A day after a Kickstarter project was killed because of restrictions on Apple's MFi program that prevented Lightning and 30-Pin connectors from appearing on the same device, Apple has changed its guidelines to allow third-party devices to have 30-pin and Lightning chargers on the same accessory, reports CNET.
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"Our technical specifications provide clear guidelines for developing accessories and they are available to MFi licensees for free," Apple spokesman Tom Neumayr told CNET. "We support accessories that integrate USB and Lightning connectors, but there were technical issues that prevented accessories from integrating 30-pin and Lightning connectors so our guidelines did not allow this."
The company added that the guidelines have since been updated to allow accessories to work with both types of connectors to charge devices.
A number of MacRumors commenters felt Apple's decision to prevent the Kickstarter project from moving forward was a poor one, both for consumers, and for the company behind the project.
There is no word from Edison Junior on whether the company will move forward with the POP portable power station now that Apple has reversed course.
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Top Rated Comments
AKA "We didnt want to allow it as we wanted to make more money from accessory makers....but this is bad publicity, and we've had enough of that recently....so lets cave and come up with an excuse".
Oh, so they fixed that "technical issue" overnight, then?
The technical limitation relates to syncing. The guidelines have been changed to allow for *charging*, not syncing.
Apple needs to do some serious work on Thunderbolt adoption, as the low quantity devices using it and their extreme cost are simply ridiculous. And, this is exactly one place Apple shouldn't be trying to hold their profit margins. Heck, sacrifice if you need to in order to get this connector in the mainstream. The way it is currently headed, it's going to turn out like FW 800 or worse.
Since all this thing is doing is charging, that potential hurdle doesn't exist.
Exactly.
On the other hand, I would love to see whether this project actually starts up again. My guess, the creator will walk away like a martyr claiming there was no way he could undo the hurt Apple caused. /emo