Michal Ždanský Although Apple is known for the first-class quality of its products, some of them, especially accessories, definitely cannot be beat. In fact, some of Apple's products are so lousy that you wonder why the company isn't ashamed to sell them. At the same time, it is a relatively essential accessory that is usually part of one of the company's mainstays, i.e. iPhone, iPad or MacBook.
Cables are the biggest bane. Apple definitely produces very nice cabling in an elegant white color. But the rubber compound that surrounds the wires in the cable has a completely tragic resistance and within a year in many cases it will begin to fall apart depending on how it is stressed.
This decomposition was best seen in cables for the iPhone 3G and 3GS. With them, the rubber began to disintegrate most often at the 30-pin connector, exposing the wires inside, which were fortunately insulated. For the iPhone 4, they've apparently improved the mix a bit. The breakdown wasn't as frequent, but it certainly didn't go away. What about Lightning? Just go to the American Apple Online Store and read the reviews. You will find many complainers who are not satisfied with the length of the cable (no wonder, one meter is just not enough for a phone cable), but many of them report falling apart and not working within 3-4 months.
Adapters for MacBooks are not much better. From my own experience, I observe how the cable leading from the adapter gradually disintegrates and reveals exposed wires. The cable usually begins to disintegrate at the connector, where it is under the most stress, however, disintegration will gradually begin to appear in other places as well. The affected areas can be repaired with shrink tubing or insulating tape, but the cable will definitely not be as beautiful as before.
I've traded in about ten phones in my life, the last three of which were iPhones. However, with none of the previous ones, I experienced any of them starting to fall apart, nor did I notice anything similar in my surroundings. I currently have a few USB cables in my drawer that haven't seen the best treatment. I'm counting the many chair passes, stomping on and twisting, but after five years it works flawlessly, while Apple cables are written off several times within a year. Likewise, I've yet to see a laptop adapter fall apart, at least not the way the MacBook's MagSafe falls apart.
[do action=”quote”]Definitely not a good report card for a company that claims to be trying to make the best products in the world.[/do]
Apple uses its own proprietary cables, partly to keep it under control. Probably few people would buy a USB cable from Apple for CZK 500, when they can have it in the nearest electric store for a fifth. If Apple offered a real quality product for the price, I won't even say ashes, but at this price I expect it to at least survive an atomic holocaust, not fall apart after a few months of normal handling.
The quality of Apple's cables is truly dismal, even below the level of the original headphones that Apple supplied with iPods and iPhones, the control of which stopped working soon, not to mention the sound quality. And new ones from the Apple Store cost around 700 CZK. Definitely not a good report card for a company that claims to be trying to make the best products in the world.
Personally, I think that the horror that is in those photos will not happen to a person who treats those things decently. Sometimes the connector breaks, I don't deny it, but this is quite extreme and it probably won't just happen by itself...
I have to be VERY good and careful with all electronics, but unfortunately, after a year or so, the insulation started to separate from the cable from the iPad 3 on both sides of the connector. The insulating tape solved it, but I bought a few cases from eBay for $1 and I'm very happy with them too. I've had an iPhone 5 since October, and then I don't notice it on the new Lightning cable. So I'm curious how they improved it.
My MBP15-2006 and MBP15-2010 charger went wrong.
The older one was naughty, similar to your case, and because of that she screwed up the battery (it was charging for a while, not for a while, at the end it was flashing like a Christmas tree). At the end, she broke at the shot.
In the newer one, part of the insulation simply fell apart. It started at the connector and gradually spread like leprosy.
The charger of my new MBA13-2012 looks OK so far (five months in use), they must have finally killed those stupid flies.
I have the same problem with the cable, it falls apart and the ladies don't switch anymore after about a year of use, and for 20 per phone it should probably last considerably longer.. and does anyone have experience with complaints??
I have always taken the headphones to a Vodafone store and filed a complaint, and after a week I received a new one (the headset stopped playing near the microphone, normal wear and tear + material defect).
It's a completely normal phenomenon, with normal handling like this, especially as shown in the 1st and 3rd picture, the cables have torn about 4 times in the last 6 years (4x Iphone and 2x MB...)
but if someone goes after it and pulls it out of the USB by the cable instead of the connector, then of course it will be fixed, if the person behaves normally and as it is there is no problem, after two years all my cables and headphones are still the same new, so I agree with Tedakka.
I had fun with this sentence:
"of the 30-pin connector, exposing the wires inside, which were fortunately insulated"
Surprised that the individual veins are isolated, I was fascinated. It seems to me like an attempt at a sensation that does not happen.
