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Apple's Lightning Authentication Reportedly Cracked, Unauthorized Third-Party Cables Coming

Slick. I'm with those worried about the dock, but the actual opening up of this tech can only be a good thing in the long term.
 
KnightWRX said:
Nope, sorry, I only have that link. It doesn't make sense to me that the cable is doing pin remapping. The "negotiator" chip should sit in the phone and "remap" pins on the phone side before sending it off to the controller.

But like I said, if it's only a "pin remapping controller", then Apple won't be able to control much longer who can simply source these and 3rd party accessories using these controllers will simply appear. If it is an authentication chip, then that is bad.
Click to expand...

Peter Bradstock, who started all those rumors about the "authentication" chip and then "dynamic pin assignment", which have since made it all the way around the interwebs and even CNN has "reported" on, also sells custom headphone cable kits for $17,000.00. I'm not sure I would trust any of what he has to say about the engineering behind Apple's Lightning interface.

I kind of agree with you that this chip being for pin reassignment doesn't add up. First of all, from just looking at the ribbon cables in the iFixit teardown, you can see that there are two sets of traces going to the female Lightning connector in the iPhone 5 that look like differential signaling pairs. I just double checked my Lightning cable against Mr. Bradstock's pinout, and came up with similar results to his, although his pin numbering seems a bit wonky. If we number the pins on the female jack from left to right, like this:

Shield 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Shield

And call "top" side of the male Lightning connector "Side A" (the one I believe the chips to be on, although I didn't actually cut mine open to find out.) Then we arrive at a pinout that looks like this:

Code: 
 Lightning       Lightning
Plug Side A     Plug Side B       USB Type A

  Shield --------- Shield ---- Shield (tied to GND)
     1 ------------- 1 ------------ 4 GND
     2 ------------- 7 ------------ 3 D+
     3 ------------- 6 ------------ 2 D-
     4 ------------- 8
     5 ------------- 5             (1 VBUS)?
     6 ------------- 3
     7 ------------- 2
     8 ------------- 4

As you can see, there is no direct path for the USB VBUS, but there sure is for D+, D- and GND, so the cable does not reassign its own pins. The SoC in the iPhone 5 would appear to switch the signaling pair being used depending on the cable orientation. It would also appear to be outputting a completely normal USB 2.0 signal; no muxing/demuxing appears to be done by the chips in the cable.

I would therefore presume that the chips have more to do with voltage regulation and/or digital negotiation of bus power. I suppose it is possible that the larger chip also communicates with the SoC via an AUX channel or C-wire to request a USB 2.0 signal rather than a video signal, or acts as a sort of trusted platform module to lock out unauthorized aftermarket accessories, but I have trouble believing that the latter is the primary purpose.
 
mdelvecchio said:
considering apple has a minority market share in the desktop and mobile markets, how do you mean they have a "monopoly"? android's existence would refute that very notion.

do you know what the word means? monopoly?
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Defined As: The exclusive possession or control of the supply or trade in a commodity or service.

Apple's Lightning connector uses adaptive technology to permit a significant range of functionality with only eight contact pins, sensing what kinds of devices are being connected and dynamically assigning the pin functionalities needed for a given pairing. This dynamic assignment requires controller chips embedded in the Lightning connector cable, chips that have stymied third-party companies seeking to get a jump on the Lightning accessory market. - Source

Apple has yet to allow any 3rd parties to create lightning cables thus far.

Sometime by the end of this week they will be the only people to supply Lightning adapters. For the ungodly absurd amount of $30 for the 30-pin in/Lightning Out or $40 for 7.5 inches of USB cable between the 30-pin in/Lightning out plugs. Cause it really needs to cost 10 dollars for 7.5 inches of USB cable.

Until I see working 3rd party Lightning cables.... Apple has created a Monopoly in Lightning Cable sales.

