4th Generation Ipod Shuffle Charging Cable

I listen to my audio books with a 4th generation iPod Shuffle with an integrated iPod holder/headphone combo. It works exceptionally well.

I have one genuine OEM Apple charging/data transfer cable. I also have several aftermarket cables. The aftermarket cables do not work. Look up these cables on Amazon and you will see plenty of evidence that this is not an isolated phenomenon.

Does anybody have an Apple OEM charging cable for a Gen-4 iPod Shuffle that they would be willing to sell or donate to me? These cables are proprietary to the Gen-4 Shuffle, and to the best of my knowledge, there is no workable substitute.

Thank you.

tanstaafl.

Apple part number and/or photo of the desired Apple cable?

Wow, it's no wonder that you're having trouble with the aftermarket cables. This page...

https://www.ifixit.com/Answers/View/130949/What's+the+cable+pinouts

... says that there's some electronics inside the cable, it's not merely a set of pinout connectors. So maybe the aftermarket ones don't have the correct electronics inside them. (But then, how can they get away with still selling them, I wonder, since I would expect none of them would ever work?)

It charges thru the headphone jack? Inspired...

If so, no wonder it has chips in the cable.

Having bought cheap aftermarket accessories that are useless or near as, I've only managed to motivate myself to leave a bad review once. Returns on something that you paid a few quid for? Never done that either. Nowadays I use Anker cables whenever I need replacements.

No help, but explains why some totally useless junk is still available for sale.

The longer cable is the non-functional aftermarket cable.

My wife tried to buy an OEM cable at the Apple store in California (Palo Alto?) and was told that Apple doesn't support such old technology and the cables are no longer available.

Perhaps there is an Apple super-store somewhere that might have them in stock?

tanstaafl.

Honestly, if you're looking to support such an old device, I think your best bet is going to be buying a whole other used device that already comes with a cable. I can't begin to understand what the market is like in your area, but I just checked and saw a bunch around me for $18-25.

Oddly enough, I might have that genuine Apple cable in a stash of old/oddball USB cables. Problem is I will not be able to check until April as I am traveling.

I cannot recall if we used to have the matching music player or why I would have that cable

Which is exactly how I ended up with my non-working aftermarket cable. I think maybe people sell their Gen-4 Shuffles when they lose their cable and buy an aftermarket cable that doesn't work so they pass their problem on to the next guy.

I have one working cable, another that rarely works, and am looking for a reliable spare cable that I can use to charge the iPod in the bedroom instead of having to hook it up to my computer.

tanstaafl.

How does it connect to the computer to charge?

You could replace it with a Karma...

Seriously, why not replace it with a Nano? Regular Apple cable available everywhere.

Because I have these headphones. (Picture is of a Gen-2 Shuffle, but they make [used to make - no longer in production] a similar setup for the Gen-4.

The Shuffle fits behind your head, and the wires loop over your ears.

It is so nice not having to deal with dangling wires or earbuds that fall out of my ears. I have yet to find anything that compares to ease of use and general non-complication.

tanstaafl.

The charge cable doubles as a data transfer cable. You can plug the USB end of it into your computer or into a power brick with 5V USB output.

tanstaafl.

I haven't seen anything like that since "Rise of the Cybermen".