A sensation? I was only referring to the difference that there are exposed wires under the insulation of the cable from the MacBook adapter. And I say in advance that I am not an electrician.
I don't understand it now. Isolated != exposed (so how is it?). The only thing that can be without insulation is, for example, shielding.
And isn't it a coincidence that Apple service is pretty expensive? Thus, they deliberately make bad wiring so that people have to buy it again and again. I doubt that Apple would have low quality products and not know about it…….
you could describe the repair of the connector with a shrink tube in more detail, because I have a broken cable somewhere and it turns off in a certain position. otherwise I agree .. cables are evil! :(
How is the current situation with cable complaints? When it broke about a year ago, they also wanted to take my mobile phone..i.e. I'd rather buy a new cable :-/
It's no secret that Steve J. simply didn't like the so-called "strain relief zone" on the cable... http://www.edibleapple.com/2011/06/11/apples-frayed-power-cables-an-explanation/
Those cables are impregnated with something that cats love, ours has already got 2 chargers for a MacBook Air and also an iPhone 4S.
I already had a whole range of Apple products, i.e. and cables. My white 2010 MacBook took the longest to warm up, which I had for three years and recently traded in for an MBP Retina. I haven't had a problem with the cables with any of the products. With the MacBook, even after three years, the cables were not frayed, torn or damaged in any other way. The only difference was the color. They darkened slightly, but this was not noticeable until a direct comparison with the new charger from MBP Retina. If you ride over them on a chair or who knows what you do to them, then there is nothing to be surprised about. They're not titanium after all.
I have had and still have a lot of Apple products and not a single cable has been damaged. I lost a couple of them, but for example, I've had the MacBookPro charger for about two years now and there's no visible damage on the cable, and I don't handle them with gloves. The only thing I'm careful about is that they don't twist when untangling.
yes, they should not be strained by cruelty and strain.
I am completely satisfied with the original cable, on the other hand, Lighting from T-Mobile stops working after weeks. I don't see such a problem in this, or Apple's mistake, apparently it depends on the piece.
"thus exposing the wires inside, which luckily were insulated" - Cables inside are always insulated, so how could such a cable work? :DD
Hello. Do not allow me not to respond to this article, which is not based on an objective opinion and look at the given problem. In my opinion, if someone's cable does not last and it turns out as it is presented in the photos, they either have a rabbit, a woodpecker at home, or belong to people who have no relationship with things and after a year of using the thing, the given thing looks like it is 10 years old. From my personal experience, I have no problem with Apple products, and not at all with cables and chargers. I have been on the apple platform for 9 years and I am a user of most everything from apple. E.g. I have a MacBook Pro for 4 years, in which I already had to change the battery to reach the number of charging cycles of 970, which means that connecting the charging cable was min. 970 times, which was many times more, because I didn't always top it up. Adapter and cable are like new and work 100%. Also, all chargers and cables for the iPhone and iPad2 work 100% and show no signs of physical wear. And to be guided by the evaluation of American forums in terms of the culture of the American population that goes to bed with shoes on .... Sorry, the American population is not the right one to evaluate the quality of products.
I think that the given statement in the article could be supported by at least some surveys or evaluations by users of apple products in SK/CZ
I agree, my charger from an iPhone 2G from 2006 or 7 is still functional and so are the headphones, the only thing that has come off is the rubber that holds them in the ear...
Definitely, as a "lover of apple iron", what Mr. Michal claims about himself, he should be more cultured about things than plugging a cable into a mixer and publicly spreading untruths like that ;)
So you think it's okay for Apple cables to fall apart with normal use, while other cables x times cheaper last without a sign of wear and tear?
when I deal with, for example, a MacBook charger that travels with me every day from home to work, sometimes to meetings, of course, always nicely tangled and put in a backpack for about 2.5 years, there is still nothing.
Therefore, I believe that the problem is not in the products but in their users.
the problem is that I DON'T notice it with the same cables :-) Neither with the twice cheaper ones nor with applack ones.
The only thing I notice is that the cable from the first iPhone is "maxi" to bend and all the newer ones are hard (they hold their shape too unnecessarily).
