Fake Vs Real: How to Identify Counterfeit Lightning USB cables?

IUsers always mires themselves in conflicts. They gasp with admiration at the power of Apple stuff. In the mean time, they also belittle some Apple products all the time, especially some phone accessories. However, iPhone cables attract the most controversy among all accessories, with any doubt and suspense.

Apple charges $20 for a regular three-foot long USB Lightning cable, so if you bought three extra cables — one for your car, your travel bag and your office at work — that’s $60 right there. So, you might be looking into alternatives. Amazon sells its own Lightning cables under its “AmazonBasics” brand for $14 each; that’s still not cheap by any means, but it beats paying $20.

On the one hand, with that said, the price of Apple cables really scared people off them. They always choose cheaper ones without any hesitation. On the other hand, it results in a series of problems with fakes all over the place.

If you use a counterfeit or uncertified Lightning accessory, youcould see these issues:

l  Your iOS device could become damaged

l  The cable might be easily damaged

l  The connector end might fall off, get very hot, or might not fit properly into your device

l  You might not be able to sync or charge your device

However, you will find it hard to see that with the naked eye. With that said, here are some tips to check whether a Lightning cable is genuine or not.

Compare packaging and writing on the cable

To identify counterfeit or uncertified cables and accessories, look carefully at the accessory's packaging and at the accessory itself. Certified third-party accessories have the MFi logo on their packaging.

An Apple Lightning to USB cable has "Designed by Apple in California" and either "Assembled in China," "Assembed in Vietnam," or "Indústria Brasileira" on the cable about seven inchesfrom the USB connector. You'll see a serial number with either 12 or 17 digits at the end of this text.

Compare The Lightning Connector

At first glance, a fake and genuine Lightning cable look almost identical, but the differences lie in the details. Up close, there are several key differences between the fake and genuine Lightning connector that tells you right off the bat which one is the real, genuine cable and which one is the knockoff.

The clearest difference is that the genuine Lightning cable on the right has the white piece perfectly rounded in the corners, while the fake one on the left is squared off somewhat. Furthermore, the entire metal piece of the genuine connector is one single metal

piece, while the knockoff is made out of several metal pieces pressed together. The knockoff version is also slightly longer than the genuine version.

Lightning to USB cable, USB-connector end

On the USB plug end of the cables, the white plastic pieces are practically identical to one another, which can make it difficult to differentiate the two just by glancing at it. However, just like with the Lightning connector end, the differences lie in the details.

The only difference on the USB plug is a pretty big one. The genuine one is on the right, with the knockoff one on the left. The knockoff’s metal USB connector is a lot more grainy than the genuine one, which is perfectly smooth. This most likely hassomething to do with the type of metal that the USB plugs are made out of; it’s more than likely that the knockoff cable uses a cheaper metal or manufacturing process to make the plug, thus leaving a rough, grainy surface to the metal.

After all, the appearance cannot be the critical factor for distinguishing the good from the bad. As for all kind of cables, the external materials are imitable. According to the experiences in cables industry over 10 years, Unite Cable Enterprise Co., Ltd can safely draw the conclusion that the sole criterion to identify an USB cable with reliable quality is its interior quality. And Unite Cable always takes that in mind and combines it with production operations.