Detailed guide.
You've definitely noticed that many accessories have a stylish Made for iPhone certification logo. What does it really mean and what are its benefits? Are there accessories with official Apple certification on AliExpress at reasonable prices or are there only fakes? This detailed guide about MFi answers all your questions.
What is MFi certification
MFi is a certification program created by Apple for accessory manufacturers. For a case or charging cable to be MFi certified, it must meet a huge list of Apple requirements.
? MFi stands for Made for iPhone/iPad/iPod/Apple Watch.
Accessory makers are hungry for MFi. Certification makes it possible to sell accessories on leading trading platforms, including Apple’s own online store. However, Apple does not allow everyone to access its online store. Only the best, for example, Belkin has been successfully selling its very expensive accessories there for several years.
High-quality Lightning-USB: What's inside?
What is the difference between a high-quality and original cable and fakes? And how to distinguish an uncertified cable and counterfeits for Lightning from the original?
The applied MFi logo is not the only difference. If you want to make sure that you purchased an original Apple Lightning to USB cable, pay attention to the following differences: the Apple Lightning to USB cable should have the inscriptions “Designed by Apple in California” and also “Assembled in China” ( Made in China) or "Assembed in Vietnam" or "Indústria Brasileira" (Made in Brazil).
These inscriptions can be found approximately 18 centimeters from the USB connector. Next to these inscriptions is a 12-digit serial number.
Certified Lightning to USB cables from other manufacturers usually have a manufacturer's marking near the Lightning connector.
The dimensions of the Apple connector on the MD818Z/MA cable are always the same - 7.7 x 12 mm. It has trapezoidal USB contact housing connections, and the housing connections are spaced evenly away from the edges.
To work correctly and transmit information quickly, each Lightning cable is equipped with its own chip. If the cable is of poor quality, you cannot count on it to work correctly.
What happens when iOS on your iPhone, iPod or iPad detects that the chip inside the USB to Lightning cable is not working correctly?
You receive an error message. This could be a warning about an unsupported accessory or a lack of certification. In this case, you can use the cable only at your own peril and risk.
What can happen if you use a low-quality Lightning cable:
- iPhone, iPad or iPod may be damaged;
- the cable may be damaged;
- the connector may break off, overheat, or not fit correctly into the device;
- You may be unable to sync or charge your device.
Why MFi is important for users
But certification is important not only for case manufacturers. For ordinary users, the MFi icon on the packaging with a charging adapter or cable is a sign that there will be no problems with the accessory.
Apple provides MFi certification only after making sure that the manufacturer actually creates quality accessories. The company doesn't just look at their appearance and performance. She asks her potential partner for a bunch of papers with test results, expert opinions on the materials used, etc.
Testing 8 lightning cables
Review and testing of 8 lightning cables from various companies. Hello everyone, reviews of micro usb cables can be seen on music almost every day, which cannot be said about lightning, I decided to correct this issue and do a small comparative test of eight cables from different brands. For testing I chose both certified Mfi
The cables are simple and do not have a certificate.
First, a little theory.
I think everyone in their life has been faced with the fact that after a certain amount of time there was a need to replace the standard cable. The reason could be damage to the old one, loss, etc. Owners of Android devices do not have any big problems with choosing a new cable, both in terms of selecting a model/brand and financially. The price of a more or less high-quality cable for Android ranges from 1 to 4 dollars. But not everything is so simple when choosing a cable for Apple products. On the market there are both expensive certified ones and simple ones for half a buck - not certified ones. What's the difference? The rights to the Lightning connector belong to Apple; third-party manufacturers cannot produce products with this connector without a license. Especially for this, the Mfi program (Made for iPod, Made for iPhone, Made for iPad) was announced in 2005, i.e. "Manufactured for iPhone, iPod." By seeing the MFi mark on your headphones or cable, you can be sure that the pinout of these accessories is done absolutely correctly and the device will work as expected. The cost of licensing fees for each Lightning connector is $4, which means that in theory, an MFi certified cable cannot cost less than $4 . This is all clear, but how can you prove that the cable is truly certified? What prevents any unscrupulous manufacturer from simply putting the “Mfi”
on the product and selling it under the guise of being certified?
