A Chinese company has made it possible to use cheap non-certified Apple Lightning accessories after they “solved” a security issue that resulted in an iOS 7 warning popping on users buying non-Apple certified products.
IPhone5mod claims that their solution is hardware based, and irreversible by Apple unless the company redesigns its Lightning technology or tries suing the Chinese company.
Authorised Lightning accessories use a proprietary authentication chip. This allows Apple to charge accessory manufacturers a significant licence fee when manufacturing a product that connects to an Apple product.
The design has been slammed by critics, since it allows Apple to exercise more control over the iOS accessories market than it had with the previous 30-pin connection format. It has also resulted in the Australian market for docks collapsing, with several manufacturers moving to Bluetooth docks.
Apple claims the chips as a way of ensuring better quality.
IPhone5mod is now selling five iOS 7-compatible accessories, include three cables and two iPhone 5 docks.
IPhone5mod is the first entity to offer uncertified Lightning accessories. which are now being sold in Australia.