The whole thing, according to my observation, is that the owners of frayed cables PULL for them but don't realize it, so their statements are worthless :-)
Could you please finish the survey here? I also have bad experiences with cables, so I would like to know how the quality is actually... Thanks
You can find the survey in today's next article on this topic: http://jablickar.cz/apple-vitezstvi-designu-nad-konstrukci/
I wouldn't be so sure about that. The charger for the iPhone 3g fell apart, I already have a second charger for the Macbook and it looks like it will soon be the third one. And I also have a second minidisplay reducer for vga, and it looks like it will be subject to a complaint again
Then again, I can't agree with you :-) I have the third charger for my Mac Book Pro and it breaks every time right at the transformer, see. fig.3 all after a year and a half of use. I wrapped the first cable around the lugs on the transformer (they are designed for this), with the second I didn't do that anymore and carefully put the cable in the computer bag, nothing less, again after a year and a half the cable left in the same place. I don't use two chargers like my colleague so that I have one at home and one at the office, none the less that's why I have the book to travel with it. In this direction, I clearly agree with the author. Cables are at a very low level. I don't have hamsters or rabbits at home, I don't really want a pet :-)
I absolutely agree. I wound the cable for the MB-Pro on the packs designed for that, and after a year and a half the cable completely went away. If those who blindly state here that it is necessary to behave sparingly, then they have their device on the table and at least manipulate it. But it is necessary to realize that a portable computer, or iPad and iPhone, is already intended for travel. And I am convinced that whoever uses it in this way will not claim here how great the cables are. As a family of four, we have an iPhone (4,4, 5S, 5 and 2), 5x iPad, MacBook Pro, MacBook white, and this problem has manifested itself so far in all products except for one iPhone 2. But that's because I bought 1000x original cables (for 1994,-) and I change them depending on where I am (job, home, car). And I am convinced that my behavior towards Apple devices is very decent and the "pets" you treat us quality complainers with are unwarranted. My first Apple product was the LC 475 back in XNUMX, followed by the Performa, etc. The problems only started when Apple started using this type of cable insulation.
This is how several of the USB cables for the iPhone and the cable for the laptop chargers fell apart. The rubber will first turn yellow and then completely disintegrate. It happened with the charger for the iBook G4, the white MacBook and the unibody MacBook. And the non-beaters weren't particularly strained. They were always involved in work and were not worn anywhere. They're just rubbish, they barely last a year.
I also have a second power cable for the MacBook Pro, but only because my cats love it...for the iPhone (I already had several phones and my wife too) I then wrote off two cables, both of which were attacked by a cat :-) Otherwise, everything is intact - 2x AirPort Extreme, MacBook Pro, iPhone 3G, 4 and 4S. So I don't see any problem, except for the dice. But they zero anything that is white, even on 220V:-D
In my opinion, with proper handling, any cable will prevail. So far, one cable has been destroyed, thanks to incompetence when working with a vacuum cleaner. And I'm using an Apple from 3Gck and a Macbook Pro mid 2009.
I have been working with Macs for 30 years. Never! I didn't manage to destroy a single cable. I use several Macs, iPhones and iPads permanently and intensively. However, no cable will last more than a year for my autistic daughter. Then where is THAT mistake?
I know the same thing. People who tangle cables do not realize the manipulation method that causes it. I also have an original cable from an iPhone 2007, which I use permanently, even though I have changed several phones in the meantime. I always grab the BODY of the connector end and connect/disconnect exclusively like this. I know that when I pull on the cable "buzirka", I will pull it out. Nothing fancy, if I pull the cable from the connector like a dog on a leash, it's clear that I'm straining it much more.
I have a macbook for 3 years and nothing at all :)
Well, I see that some will fall apart, some won't. I personally have a Mac Book Pro and after almost three years it's like out of the box, while the cable started coming out about a month ago, exactly in the same place as in the third photo. I solved it by cutting the pen and fixing it to a stronger protrusion :)
THE QUESTION IS RATHER:
Where to get a cheap new charger? After all, only 2.100 CZK is quite a lot!
And when you were buying overpriced mac book pro, it "wasn't much" ?? I love people like that.. I don't know how many thousand for a laptop and the ridiculous 2100 kc is already too much :))
What a nonsensical comment. CZK 25.000 without VAT for a work computer that I use for 10 hours a day and is still fully functional, this price is low. When I look at what Sony, Asus, HP, Dell, and similar laptops sell, the same technical quality costs at least the same or more, and it doesn't even have a high-quality display, and it still has terrible Windows and hums like a vacuum cleaner. A charger for 2.100 CZK is really a more expensive thing.
I don't know, until now I'm using a cable from a second generation iPod nano from the beginning of 2007. So 6 and a quarter years and it's clean and no wires are peeking anywhere. I won't judge anyone, but in my opinion, if you treat it as you should, there is no problem. I see it on every possible Apple product (including accessories) that I have used/use/see around me.
