The Lightning cables you get when you buy a new iPhone or iPad aren’t the greatest. Many folks almost immediately toss them in a drawer, replacing them with a braided nylon Lightning cable instead. You would think Apple would make its own such cables and sell them separately, but it doesn’t. Sell them separately, that is. In fact, Apple does make better Lightning cables, but you can’t buy them individually.
Buy a Magic Accessory, Get a Braided Nylon Lightning Cable
I first noticed this when I bought a black Magic Trackpad. In the box was quite possibly the first Apple-branded Lightning cable I’d ever seen that wasn’t white in color. I thought, “huh, cool.” Then I unpackaged it, and was truly shocked.
The Lightning cable Apple included with my Magic Trackpad isn’t like the iPhone cable. It’s actually braided nylon, which offers much more durability and longevity.
Any Lightning cables I’d get from Apple never lasted me more than a few months before they’d start to crack and fail. On the other hand, the 10-foot-long braided nylon cable I bought more than two years ago still works beautifully.
Unfortunately, Apple doesn’t retail such a cable by itself. This is surprising, since they’d certainly sell like hotcakes. Just look at the popularity of that silly $19 polishing cloth. It’s worth noting, several other manufacturers and retailers find the braided nylon cables hot sellers. Native Union, Paracable, and even Amazon Basics offer them. Anker even makes one with 24K gold plating.
What’s So Great About Them?
Unlike your typical rubbbery TPE cable, braided nylon can last almost forever. Depending on the thickness of the shield, they can even be resistant to your four-legged friends chewing them up. The process of braiding the nylon strands together provides a structure that has more tensile strength than the plastic used in other cables.
This means the cable should last longer, even under heavy usage. It will be less likely to crack or break, and should offer you quite a bit more longevity than the cable that came with your iPhone.
If you want an Apple-branded braided nylon Lightning cable, here are the products that ship with them.
- Magic Mouse ($79)
- Black Magic Mouse ($99)
- Magic Trackpad ($129)
- Black Magic Trackpad ($149)
- Magic Keyboard ($99)
- Magic Keyboard with Numeric Keypad ($129)
- Magic Keyboard with Touch ID ($149)
- Black Magic Keyboard with Touch ID and Numeric Keypad ($199)
BTW, the M1 iMac also ships with a colored braided USBC to Lightning cable for charging the included keyboard and mouse. Makes it easy to tell who “borrowed” your lightning cable now 😉
True. I didn’t include that because buying a Magic Mouse for the Lightning cable might seem silly enough 🤣