When it comes to purchasing Apple products and their accessories, you have no doubt noticed that they are quite a bit more expensive than similar brands on the market. Particularly, when it comes to their lightning charging cables, which can run you anywhere from $25 to $50 for the cable alone and upwards of $80-95 for a cable and its adapter[1]. The high price for these is justified, as they come with MFI certification, ensuring that your iPhone or iPad is safe from damage, hackers, and malicious hardware. In this article, we will take a look at why you should only shop for MFI-certified cables for your iPhone.
What Is MFI Certification Exactly?
The MFI Certification program was launched back in 2005 by Apple as an assurance policy that all accessories and their corresponding chargers would work with the original connecting block; that being the connector in your iPhone or iPad. With this certification program came exacting standards that demanded high-quality, so that Apple’s cables could not be tampered with.
Any lightning cable that you purchase from a retailer that sells Apple products, should come with an MFI logo and be MFI certified, as this ensures that the manufacturer that this retailer has used has followed the associated testing process required by Apple and has paid a royalty to Apple to advertise the product as MFI certified.
How Do You Recognize an MFI Cable From an Uncertified Cable?
If you are not purchasing directly from Apple’s webstore or an Apple physical location, and choose to instead purchase from a retailer, then you need to look out for the signs that a cable is certified as MFI. Here is how to tell the difference.
- Look for products that have the “Made For” badge, which indicates that the lightning charging cable was made for iPhone, iPad, and iPod. While these badges can show up on uncertified products, they always follow the same wording and always have just the Apple icon as the only graphic on the badge. If the badge has an iPod, iPhone, or iPad symbol or the wording is off, this is an uncertified cable.
- All lightning cables will come with a fine print that tells you where the cable was designed, what country it was manufactured in, followed by a 12-digit serial number. This will appear directly on the cable or the original packaging.
- All lightning cable connectors will be manufactured in one single piece, will be smooth to the eye, will be rounded, and have gold or silver-colored contacts. The width of the connector will always be 7.7mm x 12mm in length and the faceplate insert will always be a grey/light metallic color.
For instance, the 10-foot long MFI-certified cable from Mila Lifestyle Accessories fits the above specifications for being a true Apple-approved cable accessory. It comes in rose gold and black, has the gold connector and light metallic faceplate, and the correct “Made For” badge. You can read more about other differentiating factors, here.
What Are The Benefits of Using an MFI Cable?
You want to shop for only MFI-certified cables as they ensure that your iPhone or iPad will not become damaged, prone to hackers, or cause you significant harm if they fail. An MFI-certified cable will come with a long warranty, will be expensive, will be equipped with fast charging features, will use a strong connector, and will be very durable. They will not break if stepped on, are very flexible, and will not fade in color. You will not have any charging issues (cable side), your cable will not overheat, and the cable will not stop working.