But the point is that every Mfi cable contains a chip with a unique code sewn into it. The code must be present in the Apple Mfi database. Thanks to this code, the device recognizes the cable as certified and operates in normal mode - charging/data transfer. Non-certified cables do not have a chip in the connector, but Chinese manufacturers have learned to bypass this protection. Such cables can work normally for a year or just 1 day. Most often, after updating iOS, the cables stop charging and a warning is displayed that an uncertified accessory is connected. Let's move on from theory to testing participants.
Heroes of the review:
1.Pushingbest 1m/5v/2A Red for iphone 5/6 2.CRDC 1.2m/2A/Mfi certified 3.Choetech 1m/2.4A Mfi certified 4.Mcdodo 1m/2.4A Silver Mfi certified 5.Mcdodo 1m/2.1A Gray 6.ORICO 23 cm White 4 in 1 7. Original cable from Apple (included with the device) 8. Cable from Zapals 3 in 1
Pushingbest 1m/2A
The cable is from a little-known manufacturer, nylon with braiding, the only one of those reviewed that came without any packaging. The connectors have metal inserts that are poorly glued; one of them has come off. The cable is the thickest of all that have been tested, it is rigid, the actual length (excluding connectors) is 92 cm, while the stated length is 100 cm. Not certified, no warnings popped up when charging the iPad.
CRDCsmart 1.2m/2A/Mfi
The cable is braided, fabric, connectors are made entirely of metal. The manufacturer claims that it is certified, but for some reason I couldn’t find it in the Apple MFi database, maybe I didn’t look well (. The iPad charges without problems, there were no warnings about a non-certified cable.
Choetech 1m/2.4A Mfi
I think we all already know this brand for their cheap micro usb cables, which cannot be said about lightning.
The price was a little more than $6, which is the average for MFI. As for the cable itself, it’s the toughest I’ve ever had. This cable can be used to cut logs)). The top is covered with mesh, it bends well and retains its shape, I think there is a screen inside. The MFI cable is also present in the Apple database. Photo
Mcdodo 1m/2.4A Silver Mfi
Mcdodo 1m/2.4A Silver Mfi is the most similar to the original Apple cable, but it is not a complete copy of it. The thickness and shape of the connectors is similar to the Apple original, but is inferior in flexibility. The connectors are metal and have brand logos.
Photo
Mcdodo 1m/2.1A Gray
Non-certified cable from mcdodo in a rag braid, pleasant to the touch, flexible. Metal connectors with plastic inserts.
Original cable from Apple (included with the iPad)
The original cable from Apple, after a year of active use, has been stripped down to its metal braid, but still performs its function.
ORICO 23 cm White 4 in 1
A universal cable from Orico, a kind of travel cable that you can carry with you. It does not have a certificate; when charging Apple devices, a message about an uncertified accessory was sometimes displayed.
Cable from Zapals 3 in 1
The three-headed spare lanyard was received for free during the days of daily freebies. The quality is poor, there are burrs and casting irregularities. The lightning cable does not have a certificate, the technical characteristics are not impressive.
Next we will talk about the most interesting things and the technical capabilities of each of them.
Testing
The test bench was presented with an Orico QSE-5U charger, testers from Juwei, a USB load (with smooth adjustment) and a board for connecting cables. In order to minimize losses, I soldered the board and load directly to the tester.
In the first test, I compared the voltage drop at a current of 1A. Without a cable, the voltage was 5.12V. The results obtained during testing of the cables themselves were compiled into a general table. The best values were shown by specimens with MFI; the spare cable refused to work at all.
The next test is similar to the first, only the current was increased to 2 amperes. The leadership of cables with MFI has remained here as well. I don’t know why, but the spare cable didn’t want to work here either.
