Click to Skip Ad
Closing in...

Faulty Lightning cables causing big headaches for iPhone users

Updated Dec 19th, 2018 8:46PM EST
Lightning Cable Corrosion

If you buy through a BGR link, we may earn an affiliate commission, helping support our expert product labs.

Have you been having problems with faulty Lightning cables that corrode over time and eventually stop charging your iPhone or iPad? You’re not alone. A recent report from ZDNet sheds light on an issue that may be widespread, impacting an increasing number of Apple device owners. The issue involves Lightning cables — the newer cable that connects Apple’s iPhones, iPads and iPod touch devices to a computer or charger — that stop working over time because of corrosion.

According to the report, ZDNet’s Jason O’Grady has experienced the issue himself with two cables. His Lightning cables began to fail intermittently at first, and then they wouldn’t charge his iPhone 5s at all. The photos below show one of O’Grady’s cables, which had become corroded over time.

BGR can confirm that we have seen similar corrosion on one of our own Lightning cables, though it still works most of the time.

A trip over to Apple’s support forums reveals that the issue has been encountered by a number of Apple device owners, some of whom took their defective cables to the Apple Store and had them replaced with no issue. Others have been met with resistant Apple Store employees who suggest that the cable failures are due to water damage.

Apple has not yet commented on the issue publicly.

Zach Epstein
Zach Epstein Executive Editor

Zach Epstein has been the Executive Editor at BGR for more than 10 years. He manages BGR’s editorial team and ensures that best practices are adhered to. He also oversees the Ecommerce team and directs the daily flow of all content. Zach first joined BGR in 2007 as a Staff Writer covering business, technology, and entertainment.

His work has been quoted by countless top news organizations, and he was recently named one of the world's top 10 “power mobile influencers” by Forbes. Prior to BGR, Zach worked as an executive in marketing and business development with two private telcos.