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3-in-1 charging cable: get yourself a cheap multi-purpose charger

Charging cables are the bane of our existence. Not only are they easy to lose, but each device has different needs and a full set of adapters or separate wires quickly becomes a tangled mess.

Sure, you can use the same Lightning cable for both an iPhone and an iPad – but once you throw others devices into the mix you’re going to need to branch out.

Kindles, Android tablets, and consumer cameras usually charge via Micro USB, while the latest MacBooks are amongst a growing range of devices that rely on USB-C for power. Keeping track is a headache, especially if you often take more than one of these devices on the road with you.

If only there were a single cable that could deal with all three ports…

What’s that? There is?

Cable aficionados Anker have recently released a 3-in-1 charging cable with built-in adapters for each of the aforementioned ports: Lightning, Micro USB, and USB-C. You’ll still need to provide your own wall adapter (like the one that comes with the standard iPhone or iPad cable) but this wire is pretty much ready for anything at any time.

Anker’s cables are approved by Apple’s MFi certification team, meaning the quality is up there with first-party Apple products, and the price is surprisingly low for something that could replace three entire cables. It’s usually available for around $15.

As spotted by iMore, you can get a few bucks more off the price by using the coupon code ANKER436 over at Amazon, which drops the price to a shade over $11. Unfortunately, there’s no coupon code in the UK, but its current price of £11 will hardly break the bank.

This is one of the most useful cables we’ve seen at this kind of price point. Definitely worth picking up to escape the circles of Cable Hell.