
If you’re looking to buy the best iPhone charger cables in 2023, you can skip the $20 plain-white cord at the Apple store. Before long, Amazon was chock-full of cables that were stronger, faster, and (usually) cheaper than those you’d find at Apple. In the midst of this revolution, a constellation of third-party retailers started to get their act together. (Who even remembers Micro-USB cables or that weird 30-pin connector?) In addition, all Apple phones since the 2017 iPhone 8 now support wireless charging, no Lightning cable required. Lightning cables are old news, since almost all Android phones and new MacBook Pros now charge with USB-C ports. In the years since, the universe of cable standards has changed a lot. And the cheapest of them charged so slowly you probably would have been better off using some kind of novelty hand crank. They felt janky, wobbling when you plugged them into charging ports and resisting when you pulled them out. They didn’t always successfully connect to your computer or iPad.

When the Lightning cable was first introduced in 2012, all the third-party alternatives to Apple’s own cable were basically junk.

After all, the company’s phones, headphones, and accessories all use a proprietary connection you won’t see on any non-Apple products.

You’d be forgiven for assuming the best iPhone charger cable comes from Apple.
