by Recently, we reported that Apple was taking a tough stance on how it controlled the sharing of technology surrounding its new Lightning connector. Cupertino was trying to maintain some oversight on who received the information, but according to a new report, it seems third-party developers have already broken past the deadlock.
MacRumors is reporting that a Chinese company, iPhone5mod, has managed to work through Apple’s chip technology and plans to mass-produce alternative Lightning-ready accessories. In fact, iPhone5mod appears to have already produced a Lightning dock station for iPhone 5.
The departure of the old standard, the 30-pin connector, is seen as both a step forward and a curse by many iOS users. Sure, the tiny little Lightning connector takes up less space in the now larger display of the iPhone 5. But man — replacing all those accessories is going to be the pits. And using your existing products requires an expensive adapter.
The iPhone5mod-produced dock allegedly uses Lightning chips from an Apple supplier, meaning the docks should work as advertised. But more enlightening, is the company’s admission to also acquiring “cracked” chips, meant to bypass authorization standards installed by Apple.
If the news of cracked chips is legit, expect a coming wave of knockoff Lightning accessories and adapters. Moreover, expect the Apple legal team to start revving its engines. iPhone5mod’s site has already buckled under the traffic.
The iPhone5mod dock, with its light-up blue cable, looks a bit on the cheap side. Whenever third-party products like this show up on the market, it’s a smart move to question how well it even works. I still own a third-party iPhone charger that renders my screen unusable any time I plug the crummy cord in to a socket.
