You can make a difference in the Apple Support Community!
When you sign up with your Apple Account, you can provide valuable feedback to other community members by upvoting helpful replies and User Tips.
When you sign up with your Apple Account, you can provide valuable feedback to other community members by upvoting helpful replies and User Tips.
I have a 5th Generation I-pad Air. The cable from I-pad to charger is too short, I need 2 metres. I have purchased both types of Lightning cable from Apple, and neither fit both the I-Pad AND the charger plug.
Any advice for me please?
iPad Air, iPadOS 16
Assuming that your iPad is a fifth generation iPad Air, as stated, the iPad will have been supplied with a 20W USB-C Power Adapter and a 1m USB-C/USB-C cable.
Apple does market an OEM (i.e., Apple branded) 2m USB-C/USB-C charge/data cable:
https://store.apple.com/xc/product/MLL82ZM/A
Third-party USB-C cables are also readily available from good computer stores. You should perhaps be wary of cheap/unbranded USB-C cables - and instead choose a well known branded/certified product from one of the major manufacturers. Certified cables will include essential protective electronic circuitry that may not be properly implemented in low-cost cables.
USB-C cables rated at 3A are more than adequate for charging your iPad; while 5W cables are perfectly usable, they are both unnecessary and considerably more bulky/heavy than the lighter cables. Also consider that heavier cables will place considerably more stress upon the USC-C port on your iPad.
Choosing cheap cables of unknown provenance is false economy. The cost of good quality cable pales into insignificance when you consider the cost of your iPad - or its repair if damaged. Perhaps consider that consequential damage caused by third-party cable, should it occur, will not be covered by your Apple device warranty.
Assuming that your iPad is a fifth generation iPad Air, as stated, the iPad will have been supplied with a 20W USB-C Power Adapter and a 1m USB-C/USB-C cable.
Apple does market an OEM (i.e., Apple branded) 2m USB-C/USB-C charge/data cable:
https://store.apple.com/xc/product/MLL82ZM/A
Third-party USB-C cables are also readily available from good computer stores. You should perhaps be wary of cheap/unbranded USB-C cables - and instead choose a well known branded/certified product from one of the major manufacturers. Certified cables will include essential protective electronic circuitry that may not be properly implemented in low-cost cables.
USB-C cables rated at 3A are more than adequate for charging your iPad; while 5W cables are perfectly usable, they are both unnecessary and considerably more bulky/heavy than the lighter cables. Also consider that heavier cables will place considerably more stress upon the USC-C port on your iPad.
Choosing cheap cables of unknown provenance is false economy. The cost of good quality cable pales into insignificance when you consider the cost of your iPad - or its repair if damaged. Perhaps consider that consequential damage caused by third-party cable, should it occur, will not be covered by your Apple device warranty.
It uses USB-C. What comes in the box is a 1m USB-C to USB-C cable and a 20W USB-C power adapter.
iPad Air (5th generation) - Technical Specifications
In the Box
* iPad Air (5th generation)
* USB‑C Charge Cable (1 meter)
* 20W USB‑C Power Adapter
There are lots of options that work, including a longer USB-C to USB-C cable. Or USB-A to USB-C cables, where Apple doesn't have an OEM version in any length. Are you looking for specific recommendations? Are you looking to reuse the power adapter that you have? That would be ideal because that provide more power than most USB-A power supplies. But again, there's a lot of flexibility which can be confusing.
Also - are you willing to provide approximate location (i.e. country) so that it might be easier to provide specific recommendations? The recommendations I might have as someone in the United States might not be practical if you're elsewhere, like (for example) Canada, the UK, or Singapore.
USB-C can be somewhat confusing because of differences in power ratings and data transfer speed. Cables themselves may be self-limited unless they have a "signaling" mechanism that indicates to devices that they can transmit higher speeds and/or more power. But for an iPad it's not strictly needed and most users don't really care.
However, a decent quality 2m USB-C to USB-C cable is fairly easy to find if all that's needed is charging, where even the minimum requirements will be met by pretty much anything available. I have two myself, but they're somewhat different. One is rated for 5A current but it's rather thick and not terribly flexible, and I primarily use it for charging a laptop computer. The other is thinner and a lot easier for me to put away if I need it but it's only rated at 3A. However, an iPad Air with an Apple 20W USB-C power adapter will be operating at a maximum 9V/2.33A and should have no problem with almost any USB-C cable. But the important thing would be how reliable the connection is.
Another issue would be if you need a cable for data syncing/transfer with a computer and what kind. I still use a USB-A to USB-C cable to connect to an older Mac to do backups.
Charging cable too short
