Apple Puts Authentication Chip In Lightning Cable Ensures No Cheap Third-Party Option

[zsdersw]

I just don't like the hate Apple gets here. It's beyond stupid and near comical. People here are envious of their success and want to see them fail. Sad.

Too bad. Apple and a large chunk of their users are arrogant snobs... who need their egos deflated just a bit from time to time.

The only person who is arrogant is the poster who thinks trolling and attacking other members is okay
-ViRGE

 

[MrX8503]

That does suck, but I'm not too worried about it as Monoprice will come through. Overall I like the connector because its robust and orientation independent.

 

[buckshot24]

People here are envious of their success and want to see them fail. Sad.

I don't think that's it at all. I have apple products myself (never an iphone). I think its Apple's fans that grow this hatred for Apple itself. Samsung is pretty successful too and you don't see the hate. It isn't success its the smugness of the some of the fans of the devices. Wrong or right.

 

[Deeko]

That explains the USA, but I'm surprised the EU hasn't gone after them.

They aren't even close to a monopoly, that's why. In smartphones they aren't even the leader.

 

[WelshBloke]

That does suck, but I'm not too worried about it as Monoprice will come through. Overall I like the connector because its robust and orientation independent.

I'm going to wait a while before calling it 'robust' after the 'tough' metal exterior wasn't.

 

[Oyeve]

I only buy Apple products for friends and family because I do not like the fact that you cannot tinker with them. The last iPhone I had was given to me as a present but destroyed in a hotel room in Tokyo by an irate individual. So, no, I am not beholden to Apple. I have several Android products and love them. I just don't like the hate Apple gets here. It's beyond stupid and near comical. People here are envious of their success and want to see them fail. Sad.

We dont want to see them fail, we just want them to stop being douchey assholes. 30 bucks for an adapter, security chip in a cable, on and on.

 

[Wonderful Pork]

I'm going to wait a while before calling it 'robust' after the 'tough' metal exterior wasn't.

The metal exterior still provides adequate protection for the internals, the finish however is not bulletproof.

I do find it ridiculous that some phones are arriving damaged right out of the box - though mine was perfect as far as I could tell.

We dont want to see them fail, we just want them to stop being douchey assholes. 30 bucks for an adapter, security chip in a cable, on and on.

Apple's adapters have always been $20+. The dual link DVI kit was an additional $99 over the cost of a $1000+ laptop and people didn't raise this big a stink over it.

Additionally, there is nothing saying that 3rd party OEMs can't or won't put out cheaper 3rd party accessories, just like with the "Made for iPod" line. Apple likely hasn't provided the specs to the other vendors yet.

I'm waiting for a 5-6ft USB->Lightning cable cause the 3ft ones are too short.

 

[Eug]

I really like the orientation-agnostic aspect of Lightning.

BTW, it should be noted that Apple would regularly kill off older 3rd party cables like video cables, etc. with its OS updates. So, this is not really entirely new.

I was most definitely expecting Apple to go the one step further to chip its regular USB cable too to prevent unlicenced knockoffs. Sure, the big reason is profit, but a secondary but also important reason is quality. A lot of those cheap 3rd party cables really suck.

Also the jury is still out on the strength of that new Apple port and of the cable plug, but I'm a little wary of the strength of microUSB. Plus current microUSB is limited to USB 2.

So is Lightning in this iteration, but I suspect that a near future version of it will be USB 3 compatible, and will use the exact same cables. AFAIK, going to microUSB 3 will require a new set of cables.

 

[lothar]

I only buy Apple products for friends and family because I do not like the fact that you cannot tinker with them. The last iPhone I had was given to me as a present but destroyed in a hotel room in Tokyo by an irate individual. So, no, I am not beholden to Apple. I have several Android products and love them. I just don't like the hate Apple gets here. It's beyond stupid and near comical. People here are envious of their success and want to see them fail. Sad.

We don't get the hate that you give Samsung. It's beyond stupid and near comical. You are envious of their success and want to see them fail. Sad.

 

[jhansman]

I bet we see < $10 cables from Monoprice by the end of the year.

This. Someone with pull the thing apart and reverse engineer it. Same thing happened when the inkjet printer manufacturers started chipping their carts. Within six months, chipped 3rd party carts started showing up at 1/3 the cost. BTW, Apple is not the only one to pull this crap (but they are awfully good at it). I put a third-party battery in my Moto phone and it would not connect to a cell or 4G signal.

 

[Mopetar]

What I have yet to figure out is how Apple manages to be sooooo anti competitive yet they seem to have the governments in their pocket? Hell look at the late 90's & early 2000's and how much all the counties went after Microsoft for doing things that were less anti competitive than what Apple is doing.

They aren't even close to a monopoly, that's why. In smartphones they aren't even the leader.

