ZDNet:

Over the last few months I’ve bought and tested a couple dozen USB-to-Lightning cables in the sub-$10 price bracket, and all in all, they’re pretty gnarly.

So what’s wrong with them?

Well, first off, every cable I bought that claimed to be a “genuine” Apple cable was a counterfeit. And poor quality counterfeits at that.

It’s frustrating that Apple charges so much for a “simple” cable but trying to save money may actually do more harm in the long run. Stick to “name brand” cables.