Apple controls Lightning accessory makers very closely

Since the arrival of the Lightning port, it
seems to have a lot fewer accessories than before.

In an interview given to the New York Times, the creator ofthe Mophie battery case that we talked about here, We
give someresponse elementson how Apple
assigns and manages its programlabellisation MFi (made For
iPhone/iPad/iPod).

Explication :

According to the manufacturer, when a company wishes to subscribe to the program
MFi and start offering accessories, it is obliged towith
supply lighting connectors from Apple.

Each connector is unique, it is equipped witha serial number and
contains an authentication chip. So, when the company
presents its accessory to Apple for testing, the Cupertino firm is capable of
recognize the serial number.

If it occurred to the accessory manufacturer to sell the connectors
Lightning to a third party,Apple would then be able to identify and
disable each of the chipsin question via an iOS update
thus making the accessory non-functional.

This very restrictive process probably also explains whyil
is so hard to find low cost Lightning accessories
functional.