Hacked chip makes cheap iPhone 5 Lightning adapters possible

If you have been watching the iPhone 5 then you might know that Apple has introduced a new connector for it. The new connector is used for charging the phone, transferring data to the computer and goes by the name ‘Lightning’ . Its main advantage seems to be that you can insert it into the device with either side up. Unfortunately this also means that old Apple accessories can’t be used together with the iPhone 5, unless you buy an Apple adapter at $29.

While many Apple fans are used to Apple’s up-sales also a lot of them were disappointed that they needed to spend an additional $29. And worst of all, recently was discovered that Apple tries to prevent cheaper adapters as they have build in an authentication chip that checks if the device is charged using a genuine Apple approved product. But, there’s hope as today we’ve learned that this chip has been hacked and that cheap Lightning cables should come to a phone store near you.

The Chinese web-store  iPhone5mod claims to have an authentic chip to their disposal and even a clone of the chip which wasn’t possible before. According to the store the cloned chip works just as well as the real chip but is cheaper. For Apple certified products,  manufacturers have to comply to a set of requirements from Apple and until now no manufacturer has received such a certification and it’s estimated that no manufacturer will be able to get this before the holiday season.

This new cloned chip will likely pave the way for cheaper connectors, that, while not officially Apple certified, will work just like the certified ones.