Before the iPhone 11 made its debut this year, Apple had been using the same sync and charging cables for seven years: a 3-foot cable with a USB-A connector on one end and a Lightning connector on the other.
This came with a small square 5W USB-A adapter.
Even after the iPhone started offering support for 10W charging a few years ago, Apple still bundled it with a 5W adapter.
This continued after the release of the iPhone X and iPhone 8, which offered super-fast USB-C pro charging.
This meant that iPhone owners who wanted faster charging had to buy their own adapters, and with the iPhone X models, also a USB-C Lightning cable.
Apple finally gave in to consumer demand this year and began shipping the iPhone 11 Pro models with an 18W USB-C adapter plus a USB-C Lightning cable.
Only the Pro models were given that upgrade though – the standard iPhone 11 models still have to get by with the same old Lightning cable and USB-A adapter.
After seven years of including the same adapter and charging cable with every iPhone, however, the new system seemingly confuses Apple’s suppliers.
Slovakian Apple blog Svetapple.sk reported recently that when a buyer called Michal unpacked his iPhone 11 Pro Max, he discovered that it came with the old USB-A to Lightning cable.
He wrote to Svetapple.sk about this, saying that everything else was as it should be except for the Lightning cable with a USB-A instead of a USB-C on one end.
The phone came with the right 18W USB-C charger though, so he could not charge it.
He believes that the error might have been made in China, where these devices are packaged.
With some iPhone 11 models currently being sold with a USB-A to Lightning cable and others with a USB-C version, it’s easy to see how this mistake could happen, and how it could easily happen again.