Apple's Lightening Strikes Again

Everyone here knows about my thoughts regarding Apple's iPhone5 and the new "lightening cable" it sports. In addition to the limited supply of available cables some users are now reportably experiencing troubles getting the USB end of the cables to unplug from their computers and other devices. Now I myself have not experienced this but I only used mine for about 3 days before boxing it and going back to the 4S.

CNET reports that several people describe problems getting the cables out of the USB ports on their computers, with some going so far as to break out pliers and even take their machines into one of Apple's retail stores to get the cable unplugged.

While USB is a standard spec, manufacturers can have design variations. I have seen this myself from time to time on USB devices.

AppleCare support reportably stated that "they were aware of the problem" and providing replacement cables to those with any issues. It's unclear whether those cables differ from the ones available at launch.

As I reported in an earlier post "lightning" is Apple's new plug technology, which replaces the 30-pin adapters that date back to early iPods. Its key benefit is the smaller iPhone connector, which is 80 percent smaller than the previous connector. Users can also plug it in with either side up. I have experienced this and it really is a nice advantage. No more trying to figure what is up and what is down. Despite these benefits, the new technology will present a costly change for people who have multiple cables just like me that they use in their car, home and at work. Apple includes one out of the box with its latest iPhone but additional cables are probably weeks out from being available.

In addition reports are being made that Apple has placed a "chip" in this cable which will either greatly reduce or remove the ability for outside manufactures to provide less expensive cables. I am not really happy about this and I am keeping hope alive that this report is untrue.