Apple or PQI

Cheaper ones seem to be junk, fail quickly, and don't work reliably.

Apple or Anker. As above, cheap is junk.

Whatever is cheapest and highly rated on amazon.com 

The interface is awful and I have had a lot of failures even on expensive or genuine cables. 

In general cables are one of the things you need to be really picky with. While I don't have an iPhone the same rules apply regardless of the type of cable you're buying.

In general cheap = rubbish and there typically aren't many exceptions to this. I only ever buy braided cables now as they don't tangle as easily.

Check the Amazon reviews as it's probably the best place to get an idea of the quality.

sbiddle:

 

In general cables are one of the things you need to be really picky with. While I don't have an iPhone the same rules apply regardless of the type of cable you're buying.

 

In general cheap = rubbish and there typically aren't many exceptions to this. I only ever buy braided cables now as they don't tangle as easily.

 

Check the Amazon reviews as it's probably the best place to get an idea of the quality.

 

 

 

I have found Anker pretty good and consistent with Apple's MFI.

My micro usb last longer than the lightning cables in our household.

Not to get too far off topic, but this is the strangest aspect of Lightning cables durability for me. Micro USB cables never fail as often as Lightning cables in my experience, as well.

Cheap ones are crap.  I tend to mainly use the genuine ones that come with the device.  Somehow with proper treatment they just last.  Shock horror.  

Aside from that I have a couple of Belkins that are good too.  I have one in my car that has three interchangeable attachments for Lightning, USB-C, and Micro-USB.  That's mainly for passengers to use depending on their device.