Lightning Cable to USB .. Do I need a genuine Apple cable

DullGreyGuy

Andy_L said:

WLM21 said:

DullGreyGuy said:

So why not just use the new phone cable if its lightning?

There are three levels with Apple... their own products, certified products and uncertified products. All will work fine but if you use the final option you are may to get a warning message about it being uncertified but can easily dismiss it. 

Had many Amazon Basic cables that were always fine and didnt trigger messages

My PC would need a USB A connection .. her new phone takes the USB C fitting

I'm surprised a PC hasn't got a USB A socket on it. 

I'm confused

the new phone has a USB C socket & a USB C plug to lightning plug cable?

So why do you need a new USB to lightning cable

The PC only has USB A whereas the cable is USB C @Andy_L hence suggestion of getting a C to A adapter as this probably won't be the only time the issue arrises. 

There are a fair few laptops these days that are USB C/Thunderbolt only. 

Andy_L

DullGreyGuy said:

Andy_L said:

DullGreyGuy said:

So why not just use the new phone cable if its lightning?

There are three levels with Apple... their own products, certified products and uncertified products. All will work fine but if you use the final option you are may to get a warning message about it being uncertified but can easily dismiss it. 

Had many Amazon Basic cables that were always fine and didnt trigger messages

My PC would need a USB A connection .. her new phone takes the USB C fitting

I'm surprised a PC hasn't got a USB A socket on it. 

I'm confused

the new phone has a USB C socket & a USB C plug to lightning plug cable?

So why do you need a new USB to lightning cable

The PC only has USB A whereas the cable is USB C @Andy_L hence suggestion of getting a C to A adapter as this probably won't be the only time the issue arrises. 

There are a fair few laptops these days that are USB C/Thunderbolt only. 

Ah, needs a usb a in the sense of a cable with a usb a plug on the end of it, not needs to have a usb a skt in the PC.
Suddenly everything makes sense 

Newcad

WLM21 said:

Newcad said:

I also have a drive plugged into the USB port of my hub/router so can put/save things on there from any device that's connected to my wifi and pick them up later on another device when that's connected.

That looks like a brilliant idea .. could you explain a little more please and perhaps suggest a suitable drive.

Well the fist thing that you need of course is a USB port on your hub/riuter that can take a USB connected drive.
As for what kind of drive, I've had a 16GB USB stick in there, a 250GB SSD in a USB enclosure, and it's currently got a 75GB HDD in the enclosure (I put the SSD into a laptop and put the old laptop drive in the enclosure).

Basically any drive that can plug into a USB port.

Once you have it plugged into the hub/router then you have to get your devices to recognise it , that's slightly different depending on if it's Windows, Android, Mac, iOS, Linux, and so on.
You'll find how-to's for each on the web.

eg. For Windows it's known as 'Mapping' the drive:

First you may (probably will) need to turn on SMB1 or SMB2 file sharing in Windows.
(Note that some don't like doing that as it is an older, so less secure, file sharing protocol. That is why it's now off by default in Windows but it is still provided if you want/need it).
Go to Control Panel, Programs and features, Turn Windows features on or off.
Scroll down & tick the SMB 1.0 or SMB 2.0 box. (If there's a pullout tick all options).
Next:
Open File Explorer.
Go to This PC and click the Computer tab.
Click Map Network Drive.

(Note that's showing 'Y:' for the drive letter because I've already used 'Z:')
Give it drive letter Z: and the path to the drive. That will be the IP address of the hub/router and the port name, typically something like:- \\192.168.1.254\usb1 (That's the USB port on a BT Smarthub2)
You should be able to browse to it.

Click Finish.
You can now access the drive in File Explorer, (as long as you are connected to the hub by wifi or cable), and can rename it if wanted.
I call mine simply 'Hub Storage'

EDIT:
Note that if like me you do have a BT SmartHub2 then it can be a problem getting Android file manager apps to recognise it and thus the usb drive.
That's apparently because the SH2 does not require a username only a password, and the Android file managers all seem to require a valid username before they will connect.
I currently get round that by connecting my Windows laptops to CX File explorer on Android over wifi, my laptops do have a username/password so no such connection problem to the Android file managers..

WLM21

OP here .. thank you for all the great replies

PHK

oldernonethewiser said:

I have always bought cheap cables for Apple devices from Poundland or similar.  Not an issue.

Agreed, they have the MFI chip and are better than some branded makes when tested. They even do a 65W version. 

But I also think there are better solutions than connecting with a cable. For example, the videos will be saved to iCloud which can be accessed on the PC and has the advantage of giving an offsite backup. (And if you don’t like iCloud then use OneDrive, Gdrive etc)

WLM21

PHK said:

. For example, the videos will be saved to iCloud which can be accessed on the PC and has the advantage of giving an offsite backup. (And if you don’t like iCloud then use OneDrive, Gdrive etc)

Not being a regular user of Apple products I don't use iClouid, but looking at pries .. only £2.99 per month for 200GB of storage

How much would I need to upload, say 40 minutes of video clips, filmed in '1080' resolution.

Once the film was edited etc I would remove the files, then just leave what I need on my PC

PHK

if you go into Settings/Camera/Record Video it shows you how much storage a minute takes at the different resolutions. 

40minutes at 1080p 60fps will be about 4Gb. Depending what else you’ve got stored in iCloud that would fit into the free tier. 

oldernonethewiser

PHK said:

oldernonethewiser said:

I have always bought cheap cables for Apple devices from Poundland or similar.  Not an issue.

Agreed, they have the MFI chip and are better than some branded makes when tested. They even do a 65W version. 

But I also think there are better solutions than connecting with a cable. For example, the videos will be saved to iCloud which can be accessed on the PC and has the advantage of giving an offsite backup. (And if you don’t like iCloud then use OneDrive, Gdrive etc)

I air drop any videos I have on my phone (currently none) to laptop, edit/tweak as required and save to my local NAS then delete off laptop.

 I'm too mean (moneysaving?) to pay a third party for storage

DullGreyGuy

oldernonethewiser said:
 I'm too mean (moneysaving?) to pay a third party for storage

Having had a family member that had a major fire that took out their computers and NAS resulting in the loss of all their photos/videos etc then having an offsite/cloud based backup may not be "money saving" but can avoid a total loss of these things. 

EnPointe

WLM21 said:

I want to use my wife's old iPhone to take some videos but will need a cable to link it with my PC.

I had a 3 way cable but it is no longer working .. why, who knows

I've always just been content with buying cheap cables for my Android phones and even previously with my wife's old iPhones.

Is it really worth buying the genuine Apple cable .. is this guaranteed to last a decent length of time ?

My own phone Nokia 7+ is well over 4 years old but the original cable is still working 100%, for file transfer and charging

Sadly her new phone has a USB-C to lightning cable

you  don't an Apple branded  cable, although for peace of mind over it  working properly  getting a  cable which has  'made for iphone ' / 'miade of ios'  approvals   is supposed to be the least pain free  way ... 

i'm not  an IoS expert, my  own  IT kit is  either windows or  Android/ Samsung oneUI  although i do have na ipad for work purposes supplied by my employer  ( but most of the things i might need to do at home i  can do via office 365 or  remote desktop)