Are the 3rd party USB-C to C cables less prone to an early death or should I get Apple ones?

Something that is missing in this discussion is that it is important to never "skimp" with charging cables ... unless you find the cost of getting a replacement phone no big deal.

The reason I mention this, is the Apple charging cables come with two IC chips in one of the connector ends. These chips provide both identification and voltage regulation respectively.

Think of the former as a bouncer at a nightclub. It checks the validity of the power adapter for MFi-certification. Cheap cables may have this chip, but they could let "minors" in. Basically it "tells" your iPhone that everything is ok, and to go ahead and take the voltage coming from the adapter. One sign of a cheap cable is when you see the following error message: "Accessory not supported."

The latter chip is primarily used to prevent an over-voltage condition from reaching your iPhone. It also attempts to keep the voltage coming in constant.

Personally, I would stay with Apple cables, but it's your choice of course to choose whatever cable you want. Like Kurtosis12, I have also used cables from both Anker & OWC without any issues.

Ref: Mfi Licensed Accessories - Apple Support

That would be impossible to answer as there are literally thousands of companies manufacturing cables. If you purchased then from a reputable company such as Anker, then you should be fine. If you purchased them at department stores such as Target or grocery stores, then you are going to get junk.