Last updated April 12, 2019
Apple aren’t making it easy for third party companies or individuals to recreate their own expensive Lightning cable, to sell for a fraction of the price to cash strapped iPhone 5 owners.
So what is getting in the way of making a cheaper version of this cable? We can now look deeper into the chip that is at the center of the problem:
What is the main factor?
In each official Lightning cable there is an authenticator device, this device is hidden and is the main factor to why third party companies cannot create their own cheaper version. There are a total of four chips in the Lightning cable some of which are simple whilst two are more complicated.
One of the chips, has really gained some attention.
Chipworks, the company who have taken apart the device were quoted in saying:
“The security does not come close to the herculean approaches that are used in (for example) today’s printer cartridges, but resembles the level of effort that cartridge manufacturers used to implement in the olden days. This is likely a calculated decision by Apple to keep costs to a minimum knowing that their core customer base prefers to shop in Apple stores or for brand name peripherals. In these places, piracy is not a concern. In other words, at this time the security is “just enough.”
What this means is while Apple claims no third party company will be able to create their own cable, that in time replacements will be made as this is only a slow-down process at the moment.
It is just a matter of time until some serious engineering brain power gets to the bottom of the chip, and cracks it!