The question here is "Do YOU know what the word means?" :D;)
 
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repoman27 said:
If we number the pins on the female jack from left to right, like this:

Shield 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Shield

And call "top" side of the male Lightning connector "Side A" (the one I believe the chips to be on, although I didn't actually cut mine open to find out.) Then we arrive at a pinout that looks like this:

Code: 
 Lightning       Lightning
Plug Side A     Plug Side B       USB Type A

  Shield --------- Shield ---- Shield (tied to GND)
     1 ------------- 1 ------------ 4 GND
     2 ------------- 7 ------------ 3 D+
     3 ------------- 6 ------------ 2 D-
     4 ------------- 8
     5 ------------- 5             (1 VBUS)?
     6 ------------- 3
     7 ------------- 2
     8 ------------- 4

As you can see, there is no direct path for the USB VBUS, but there sure is for D+, D- and GND, so the cable does not reassign its own pins. The SoC in the iPhone 5 would appear to switch the signaling pair being used depending on the cable orientation. It would also appear to be outputting a completely normal USB 2.0 signal; no muxing/demuxing appears to be done by the chips in the cable.
Click to expand...


Maybe this will help ;)

lightningpinout.jpg


Full disclosure: Edited the image, to get rid of the watermark of my email address.
 
Great !!! Now make them using a high quality material and precision just like Apple's original dock would.

Oh yes, and please add IR support so I can dock, charge my iPhone and turning it into digital jukebox connected to my stereo and tube amps. No Beats or Bose craps out of the iPhone, please :D

Me want this:
20071213_30892627775057b0ddb7JI7UwbQSv1uC.jpg


Only with Lightning + HDMI output !!
 
anonymouslurker said:
As of right now, the only Lightning connectors being offered by Apple for developers to integrate into their products are for USB Host, USB Device, UART (serial), and charging-only.

The authentication chip in the connector identifies which one of those four types it is to the phone, and then maps the pins accordingly.
Click to expand...

Ahh, thank you for sharing that tasty tidbit. Any chance you happen to know what protocol will be used for digital display output?

KnightWRX said:
Sorry, but force locking your users into your proprietary interconnects is not good for the industry as a whole, it's not good for your users, it's only good for your short term profits.

If your new interconnect does not make financial sense outside of "locking users in", then it's a bad interconnect to begin with. If the interconnect provides you with benefits such as reduced connector size and added interconnection flexibility, then there's no harm in simply providing the specification for 3rd parties to connect to your device.

In the end, 3rd parties will serve to enhance your device's longevity for your users, not to mention it will create a rich ecosystem which provides added value.

Locking in users is a short term profit measure.
Click to expand...

Isn't the MFi program just a way of providing the specification to 3rd parties? I think the Lightning connectors at the outset are going to have to be handled a little differently, rather than just publishing the spec, and that's why Apple is providing modules to base the initial accessories on. If you look closely at the male Lightning connector, that metal bit looks like some pretty crafty manufacturing went into it, as in maybe it's an injection molded part.

If you look at the laughable imitation found in the photo of that dock you'll see why Apple maybe wants to handle quality control on the initial connectors. I also find it amazing how many people responded favorably to the announcement of a piece of crap knock-off dock that costs MORE than an Apple cable but does the same thing! Just drill a hole and a channel in a block of wood and stick an Apple Lightning to USB cable in there. I suppose they did hack the end off of an Apple cable and slap it on that light up USB job with hideously large Type-A connector though. That's a value-add for sure. It is amazing how few people realize when they're actually being ripped off.

anonymouslurker said:
Maybe this will help ;)
Click to expand...

Whoa!!! Thanks.

How did I get D+ and D- reversed, that's odd... I had a feeling pin 4 was looking like a power pin as well.
 
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unplugme71 said:
apple is not making a dock probably because it would have to sit in the dock more in order for it to remain stable and not break the connector
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Exactly, this dock looks unstable and like the connector will eventually break.

It looks kind of silly too.

And no, I didn't buy six Lightning connectors, or any at all for that matter.
 
Wow, they go to all the trouble to make this?

