Apple’s Lightning Cable Hacked, Hardware Trick Said To Be Irreversible

The Apple Lightning adapter has been “permanently hacked,” according to Chinese company iPhone5mod.

The tech firm claims that it can stop “uncertified” lightning adapter messages on iOS 7 devices through the help of a specialized hardware adapter.

Because the solution is hardware-based, the company says the hack is irreversible unless Apple was to redesign its lightning adapters.

iPhone5mod has wasted no time in capitalizing on its good fortune, announcing the sale of three cables and two iPhone 5 docks.

This isn’t the first time iPhone5mod had created headaches for Apple. In one case, the company’s iPhone 4S case was designed to resemble the look of an iPhone 5. iPhone5mod also started selling Lightning accessories at the same time that Apple began attempting to offer third-party licensing for its products.

Authorized Lightning accessories use a special authentication chip that allows them to operate inside Apple iOS devices. When the new cables were announced, Apple came under fire for exercising too much control over iOS accessories compared to the company’s former 30-pin connectors.

Apple, for its part, has said repeatedly that authentication via special hardware allows the company to maintain better quality controls over its product lines.

Apple has not yet responded to the new iPhone5Mod hack.

Here’s a video that shows off the new Apple Lightning adapter:

Do you think Apple attempts to maintain too much control over third-party accessories? Are you willing to buy Apple product accessories without Apple’s approval but at half the cost?