Apple will Allow Third-party Products to use its Lightning Port

[RaduTyrsina]

As reported by 9to5Mac publication, during Apple’s yearly briefing for accessory makers in its Made-for-iPhone/iPad (MFi) licensing program, the company unveiled new Lightning connectors and specs for Lightning receptacles. And it seems that these will soon be available for implementation in MFi accessories.

What's surprising is that the new Lightning receptacle] will allow accessory makers to build new types of accessories that include a port for Apple’s proprietary Lightning connector. It seems that Apple has decided to bring the port outside its own iOS devices, in order to drive consumer adoption. Here are some more details:

Allowing accessory makers to build-in a Lightning port provides a number of benefits, according to manufacturers briefed during Apple’s MFi Summit. One of the biggest benefits is to reduce costs for manufacturers and simplify the product experience for users by using Lightning to provide power to both an accessory and the iOS device.

Dock or battery case manufacturers, for example, would previously have to provide a separate USB cable and power supply to charge an accessory. Mophie’s battery pack iPhone case with integrated Lightning connector, for instance, currently comes with a micro USB cable for charging. With a built-in Lightning port, users could use an existing Lightning cable (the one that came with their iOS device) to charge the accessory.

Apple plans to begin shipping the new Lightning connector and receptacle to accessory makers in early 2015, so we should expect much more Lightning accessories next year.

Source: 9to5Mac