Dankly, Anker announces two USB-C to Lightning Cables

Oh yeah, wrap a bandana round your head, hop on your hog, and roar off into the desert: Anker’s planning on releasing two USB-C to Lightning cables. One (mainly) for charging, and the other for audio.

Anker will release the first cable-to-end-all-cables in March, and the second one in April. All I can say is I’M SO PUMPED.

First, let’s take a look at the first USB-C to Lightning cable – the one meant for charging:

This makes me want to tear my shirt off and run screaming through the streets.

Basically, this release follows Apple’s 2018 announcement that it would let Made For iPhone (MFi) accessory manufacturers create USB-C to Lightning cables.

Of course, Apple already sells these cables at a totally, utterly, one hundred percent reasonable price of $20 for one meter. Honestly, if it was up to me? I’d pay much more than that.

But wait, you want more dirt on these cables? What are they gonna be like? Well, 9to5mac got the scoop. Anker’s going to release two types: a Powerline+, which features “a cable encased in an aluminum shell and reinforced with Anker’s famous braided nylon.” And a standard Powerline version, that’ll be “covered with aramid fiber for extra strength and a bend lifespan of over 5X higher than any other cable in the market.”

This brought up one pressing question: how do you measure a cable’s “bend lifespan?” So I asked Anker.

“We test every single cable we make in our labs against the competitition,” an Anker spokesperson told me. “We have a machine that bends the cable’s tips up to 30,000 times. The PowerLine resists up to 5x the bends of other brands.”

I think we can all agree that we need to meet this machine.

What about the other cable?

Alongside the aforementioned wire, Anker is releasing another one that’s meant for audio. Specifically, it has a male USB-C connection and a female Lightning port.

Feast your eyes on this:

It’s like a sunset and a sunrise combined.

Here’s the rationale. If for some godforsaken reason you decided to buy a pair of headphones with a Lightning cable, you’re pretty much stuck only listening to your iPhone. With this little cable you’ll be able to plug your Lightning headphones (why???) into a USB-C slot.

You know, like the ones on every single new MacBook. So, if you happen to have a pair of Lightning headphones (my god, what were you thinking when you bought them?), you should thank Anker.

Uh-oh, but what’s this I’ve heard about Apple moving to USB-C?

Another intriguing aspect of this story is a report we covered yesterday. Basically, Apple is (supposedly) planning on scrapping the Lightning port from its phones all together.

Of course, this will be a good thing for almost every iPhone user, but there’s something vaguely delicious about this news coming out at the same time as Anker’s announcement. We asked the company about it.

“Anker already provides some of the best USB-C to USB-C cables on the market,” a spokesperson told me.

Okay then.

Stay tuned to Plugged for more updates about Anker gear and to find out precisely when in March and April the USB-C to Lightning cables are released. Dank stuff, indeed.

If you can’t wait that long for some sweet Anker gear, here are some products from the company we’re huge fans of:

The beastly PowerCore 26800 portable charger
The pocket-sized Astro E1 power pack
The wonderful useful PowerPort 6 USB wall charger

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Story by Callum Booth

Callum Booth is a freelance journalist with over a decade of experience. Previously, he was the Managing Editor of TNW, where his reporting (show all) Callum Booth is a freelance journalist with over a decade of experience. Previously, he was the Managing Editor of TNW, where his reporting was cited widely, including in VICE, the FT, and the BBC. Callum’s writing has appeared in The Verge, The Daily Telegraph, Time Out, and many more. He covers the full spectrum of technology, with a particular focus on how it shapes our daily lives. And a lot of regulation stuff too. Outside of work, Callum’s an avid bookworm, a Fisherman’s Friends addict, and resolutely unshaven. Follow him on Twitter @CallumBooth or visit www.callumbooth.net.