Exactly the reason why. If they want to make their own platform less attractive by doing this, that's their own business. Also, I wouldn't discount that someone is going to reverse engineer any security features given enough time given how lucrative the potential market is. No security is absolute.

 

[Kenmitch]

Won't these chips be made in China anyways?

 

[swanysto]

Who cares. Apple users are going to pay whatever it takes to get what they need for their iPhone. Why should I hate Apple for being greedy and getting as much money as possible? This whole country is one big greed fest, why single out Apple. The oil company has been making record profits in a recession.

If you are mad about having to pay more for cables, suck it up, or buy an android or windows device. Most have micro usb which is available anywhere and everywhere.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

shame

 

[ilkhan]

lol.
Par for the course, Apple.

 

[shortylickens]

Who cares. Apple users are going to pay whatever it takes to get what they need for their iPhone. Why should I hate Apple for being greedy and getting as much money as possible? This whole country is one big greed fest, why single out Apple. The oil company has been making record profits in a recession.

If you are mad about having to pay more for cables, suck it up, or buy an android or windows device. Most have micro usb which is available anywhere and everywhere.

I agree.
You wanna hug brah?

 

[pm]

As a consumer I was (and still am) frustrated and annoyed that Apple chose to implement a new connector instead of adopting microUSB, but as an electrical engineer, I don't buy the argument that this chip is an authentication chip. The cable is a bidrectional fully adaptable (pins can be swapped out as needed) digital connection. If you can change the way the pins are configured on-the-fly, then it makes sense that there's got to be a chip in there that's figuring out the orientation and the usage model and changing the power and signal routing. It possible that the chip has some sort of authentication element to it - Apple has done that before in cables that I have seen - but no one knows for certain that it's an authentication chip and it clearly has to serve another purpose other than just locking out the cheap cable makers.

If people who are already inclined to dislike Apple want to automatically jump to the conclusion that makes Apple look bad, then that's their prerogative, but I'll wait for iFixit to do a teardown.

In the end, though, it doesn't really matter to me because I have no intention of buying an iPhone 5. I'm waiting for the next Nexus....

 

[akugami]

I don't really see any proof that the chip found in the Lightning cable is an "authentication" chip. My understanding was the chip is used to re-routing the signals so that the Lightning plug can be reversible. Pretty much a handshaking chip.

I like Xbit Labs and think they are a quality site, but this little blog/blurb is more hearsay anecdotal than anything. Without further research into the chip, I don't think we have a real answer as to whether it is meant as a "lockout" chip or simply something innocuous. Namely allowing the reversible functionality of the Lightning plug. Is it possible that the chip serves dual purposes of both the reversibility and as a lock out device? Of course, but it's not really proven yet.

As for why not micro USB. I really am not a fan of micro USB. I think the port itself is poorly designed having used HTC phones, Samsung phones and media players, and of course the Nexus 7 which all use micro USB.

Anecdotal but I've had to RMA 7 different Samsung Galaxy Player 5's in the last 3 months because of bad micro USB ports that killed communications and charging. Which sucks because they are very economically priced and perform great for our proprietary solution.

 

[Yongsta]

We don't get the hate that you give Samsung. It's beyond stupid and near comical. You are envious of their success and want to see them fail. Sad.

Dari is an Apple & Japanese fanboy (he's Japanese I believe), hence the hate at Samsung's success (they're Korean). Just don't feed the troll.

 

[cheezy321]

Too bad. Apple and a large chunk of their users are arrogant snobs... who need their egos deflated just a bit from time to time.

Good thing we have a large faction of basement dwelling android users with no life who think it is their mission to deflate such egos.

 

[zsdersw]

Good thing we have a large faction of basement dwelling android users with no life who think it is their mission to deflate such egos.

It's no more their mission to deflate egos than it is yours to rush to Apple's defense all the time.

 

[cheezy321]

It's no more their mission to deflate egos than it is yours to rush to Apple's defense all the time.

Would you consider me coming to apples defense if I say this article has not proven this chip is even an 'authentication' chip?

Will you admit you are attacking Apple for no reason if it comes out that this chip is nothing of the sort?

 

[zsdersw]

Would you consider me coming to apples defense if I say this article has not proven this chip is even an 'authentication' chip?

No, I consider you "coming to Apple's defense" because of the post of yours that I quoted.

Will you admit you are attacking Apple for no reason if it comes out that this chip is nothing of the sort?

No.

 

[Piano Man]

Wow, even for apple, this is pretty apple. I guess I'll just use my gmaps to find the nearest store with 1 dollar usb2.0 cables

 

[Spoooon]

I don't really see any proof that the chip found in the Lightning cable is an "authentication" chip... logic... es of both the reversibility and as a lock out device? Of course, but it's not really proven yet.

As for why not micro USB. I really am not a fan of micro USB. I think the port itself is poorly designed having used HTC phones, Sams... reason... because they are very economically priced and perform great for our proprietary solution.

Your logic and reason have no place here.