Almost Died in a Fire

[tp4tissue]

Tp4 charge ifone, download photos, unplug, 5 minutes later, smelled smoke, thought it might be summer bbq, but windows were closed and it was raining outside, 

Turned computer chair around, looked down,  a String of White Smoke erupting from a deadly apple product wafting in the air reaching all the way to the ceiling.

Lessons:

- Charging cables are a fire hazard.

- This is an official 1st party ifone lightning cable, only 3 feet long.

- Don't ever try to save a buck on cables

- If they're even slightly damaged, just buy a new one.

Your floor, carpet, House, LIFE is worth more than whatever it costs.
Damn you apple, I will continue to only buy your stupidly overpriced cables.

[CaesarAZealad]

Are you sure this isn't a sign from the heavens to stop using apple products?

[fohat.digs]

stop using apple products

Haven't most people known this for decades?

[tp4tissue]

Are you sure this isn't a sign from the heavens to stop using apple products?

can't ... leave... bought so many apps... i'm , it's tooo strogn... hnnnghh.....

[Darthbaggins]

Sitting here with my Pixel 6 Pro completely happy with my USB-C/Wireless charging

[chyros]

Are you sure this isn't a sign from the heavens to stop using apple products?

I was just about to say this, a whole list of takeaways and NONE about how he shouldn't ever use apple products again >.> .0

[CaesarAZealad]

Are you sure this isn't a sign from the heavens to stop using apple products?

can't ... leave... bought so many apps... i'm , it's tooo strogn... hnnnghh.....

Show Image

Hate to be this guy but, sunken cost fallacy.

[pixelpusher]

Probably depends on region, but no one in my family and no one I have associated with in the past 10 years has anything other than iPhones.  I asked my son if he ever saw non-Apple devices around his friends.  Absolutely not. Apple isn't going anywhere and a cord melting won't change that.  The only people in this part of the US that have something other than iPhone are elderly and the same guys who pimp out their computer setups with Turtle Beach headphones and racing chairs. 

Truthfully, the only other phones I've seen in at least a decade are on MKBHD reviews or LTT doing benchmarks.

Hopefully it won't be an issue for much longer with everything moving to wireless charging eventually.  At least I've never heard of a wireless charger cord catching fire.. yet 

Anyway... glad you didnt burn up and die, TP

[tp4tissue]

the problem with android right now is battery life, and slowing down to a crawl if you don't reset every few years.

they need a tighter cpu and os integration.

[pixelpusher]

Also, I forgot to comment on how amazing the human sense of smell is.  See, it saved you from a fire.  I've told my family several times, if they smell something off, let someone know.  Our noses are pretty good, even if not on par with our feline and canine friends.  My nose has found a melting wall plug (smells like cat piss btw) caused by a loose wire at the junction, and a broken ice maker line (smelled mold that was growing under the floor behind the fridge).  👃 the nose knows

The downside to this rule in my home is that my teenage son takes it pretty seriously.  So if I'm cooking and he's upstairs, he'll often come running down and say "I smell something burning!"  Oh well.  Better safe than sorry

[phinix]

Lesson: don't buy anymore i****.

[fohat.digs]

I asked my son if he ever saw non-Apple devices around his friends.

My kids are in their 20s now, but they got phones areound 2010 and we always got them Androids. Every couple of years we would get a new contract and upgrade the phones. (They and I were on one contract but my ex-wife was always an Apple minion.)

I would talk to them about the high school cell phone scene and the majority of their friends had Android phones and they, at least, preferred them to Apple. This was in a "nice" suburb of the Atlanta area.

[Leslieann]

Don't ever try to save a buck on cables

Hard disagree.
A cable that meets spec is a cable that meets spec, doesn't matter if it costs $1 or $1000.

That said, it's well known in I.T. that Apple cables are junk.
Particularly, but not exclusive to Lightning, are known to be absolute dog sh*t. Almost all are known to break at the strain relief if not the cord itself. It kills me when an Apple laptop charger is easily $80+ and lasts a few years but a $10 Ebay purchased generic Lenovo replacement will go 10+ years and be perfectly fine.

Go look up broken Apple cables, they're just trash. This was on Reddit just the other day and while extreme it's far from abnormal.  (btw, magnetic cables all the way....)

[tp4tissue]

Hard disagree.
A cable that meets spec is a cable that meets spec, doesn't matter if it costs $1 or $1000.

The money is pretty close to a prayer, i agree, but we don't really know for certain if apple's failure rate is higher or lower,  they are likely as the first party the most present cables / bundled or other wise, so one can see how the reports can skew, by people who paid more, who are more outraged,  but also because there are more users out there.

But let's look at motivation, they have a managed supply chain and an interest "even if minimal" to keep things from catching on fire.

whereas these other brands/ manufacturers are out for the quick buck, they might give you the full gauge, but then save the fractions of a penny on termination, and that's where it goes poof. 

WHO ELSE really, can Tp4 give more money to mitigate risk ?

99% of a cable's lifespan is unmanaged,  Tp4 was LUCKY to escape a fire-y inferno on this 1 cable.  but most other cables around the house are not visible ever.  No amount of monitoring could've caught this.

[PlayBox]

really these cables are trash as an android person i had countless cables but really only 1-2 broke but i also use micro-usb (no money to upgrade) so that's a reason too but none broke like that trash iphone cables i have seen many broken ones

[fohat.digs]

magnetic cables all the way

100%

I started using them about 5years ago and that is the only way to go. I have about 4 cables (desk, car, office, laptop) and simply buy a new socket tip for every device.

No need to worry, the same cables drive them all. And you can plug and unplug them with one hand, even in the dark or out of sight. Not to mention that they are fully breakaway so not even a chance for damage.

But they will need to be cleaned occasionally because they do find scraps and crumbs of iron from time to time ....

[Leslieann]

The money is pretty close to a prayer, i agree, but we don't really know for certain if apple's failure rate is higher or lower,  they are likely as the first party the most present cables / bundled or other wise, so one can see how the reports can skew, by people who paid more, who are more outraged,  but also because there are more users out there.

But let's look at motivation, they have a managed supply chain and an interest "even if minimal" to keep things from catching on fire.

Apple failure rate being higher? On Lightning, absolutely. I've seen soo darn many complaints.
One reason they're bad is the same reason micro B is bad, it was designed to fail rather than damage the port. I can easily forgive that, but Apple didn't put a proper strain relief and uses "premium feel" coatings which crack and peel. Combine the two and you wind up with a cable that has a horrible lifespan. If it's not tugging the port it's tugging the cable across the relief and you wind up with exactly with what you got. They also suffer from "black middle pin" phenomena, an electrical arc goes across the pins and burns them out. Same for older Macbook cables, just garbage to the extent there's a HUGE aftermarket just for cords.

Yours failed pretty much the same way as everyone else's just in a bit more dramatic fashion, they usually just stop charging and Apple people being Apple people shrug and go buy another. My first Macbook charger tried to do the same and it was Magsafe 2, it's just that the cords are garbage.

All my Apple stuff (Ipads only at this point) are on magnetic usb, I won't fool around with those delicate piles of garbage anymore. Plus, I can use one cord for everything, instead of a dedicated one just for one stupid device because the company wants to keep making money off the cables.