Apple’s Lightning Cable Prone to Corrosion

[iPhone News]

When Apple introduced the new Lightning cable, not everyone was happy. Those who have bought cases and accessories for previous devices, would now have to purchase ones that supported Lightning. Although these are other solutions out there, including adapters and Bluetooth receivers for things like speaker docks, the Lightning cable still shot down many of […]

Read more...

 

[DaveM]

Gold plated contacts don't corrode, and they aren't degraded by moisture. But a contact that has the gold plating scraped off of it that exposes the metal beneath will certainly corrode, especially when exposed to moisture. The contact has to be a gold alloy - pure gold is too soft to stand up to the wear of being plugged/unplugged. Lastly, the gold plating has to be thick enough to hold up over the expected life of the cable. Even a harder gold plating gets a little worn off of it each time it's plugged and unplugged.