As we suspected when Apple added a warning to a pre-release version of iOS 7 that non-certified cables may not work reliably with iPhones, the launch version is actually blocking some of them from charging the phone. Certified cables contain a chip that allows them to authenticate.
We first spotted this in a Reddit post, and have since confirmed. The warning message itself is unchanged, but it’s no longer an empty threat – though as seen in comments, some non-certified cables are still working. Possibly ones that use cracked chips. The good news is that there is a workaround for others, but it’s not pretty …
- Turn on USB power
- Plug in lightning cable to iPhone
- Dismiss any warnings
- Unlock your iPhone.
- Dismiss any remaining warnings.
- Now with the screen turned on.
- Unplug the knock off lightning cable.
- Plug it back in.
- Dismiss warning again
- It should now charge.
We suspect people are going to simply buy a certified cable rather than go through that palaver every time they connect. Certified cables have to be built to Apple’s spec, and manufacturers pay a licensing fee for the privilege. The best deals on certified cables at present can be found over on 9to5Toys.
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