Why iPhone or iPad Says This Cable or Accessory Is Not Certified

This Cable or Accessory Is Not Certified

If you are an iPhone or iPad user, have you ever noticed this notification โ€œ This Cable or Accessory is not certified and may not work reliably with this iPhoneโ€ while using for charging or data transfer?

As an Android user I know, I can use any USB data cable or another phone charger to chargeย or for data transferring without any problem.

Apple’s products like the iPhone and iPad use its own lightning connector for charging and data transmission.

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Why we get this error?

Apple actually uses an authentication chip inside lightning cables and other accessories. This is called MFI Certification Program. Here “MFi” stands for ” Made for iPhone”, “Made for iPad” and “Made for iPod”.

You can use third-party cables and accessories, but they must be certified. If the cable or the accessory was not certified by Apple then you will see the warning message โ€œThis Cable or Accessory Is Not Certifiedโ€ when you connect it.

This MFiย certificationย by Apple is to protect your iPhone, iPad. Uncertified cables can damage your iPhone or even the cable can fall apart, get hot, or may not fit well with your device.

The use of uncertified cables may not charge or may not sync well your iPhone with the computer. That’s why you get the message “This cable or accessory is not certified and may not work reliably with this iPhone or iPad”

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This Cable or Accessory Is Not Certifiedwhat is the Solution?

But this doesn’t mean that you have to buy Apple’s cables, since there are less expensive third-party products. So when you buy just to make sure to get the MFi certified ones.

But sometimes this message can appear even if you are using a genuine MFi certified product.

This message could be an Error

I have seen this message a few times even after using the same cable for over a year. Don’t get panicky if you see such a message “This cable or accessory is not certified and may not work reliably with this iPhone or iPad”.

How to fix iPhone cable error

A simple fix is to just unplug it for a moment than plug it again. Most of the time this solves. Obviously this could be a bug.

If you see this message “This cable or accessory is not certified and may not work reliably with this iPhone or iPad” suddenly on your iPhone or iPad while charging or data transfer, just unplug it and plug it into another USB port of your PC. If the message doesn’t appear, you don’t need to worry.

Cable or Accessory could be Damaged

If the message “This cable or accessory is not certified and may not work reliably with this iPhone or iPad” continues to appear, it’s possible the cable itself may be damaged.

Poorer quality cables are vulnerable to damage even if they are MFiย certified. In such a case you may have to buy a new cable.

The second possibility could be, the USB or the charging port on the Phone may be partially obstructed with dust or other debris. Which may prevent the contact pins to connect properly.

Cleaning the contact ports on the phone and USB port with a soft brush would solve these temporary issues.

CONCLUSION

When buying Apple’s data cables (lightning connector) from a third party, make sure it’s ofย good quality and MFi certified.