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Looking for a rugged Lightning cable for your iPhone or iPad? Check out the MOS Spring Lightning cable

Regular readers will know that I'm not a big fan of Apple's Lightning cables because they don't seem a bit fragile. I may have found the perfect replacement.
Written by Adrian Kingsley-Hughes, Contributing Writer
MOS Spring Lightning cable

If you're a regular reader, then you'll know that I'm not a big fan of Apple's Lightning cable. Now I'm the first to admit that I'm more bull than ballerina when it comes to how I handle my gear, but I'd really expect a cable that retails for $20 ($30 for the 2-meter variety) to last more than a year.

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Before you all start shouting at me, I know I could have made a pilgrimage to my nearest Apple store, plead poverty (I am, after all, a Mac owner), and probably got a free or replacement cable. But my nearest Apple store is a good 90 minutes away, and walking out with just a cable would feel so wrong. Also, without it my iPhone's battery starts counting down the minutes until it's dead, so it's not something I can live without for long.

And anyway, I'd much rather a cable that lasts than have to landfill one every year.

The folks over at MOS read about my predicament and offered to send me one of their durable cables for testing. I admire their bravery, because I take any company's offer of sending me something billed as "durable" as a challenge.

Challenge accepted.

Enter the MOS Spring Lightning cable.

This is a lightning cable like no other I've used.

First off, the cable itself feels tough. It features a woven exoskeleton jacket and a more robust inner insulator. It's slightly stiffer than a regular Lightning cable, but that is a feature because it means it doesn't get into a tangle.

Then there's the carbon steel spring strain relief on each end protecting what I see as the most vulnerable bit of a cable. The constant handling and bending is what destroys a cable, and this spring takes the strain instead of the cable.

Finally, each connector has a brushed aluminum finish, which not only looks good, but also adds durability to the cable. It also has a positive feel to it when inserting and removing the connectors.

And if all that is not enough, the cables are MFi (made for iPhone/iPod/iPad) certified by Apple (so you know they work, unlike some of the cheap rubbish out there), and every cable comes with a lifetime warranty in case things go bad.

I've only had the cable for a few days but I've started putting it through its paces, and so far I've not really put a dent in it. I've trodden on it, rolled over it with my office chair, thrown it about, kicked it about, yanked on it, stretched it, and generally ill-treated it far beyond what I'd do to a normal cable, and it still looks (and, more importantly, works) like new.

Over the coming months I'm going to put this cable through its paces, and I'll report back to you on how it stands up to daily use. But right now, based on the fit, finish, overall quality, and the durability it has displayed, I have no problems recommending it.

The MOS Spring Lightning cable comes in lengths ranging from 1 foot to 10 foot, and prices range from $19.95 to $39.95. There's also a micro-USB version for Android users.

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