Over 4 years of iPhone 3G, cable without problems. iPhone 5 for more than half a year and without problems. Just don't be a pig.
personal experience of 13 years with apple:
old ibook, the adapter wobbled, nothing like "twitching", even (the orange and green round light is on - the computer is still in use, although not like it was 6 years ago, but no problems with the power cables)
cables from the box from ipod, iphone... none of that happened to me
I bought ONLY one cable as an Apple cable from China (coincidentally, it cost me 5usd) and it was THAT one that got damaged (like the 4th picture in a row when connected to the USB terminal...)
I think it's about FLAME again
but everyone's life is different...
Since Christmas Ipod 5th generation and lightning cable like new, no destruction…
Strange, my macbook cable looked the same as in the picture, but our dwarf rabbits were playing with it :-D otherwise iPhone 4S, iPod, we have everything over 3 years old and the cables are like new, and I use them every day... so I don't know … on the other hand, the cheap china is falling apart for me…
Agree with the article. I lost the cable to the iPad 2 after about 1 year...! Since then I have been using noname china and it holds…
I don't want to touch anyone, but let's all look into our consciences, how we treat those cables. If I bend the cable twice a day for several many months, sooner or later it will go. It simply has to be reckoned with. I personally haven't had a problem with any cable from Apple so far, and I have 2x 3-pin and 30x mag safe. And I don't treat it like gloves, but I also don't treat it unnecessarily and I don't treat it like a pig. The condition of the cables will largely correspond to how we treat them.
Well, that's what I call an article, Michal. And won't it be more of a treat??? I have 6x 30pin, 3x Lightning, 2x MagSafe and not one of them has broken yet and some of them have been over 3 years!!!
Well, that's what I call a comment, MICHAEL. Just because something didn't happen to you, does that automatically mean there isn't a problem? How many times have I heard that someone has no problem with signal loss with iPhone 4 or iPhone 4S battery life. So what? Others have it, and there are quite a few of them.
After all, I didn't write that the problem doesn't exist, but having the cables in such condition as in the photos, I would probably think very deeply about myself. I have seen such cables with friends who have a spider on their iPad display and they don't care at all. Punk just isn't dead. But I definitely wouldn't lump it in with the headline that Apple simply can't make cables.
We have a lot of cables in the company, both older docks and new lightning, a few MagSafes, and privately I have a few and I know many people who have different cables, and the truth is that they simply fall apart after a while, and it is unfortunately true that the quality does not match the price. And it really doesn't matter how a person treats it, personally I'm a normal user, so every day I wind the cable in a bag and take it out again and it repeats like this and it just starts to show signs of disintegration. I prefer not to even talk to the company, it's held together by insulating tape :) On the other hand, the cables from my x-year-old Nokia are still working under the same load, although not mine anymore, but my colleagues'.
I definitely agree that it depends on how you handle it. I'm not saying that the cables are somehow of extra quality, but my magsave is almost like new after 4 years of intensive use. I also have a 30pin that is almost 4 years old and with daily use (even carrying it to and from work) shows little wear. I do not want to claim that this problem cannot exist, but I want to support the opinion of Michal S.
Not even with cables, but I had a similar problem with headphones. I use the headphones daily and even though I could be as careful as I could from Apple, they never lasted very long. I've had Sony headphones for over a year now and I'm completely satisfied.
Macbook Pro, iPhone 4 and Macbook white - with normal handling (i.e. carrying and winding on designated packs), the cables went to hell after a year. The only thing holding it is the cable from the Cinema Display, which doesn't move much, but it's scary to watch how the low-quality insulation is SCRATCHED (!!!) by the Cinema Display itself when moving, or rather the sharp edge of the hole intended for the cables... :-/
I guess I'm lucky or I approach technology gently, but after 5 years of using iPhones and a year of MacBook Pro, the cables look like new.
I've had a Macbook White Mid 2010 for almost three years and the power cord held up until January of this year when it started to fray. I wrapped it with insulation and now it looks just like the wire in the picture.
apple just think ecologically - it incorporated automatic recycling into the cable :-)
So far, no problems with the Airbook. The iPad3 started fraying after about a year, but it's about the fact that I really use the iPad every day and if possible, it's on the cable to save battery.
As for the competition, for example, adapters for Acer notebooks are similarly worse off. It simply bends to the point of cracking with frequent packaging. But comparing Apple with Acer? In addition, their chargers are cheaper and can usually be repaired at home.
I honestly pack the cables so that they don't "break" just from experience, but the strange weak rubber on Apple really doesn't last very long.
Sorry for the rudeness, I somehow thought about it :D