Iphone 5 charger keeps on breaking.

I'm with everyone on this. That I could search for "why does my iphone charger keep breaking" and the website turn up a windfall of results suggests that Apple is doing a poor job of making sturdy chargers. This isn't my first time with a shoddily made Apple product--I was constantly having the same issue with my iBook's adapter back around '04-'08.

Yes, you have a few Apple nerds on here who will defend Apple to death and suggest that they've never had a charger issue and that we're all a bunch of barbarians when handling our equipment, but that is not the case in any sense. I feel like I'm playing that old Operation game trying to remove my adapter so that it won't screw anything up, only to find that it's stopped working anyway.

Chargers should be able to handle normal wear. End of story. A shoddily made product is just that and deserves to be refunded if it breaks. None of my other cables/chargers from other companies break like this.

I sincerely hope Apple isn't intentionally designing these products poorly to exploit the customer. I feel very irritated right now.

I, too, have seen a number of original Apple iPhone charger cables for the iphone 5s fail. Disapointing, but hardly cause to condemn the company or forsake the brand. Apple cheerfully repllaced the defective cords-althjough i suspect the replacements will prove no better. I did discover that the 2 meter cable is much sturdier. Overall, the iPhone 5s is such a great phone, I will just deal with the cable issue by continuing to rotate out the bad ones and return them to the Apple store.

I am having the same problem with my chargers. I accidentally left the one which came with my phone at my parent's house, and didn't have time to make the 3 hour round trip back to get it, so bought a new cable. Now, just over 2 months later, both cables have broken. I'm a uni student and don't have a bedside table so I put my phone on top of 2 cushions instead when I charge it when I'm asleep, meaning the charger isn't bent at all in any way. It seems to be a manufacturing problem which I think needs to be fixed as soon as possible as we shouldn't have to fork out £10+ every few months for a new charger cable! I've resorted to buying one off amazon for £1.36. I wouldn't usually buy one so cheap but seeing as the proper ones don't last long anyway I'll probably save money buying lots of cheap ones!

KateLouise. wrote:

It seems to be a manufacturing problem which I think needs to be fixed as soon as possible as we shouldn't have to fork out £10+ every few months for a new charger cable!

Why not save all your money and simply get thge Apple cables replaced for free at the Apple store?

I'm a uni student and don't have a bedside table

Uni students are not allowed/ cannot have bedside tables?

I'm home from university at the moment and there isn't an Apple store by me, I plan on doing this when I go back to uni though, although I can only do this with one as I didn't buy the other one from the apple store and I've lost the receipt.
Haha, obviously uni students can have bedside tables, it just so happens that in my student house, we weren't given any and the rooms are so small there isn't room for one!

These lightning cables are complete junk, do not buy them. Even if Apple will in fact replace them for free with no questions asked AND they are really close by, do not do it.

You shouldn't have to have these cables straight at all times, they should be allowed to bend. I don't know of any place anywhere built where the electrical outlets or computer USB ports are at level with the table. You should not have to place your phone on whatever objects you can find just to make it level, that's asinine. There is a major manufacturing problem with these cables and Apple has known about it for quite some time and they refuse to address it.

My girlfriend has the last of our lightning cables now and had kept the cord as humanly straight as possible and it still broke 26 days later. Then there is me, still using the 63 cent cord purchased off Ebay. My boss bought 10 of these things (2 for me, 1 for everyone in our office, and the rest for him). None of ours have broken yet, and we've been using them for almost 6 months.

You can buy these cords in different colors (you can't miss them on ebay) and they are far more resistant to the "accessory not supported" message. As many of you have probably noticed, the breaking/fraying of these lightning cords aren't their only problem, they also frequently get the "accessory not supported" message which causes your phone to stop charging. These messages pop up even when the Lightning Cord is not broken. With every patch Apple implements, these messages get more frequent making it far more difficult to charge your phone. This is also where those 63 cent cables shine, that message is nearly non-existent. You can charge your phone freely and not worry about it, and they are very durable as well.