1 - Side view shows NO support for the phone, maybe with a case on the phone it would touch the back and provide more stability and less stress on the connector. I would be inclined to add a rear support piece for sure.

2 - No Black? Really??

3 - Lightning connector on the back? Seems like it would have been much better to use micro-usb or even just a coaxial power jack, or both. Why use this rare connector when folks are screaming for standard connectors, let the dock be the converter. I have always used my docks for desktop charging, not data transfer.

4 - Looking closely at an original male lightning plug, you can see the very high quality of the part, smooth rounded metal, and the white insulation between the gold contacts looks like an epoxy type filling. The dock connector photo shows no side detents which is good for ease of docking and un-docking, but it looks like it's folded metal and not the buttery smooth finish that the stock plugs have. I would not want any insult to the phone's jack and this has me on the fence.

The illuminated cable is certainly cool, but bulky, kooky, and a bit much for me.
 
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Does the buttons on the Sony clock control the iPhone at all? That was my biggest question. I use my dock clock (I had the same one but I broke it recently so I bought the newest version of this clock) as my alarm/wake to iPod and as a sleep timer for my iPhone.
 
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The interesting thing is that every effort employed by Apple for being non-standard is messed by the grey market.

That is, Lightning looks like a big effort on designing a new standard that barely covers R&D costs. This proprietary approach worked well when Apple were not so popular, so there were not much interest on copying/supporting Apple interfaces.

I've just bought a Galaxy Note and I'm glad I can use the same micro-USB cable from my Nokia N8 for charging and transferring data to both devices.
 
RemE said:
3 - Lightning connector on the back? Seems like it would have been much better to use micro-usb or even just a coaxial power jack, or both. Why use this rare connector when folks are screaming for standard connectors, let the dock be the converter. I have always used my docks for desktop charging, not data transfer.
Click to expand...

Having a lightning connector on the back allows you to connect other accessories, such as video cables, to the dock. Just like the official dock connector dock. And it means that the electronics in the dock can be a simple pass-through.
 
Hopefully Apple will take immediate action so that these unauthorized cables never come to market.
 
squidcommander said:
I just did a quick test and the play/pause and skip forward/back buttons worked fine so I assume your dock will do what you want it to. I always control from the device itself and actually forgot the dock had that functionality. Let me know if you have any other questions!
Click to expand...

That's awesome THANKS!
 
I hope everyone realizes that using unauthorized accessories voids AppleCare. Use at your own risk.

Official **** will come out soon enough.
 
KnightWRX said:
Interconnection specifications should never be priopietary. Talk about locking you into a single vendor for accessories, and in this case, one that can't even sell the spare cables/adapters since they don't have any stock.
Click to expand...

Your point being?
Every single phone manufacturer does this.
 
repoman27 said:
If you look at the laughable imitation found in the photo of that dock you'll see why Apple maybe wants to handle quality control on the initial connectors. I also find it amazing how many people responded favorably to the announcement of a piece of crap knock-off dock that costs MORE than an Apple cable but does the same thing! Just drill a hole and a channel in a block of wood and stick an Apple Lightning to USB cable in there. I suppose they did hack the end off of an Apple cable and slap it on that light up USB job with hideously large Type-A connector though. That's a value-add for sure. It is amazing how few people realize when they're actually being ripped off.
Click to expand...

Ah, condescendance. People are happy that options are popping up. As it was, Apple failed to launch cables/adapters on day 1 for buyers of the iPhone 5, leaving us stranded with 1 cable. If something happened, no more phone charging...

And what is laughable about the picture ? Sure light-up cables are goofy and I wouldn't use it, but the real news here is that 3rd parties are managing to get their hands on the chips and cracked chips are coming which should create volume and start the race to the bottom. We might be able to have variable length cables now on the cheap from Monoprice, in more than just 1 color (which happens to be white).

----------
the8thark said:
Your point being?
Every single phone manufacturer does this.
Click to expand...

And it's bad when they do it also. Did you think I had double standards or something ? :confused:
 
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