MOS Spring iPhone Cable Review: Never Break a Cable Again

You probably couldn’t count on one hand how many times you’ve broken an iPhone charging cable, whether it used the old 30-pin connector or the newer Lightning connector, but the MOS Spring iPhone cable looks to put an end to worn-out charging cables.

The MOS Spring is a rugged charging cable that comes with an aluminum housing over the connector portion of the cable on both ends, a weaved metal “exoskeleton” that protects the cable itself, and a spring that’s attached on both ends where the cable meets the connector in order to reinforce the weakest point of a charging cable.

All of that combined makes for an industrial-strength iPhone cable that will hopefully last longer than the iPhone itself.

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It comes with the territory, but iPhone cables can and will break. Usually it’s due to over-stressing the cables to the point where the section of the cable that meets the connector usually splits open and exposes the wires on the inside. While the cable might still work, it’s considered a fire hazard and should be thrown out.

With an iPhone cable costing $20 each from Apple, that cost can add up over time depending on how often your cables break. The MOS Spring, while it costs $30 per cable (for the iPhone Lightning 3-foot), will cost you less in the long run as soon as one of your regular iPhone cables break and you buy another one to replace it, so why not just buy one cable to last you for as long as you need without needing to replace it?

MOS Spring cables come in either microUSB or Lightning variants and are available in different lengths, including 1-foot, 3-foot, 6-foot, and 10-foot lengths with prices ranging from $16 to $40.

The cable itself is not only rugged, but also stylish. Sometimes what ends up happening to products when they get a rugged version is that the design department takes a back seat, but MOS Spring has come up with a solution that fits both categories quite well.

Of course, the biggest question you might have is just how rugged and durable are the MOS Spring cables exactly? I decided to put that to the test and compare it to Apple’s own iPhone Lightning cable to see just how much more durable MOS’s Spring cable is compared to the traditional $20 cable from Apple.

I did a few tests to see how durable the rugged cable is, including hammering on the connector piece, driving an awl into the connector piece, slicing the cable with a utility knife, testing the bend of the cable where the cable meets the connector, and perhaps the true test of them all: seeing how well the cables stand up to pets.

Both cables stood up fairly well to the hammer test. I pounded each connector piece a few times and neither cable broke, although both connectors did suffer some minor wear and tear. On Apple’s iPhone cable, the connector bent just slightly and on the MOS Spring cable, the aluminum caved in a bit where the weaker parts were.

As for driving an awl into the connector piece, both cables suffered. I wasn’t too surprised by the results, but a small part of me wanted the Spring cable to withstand it, but aluminum really isn’t that strong. In fact, I was able to almost puncture the connector all the way through, whereas I wasn’t able to do that with the same amount of force with the connector on the Apple cable.

When it came to the utility knife, I wasn’t too surprised when I could easily cut through Apple’s own iPhone Lightning cable, and it took minimal effort. With the MOS Spring cable, I was able to cut through it as well, but the weaved metal exoskeleton required me to put a lot more force into the cut, which was expected.

The exoskeleton of the MOS Spring cable is really nothing more than small strands of metal that are weaved/braided around a regular rubber housing, which then protects the wires on the inside. It may not seam like a lot of protection, but it actually helps quite a bit.

Testing the bending strength of the cables was an interesting one. The MOS Spring has a spring inserted where the cable meets the connector in order to make that connection stronger, as that’s where usually most iPhone cables break and split open.

I clamped one end of each cable to a table ledge and then tied the other ends to a five pound weight and let them hang. Both cables showed severe bending at the connector, but the MOS Spring cable looked like it was holding up rather well, while Apple’s cable looked like it would split any moment, so the spring that’s inserted on the MOS cable certainly helps.

As for pets, I had my cats chew on both cables, not only to see which cable they liked more or less, but to see if their teeth could eventually get past the exoskeleton of the MOS Spring cable.

First off, both of my cats enjoyed both cables equally. I was hoping they wouldn’t like the Spring cable due to its metal taste that it probably has, but my ignorance has taught me that cats will pretty much just chew on anything that’s nearby.

My cats were able to chew through the metal exoskeleton on the MOS cable, so from there they would have easy access to the inside of the cable by simply just chewing through the normal rubber housing. However, it would certainly take them longer to do so, which could buy you some time depending on when your pets start chewing on the cable and when you stop them.

Overall, the MOS Spring cable isn’t indestructible by any means, and I wouldn’t even say that it’s way more durable than Apple’s own cable. It’s certainly more durable and rugged, but not by a lot. However, that extra protection is all it really takes to prevent your charging cables from constantly breaking, and while you’ll spend $30 for a MOS Spring cable ($10 more than Apple’s own cable), you’ll likely spend less over time by not replacing your cables as often.

It also doesn’t hurt to mention that MOS Spring cables come with lifetime warranties, so even if the cable does break, the company will send you a replacement for free, which is icing on the cake.