Quote:
Originally Posted by
PurpleAngel 
As Apple should own the copyrights to this new 8-pin plug and it looks like whatever connector you use with the new 8-pin needs to have apples authentication chip, Apple has a few options.
Apple sells the authentication chip to other companies (like Fiio) to make cables that connect to the new 8-pin.
Apple does not sell the authentication chip for cables and Apple makes the cables themselves (with a big markup in price).
You can always use a 3.5mm male to 3.5mm male cable to connect the new iPhone to the E11.
and just wait until someone sells the 8-pin to 3.5mm cable.
Not nearly as big a markup in price as they used to make. Their old 30-pin dock to USB cables cost them around 20¢ each to make and they were selling for $19.00. The new cables cost $3.50 to make. That means the adapter plug and adapter plug cable probably cost about $7.00+ each to make (and sell for $29 and $39).
No one will be making a lightning to 3.5mm cable that doesn't have an authentication chip and circuit inside, and in order to do that they will need licensing from Apple which isn't going to happen. That means if someone does figure out how to mimic the circuitry and has the electron microscopy to analyze the chips, it won't be easy to pull off. Even if a Chinese company does rip it off, it will be some time before that happens and the cables still won't be cheap. If ever the Chinese release a module that you could use to build a custom cable, you run the risk of being sued by Apple for stealing/using stolen patented technology. Apple wants to make the money themselves and wants to be the only supplier, which is why they came out with this proprietary technology in the first place. From what I've read they've already made about $200 million just on extra lightning to USB cable sales (@ $19 ea.). Imagine how much they've made in adapter sales: probably just as much if not a lot more.
When Apple does finally license the authentication circuitry to companies that have the financial resources to implement them into their products, you can be sure the licensing fee won't come cheap.
But all of that is really moot since this new iPhone 5 and iOS 6 are a piece of junk anyway. I've been one of the people selected by their engineering department to run profile logs on my phone to try to solve the battery draining and Wi-Fi connectivity issue problems. They've ignored the other 100+ bugs I've found in the operating system. They claim 8 hours of use and 10 hours of surfing? I lose 1% every 2 minutes just texting, and about 15% in a few hours on standby (which is supposed to last 225 hours). About every 5 minutes another poster posts in their forums about this problem which is affecting almost everyone on a worldwide scale. Hopefully it's just software related and can be fixed, and isn't an inherent design flaw in the LTE radio chipset. Already they screwed the pooch with the camera, as declaring the purple flare as normal for the phone. Of course Apple, because we always knew the sun and other bright objects are supposed to look purple. Funny how you never made them look purple with the iPhone 4S. (And the Panorama mode is just a joke because it does not seamlessly put the images together, there are jitters in alignment throughout the entire photo. The only way to prevent that would be do use a tripod with a rotating head.)
