Genuine Apple cables are relatively expensive to purchase. It is therefore tempting to opt for one of the many cheaper alternatives. But are they also worse?
Genuine Apple cables are more expensive
At Apple you pay 25 euros for a USB-C to Lightning cable of only 1 meter. You will find cheaper alternatives practically everywhere. Sometimes these are poorer quality cables, but that is not always the case.
Consumer Reports, an independent organization that works with consumers to promote transparency and fairness in the market, recently tested cheap cables from Amazon Basics, Anker and Belkin, among others. Real Apple cables were also tried out to be able to compare them properly. And it turns out that it comes with a fairly cheap cable that works very well!
Two types of cables vs Apple cables
Comsumer Reports tested a total of eleven cables (including genuine Apple cables), ranging from about $5 to $30, to determine how long they last without breaking. Five of these cables were Lightning cables designed to work with Apple phones up to and including the iPhone 14. The rest were USB-C cables used to charge the new iPhone 15, among other things.
Each model was put through a few durability tests, assuming the average charging cable is bent or twisted five times a day in real use. In this way, it was calculated how many bends and twists the cables would have to withstand to provide reliable service for 1.5 years.
The bend test
In the first test, the device repeatedly bent one end of the cable at a 90-degree angle until the cable stopped passing power to a small plastic fan. Watch the video below to see what that looks like.
The spin test
In the second test, the device turned each cable while powering a makeup mirror illuminated by LED lights. Below you can see the running test in action.
Which cable is the best?
There are two cables that came out on top in the test and they are not both Apple cables. The first is the Apple Lightning cable from €35, for people with an iPhone 5 to iPhone 14. They tested the 2-meter version, but there is also a 1-meter version for 10 euros less. For all other purposes, the €7.26 Amazon Basics USB-C cable is number 1 in this test.
The twist test was not really a problem for any cable, but many differences became visible during the bending test. The score of the cables in that test looks as follows:
What is also striking is that Samsung’s cables last significantly less time. So keep these test results in mind when it’s time to buy new (Apple) cables!
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