBook Pro, but since the first accessory most people buy is a usb C-A dongle, even that isn’t much of a benefit

Huh. I'm looking at the Dell notebook that I was assigned at work as a replacement for my desktop PC (as were the hundreds of other employees at my company). There is no USB-A port, just 3 USB-C ports. The tipping point has been reached. USB-A will be around for a long time, but it's losing its dominance.

(Having said that, I agree with the first point. What took so long to have an "official" third-party option?)

Outside of the MacBooks, that's the only computer I've seen or heard of with no USB A ports. I have seen others with USB C ports, but they're pretty uncommon, so you can't say the tipping point has been reached. I was at the Apple store the other day, and aside from dongles, had a hard time finding *any* USB C accessories. I think I found 1 USB C flash drive. When my son asked for a new flash drive, I searched for a good UBS A/C model and only found a few that were either horribly over priced or, in the case of the one on Apple's site have persistent problems overheating.

Beyond that, *Every* charging station I have ever seen uses USB A. I just took a trip - The hotel has a USB A port on the night stand. the airport has USB A charging ports. The rental car (and my car) only has USB A ports. The battery packs sold at the airport have USB A ports. (and except for the MacBook bricks, every charger sold by Apple has UBS A.) Go into Best Buy and try to find a USB C charger - you can't.

As I said, the world runs on USB A, and except for MacBooks, it works just fine.

A lot of Hyatt hotels still have speaker docks in their rooms with 30 pin dock connectors in them. What point does that prove? Apple should abandon lightning and revert to 30 pin?

Yeah, USB-C isn’t ubiquitous yet, but what is your argument? Give up on it all together and just stick with USB-A?

The world is already being strongly pushed to USB-C by Android devices. Phones are being shipped with USB-C on the phone and the charger. MacBooks kickstarted USB-C just like iMacs kickstarted USB-A in Wintel world. If we listened to people like you we’d still be using RS-232 for everything because hey, it works just fine.

Trying not to roll my eyes here.

Lightning had clear advantages over the 30 pin connector. USB had clear advantages over RS232. For most current uses, USB C has little to no advantage over USB A.

The most common argument I see for USB C is ‘it’s the furure.’ My follow up question is ‘why?’ You are essentially arguingthst we need to change just for the sake of change. I argue that if the current standard meets the need then there is no point to changing, and there is a definite cost, both financial and in terms of convenience.

I have ave no problem changing, provided the change is an improvement. After a year with a MacBook Pro with 4 USB C ports, I have yet to see how they give me any benefit over the ports in my MacBook Air. MagSafe was hands down a better charging system, and while USB C ostensibly allows you to do ‘everything,’ the standard is a bloody mess and not necessarily compatible. To top it off, you need another array of dongles to do whatever you need, so what’s the advantage over my MacBook Air that had a thunderbolt port that didn’t need a single?

Third-party USB-C Lightning cables made official at CES by Griffin

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