Slashdot Mirror
Apple Is Letting Companies Make 3.5mm To Lightning Cables Now (9to5mac.com)
Apple has updated the specs for its Made-For-iPhone accessories program, letting accessory makers put USB-C ports on licensed devices, as well as create 3.5mm to Lightning cables for the first time. 9to5Mac reports: With the new specs, companies in the MFi program can now include USB-C receptacles on their officially certified iOS and Mac accessories for charging. That allows users to charge MFi accessories with a USB-C cable and or power adapter they might already have, for example, and also draw power from the USB port on a Mac using the same cable. It also has other advantages for manufacturers. Apple's documentation for the new specs lists battery packs and speakers as products that could benefit from using a USB-C receptacle. Products are also allowed to bundle USB-C cables with the MFi accessories, but manufacturers can opt to not include a cable or adapter and reduce their costs and or price in the process. Unlike with Lightning receptacles, Apple does not allow the port to be used for passthrough charging or sync of an iOS device. Also, new for accessory makers is the ability to create a Lightning to 3.5mm stereo analog audio output plug, which would allow users to go direct from the Lightning port to a 3.5mm input on another device.
Some years ago a clever inventor developed and marketed the EtherKiller. The development of new connectors and better batteries brought researchers to the development of the USB kill, a device that - among other advantages - can be operated without mains connection. This makes devices of the USB kill series ideal for testing modern equipment in an off-the-grid environment.
Now that Apple updated the specs for the Lighting connector, we can reasonably expect the prompt delivery to the market of the Applekiller, for properly testing iPhones and similar equipments released by the well known firm in Cupertino. It is worth to note that probably the developers of the iPhone had exactly this in mind, when they nicknamed the new connector as "Lightning".