Apple to Require 'Made for iPhone' Program Accessory Manufacturers to Meet Supplier Responsibility Code

As we noted several weeks ago, Apple scheduled a meeting with members of its Made for iPod/iPhone/iPad (MFi) program for November 7-8 in Shenzhen, China to brief them on the latest developments with the new Lightning connector standard. With Apple having moved rather slowly to bring accessory manufacturers up to speed, Lightning-equipped accessories have been slow to appear and it was not until this week that the first official Lightning products were even announced.

mfi logo
TUAW now reports on a few details that have leaked out of the meeting, including the fact that the Lightning connector is waterproof and that all MFi accessory manufacturers must agree to abide by Apple's supplier responsibility code.

[D]uring the meeting this week a few interesting tidbits have made their way to us through the Great Firewall. Most are trivial (did not know: the Lightning connector is waterproof!) but one big one is not. According to our source at the event, Apple intends to make compliance with its supplier code of conduct a condition of MFi licensing. [...]

Pushing it out to the larger accessory ecosystem would be a concrete example of Apple using its 800-pound-gorilla status in the consumer electronics space to influence more companies to behave ethically on worker rights, environmental issues and more.

The report notes that details on requirements for adherence to the code and potential penalties are not yet known, and speculates that U.S.-based accessory companies may have an advantage in compliance with stricter controls already in place.

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Top Rated Comments

bocomo Avatar
163 months ago
Apple only gets bashed by the media

Slim chance of this code of conduct bit making headlines

Or it will get spun as a "closed" system or Apple being control freaks
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
NinjaHERO Avatar
163 months ago
Good for them for trying to make things better.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
nickn Avatar
163 months ago
If they are going to charge massive amounts for lightning accessories, they might as well put in a requirement that products must be made in the US. OSHA would take care of the rest, employees would be getting a decent wage, and our economy wouldn't suck as much.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
gmanist1000 Avatar
163 months ago
It's waterproof? That's pretty cool.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Rich2Putt Avatar
163 months ago
That's right. How dare a business like money? They should just close and give all of their money to charity; that would certainly help the United States, right?
True...... The more money a company makes the more Obama will tax and give to those who are to lazy to work.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
PsudoPowerPoint Avatar
163 months ago
As a stockholder I think that IS a good use of money I invested.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)