Anker recently released a USB C to lightning cable, and while there are dozens of USB A to lightning cables out there, USB C cables which are approved for iPhone are new.
My first impression after opening the Anker box is that this cable is thick, when compared side by side with an Apple cable it isn’t that much thicker though – just enough to give one a feeling of solidity, I plan to keep this cable in my on the go cable bag and am confident it won’t be as susceptible to the kinks that inevitably happen with thinner cables. As with all Anker cables, it comes with a nice cable tidy on the cable – as these attach to the cable with a mini loop they don’t go missing easily, and that means that with my always on the go everywhere lifestyle my cables are more likely to stay wrangled.
The cable works like you would expect it to work, I plugged the USB C end into my MacBook Air charger, and the other into my iPhone Xs Max with the battery pack attached, I did not try to measure the speed scientifically, but it felt like it charged just as fast as the Apple USB C cable which is what is most important for me! I also used it this morning to pair my Magic Keyboard to my MacBook Air – and as expected, it worked fine!
What I do like about this cable is the rounded corners and moulding where the connectors connect to the cable – these are less likely to snag on things, and combined with the thicker casing on the cable itself also increases its lifetime for people who bend their cables near the connectors. We all know someone who abuses cables and probably internally wince when they do so to ours!
Anker’s Lightning to USB C cable is definitely well made, and with it being cheaper than the Apple version I’d wholeheartedly recommend it instead if you’re in the market for a cable that can connect your Mac to your iPhone, AirPods, or new iPad (aside from the latest Pro models) directly.
Thanks to Anker for sending me this cable to review!
@rosemaryorchard thanks for this. I had forgotten that Anker was going to release these.
@rosemaryorchard Great review! Really glad a company like Anker went in on these, and even happier that you found them to work well. I’ll definitely be snagging a few of these.
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Did you test data throughput?
These are good cables. In my (highly unscientific) testing, it gets a solid 133MB/s, about 5% faster than Apple’s USB-C Lightning cable. Using a 30W UBC-PD charger, this cable will supply as much power as your iPhone/iPad can draw.
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These are good cables. They’re just as fast as (if not better than) the Apple cables at both data transfer and charging.