Another thing to keep in mind; we've now had 4 fires in our district now in the past 7 months that are being traced backed to these Apple Lightning Cords. Electrical engineers have ruled out a problem with the actual electrical socket and their Iphones were not burned (just the cord) Consequently, all these cords had broken/frayed ends on them. These cords from what I've seen are also a fire hazard and should not be used. We've sent out district wide mail notifications warning people on the dangers of these cords.

End result, look on ebay for phone chargers that are meant for Iphone and are not lightning cables. Their are plenty on there for dirt cheap and are far more safe and durable.

If your problem is the fact that the cable is bending then try wrapping a spring out of a pen round either end of your cable this stops it bending as much. Also try when you are unplugging your charger to pull by the plastic not the cable. Hope this helps.

These lightning cables are complete junk, do not buy them. Even if Apple will in fact replace them for free with no questions asked AND they are really close by, do not do it.

You're completely right. These cords are complete and utter garbage. It's not the phone's fault, or ours, that they're not meant to handle daily use.

I am now having to purchase my second cord since I got my iPhone 5. The first cord, that apple provided, lasted up until a month ago. (Got them in September) This cord has lasted since around April 5th, since I got the new cord for my birthday.

I'm going to be purchasing one off of e-bay, but I don't know what the best cord to get is. I want one I don't have to be GENTLE with. I'm extremely accident prone and have a terrible habit of tripping over the cord on my way into bed. (I have 1 & 1/2 feet between my bedside and the wall, and the cord lays on the floor, exposed)

Any suggestions?

My original cable started to split a few weeks ago but was bunching before that and would click back and forth into charging state. I had the 'this accessory is not supported' message after iOS 7 was released and only when my phone was fully charged but now that I think about it, I wonder if it was related to the fraying cable as well. I only upgraded os a few weeks ago and haven't since had that msg. So will Apple replace the cable even if you're outside of your phone warranty? I put a pen spring on my back up cable but really need another one but I don't feel like I should have to pay for something that is obviously defective.

In your case, it sounds more to me like you have some debris in the charging port keeping the cables from making proper contact. Using a clean, dry toothpick, I was surprised how much crap I got out of my wife's iPhone 5 Lightning port. I got more out than I would have thought the port could hold. I guess that's a side effect of stuffing the thin in her pocket without regards for pocket lint, or anything else. Her cable wouldn't plug all the way in one night, and I had to clean the port out to get it to plug in properly.

I ordered an iPhone wire of this eBay seller and it is better than any genuine wire ive bought, these charge even quicker than apple ones and they work for data sync aswell.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/High-Quality-USB-8-Pin-Data-Sync-amp-Charger-Cable-Lea d-For-iPhone-iOS-8-Compatible-/231368841477

Liamf2000 wrote:

I ordered an iPhone wire of this eBay seller and it is better than any genuine wire ive bought, these charge even quicker than apple ones and they work for data sync aswell.

The cable doesn't affect the charging speed.

The chargers are made very cheap and should be made to last longer! We should not be charged so much for the cheap quality! Also the iPhone is way to much highly rated, androids are a lot better and llast longer without the problem

Ken Atwood wrote:

The chargers are made very cheap and should be made to last longer! We should not be charged so much for the cheap quality! Also the iPhone is way to much highly rated, androids are a lot better and llast longer without the problem

Properly taken care of, your cables and adapters should last years. The only one I ever had a problem with was the one that kept getting slammed in a desk drawer. It only lasted a couple of years.

AminataA wrote:

I buy a charger and the 2-3 months, it stops working. You are not alone. I just get a new one every time and throw the previous one away.

That's foolish and wasteful. If you're buying cables from Apple, they come with a one year warranty. If the stop working and there's no damage, you may be eligible to have them replaced. For free.