And finally, I tested the cables directly in the field, i.e. when charging a device from Apple, namely the 2013 iPad Air. Through the native cable, the iPad took 1.97A, I expected more, perhaps such a low value is due to the fact that the cable is no longer the first freshness. Cables with MFI turned out to be the best in this test, but in fairness I want to note that Mcdodo without MFI and Pushingbest without MFI showed not bad values, they coped with 2A. The cables from the stock and Orico did not allow more than 1A through.
Photo
That's all, I hope this review will be useful to someone. Thank you for your attention.
MFi accessories on AliExpress. Should you trust it? How to distinguish a fake?
Sellers on AliExpress may lie in the name of the product and its description. For example, writing that the case or cable is MFi, although in fact it is a handicraft assembled on the knee without Apple’s knowledge. Well, really, what should a seller add to the name of an accessory the three magic letters MFi and greatly increase sales?
❗ Fortunately, you can check any MFi accessory and any manufacturer. a special service for checking directly on the Apple website It is extremely easy to use.
For example, we found a nice flash drive from the Ugreen brand on AliExpress. It says MFi. We go to the website, select a search by brand and check the manufacturer itself. That's right, it turns out that the Chinese company Ugreen has MFi certification:
The verification takes just seconds. And now we know that the manufacturer does quality work, we can take it!
In fact, this is complete confirmation that the manufacturer is verified. However, we decided to check a specific flash drive on the Apple website by model number, you never know. It was not difficult to find it on the list, full MFi.
This way, you can check any accessories from AliExpress for compliance with MFi certification. And we strongly recommend doing this .
Many sellers on AliExpress are unscrupulous and claim that their products are MFi certified when in fact they are not. This is a scam, and a serious one, but Apple, of course, cannot deal with every Chinese seller who wants to make money.
❗ Only on the first page of the AliExpress search results for the query “MFi cable” we came across ten (!) sellers who actually do not have MFi certification. But they write that there is.
Checking a specific product and its manufacturer on the Apple website takes seconds. However, here is a small list of brands that produce high-quality accessories for iPhone and other Apple devices with MFi certification:
Available on AliExpress
- Ugreen ( page on AliExpress )
- ROCK ( AliExpress page )
- MaGeek ( AliExpress page )
- VOXLINK ( page on AliExpress )
- PZOZ ( page on AliExpress )
Not on AliExpress
- Belkin
- FuseChicken
- Anker
- Mophie
- LifeProof
- Native Union
- Spigen
- Biaze
- Lemfo
What is Lightning
Lightning is a connector developed by Apple and used to connect smartphones, tablets and portable players. This connector is used to connect the device to a computer, charge the battery, connect headphones and other accessories.
Lightning was introduced in 2012 and replaced the previously used 30-pin connector. Unlike its predecessor, Lightning is compact and easy to use. It uses only 8 pins instead of 30 and can be mounted on either side. This allows you to connect your smartphone to the cable in one motion and almost without looking at it.
Despite its compactness and simplicity, the Lightning connector has a number of disadvantages that often create problems for users. The main disadvantage of Lightning is that it is a closed standard from Apple. Only Apple owns all rights to this brand name and connector specifications. Because of this, the cost of accessories with this connector is always much higher than the cost of similar devices with Micro USB.
At the moment, Lightning is Apple's main connector for connecting mobile devices. Currently, this connector is equipped with devices such as iPhone (starting with iPhone 5), iPad (starting with iPad 4th generation), iPad Mini (starting with version 2), iPad Air, iPad Pro, iPod Nano (7th generation) and iPod Touch (from 5th generation). But it seems that in the near future Apple plans to abandon Lightning and switch to USB Type-C. This is indicated by the fact that the latest generation iPad Pro uses USB Type-C instead of Lightning, and USB Type-C has already appeared in Apple MacBook laptops.
MFI indicator and divergence
In addition to indicating overbought and oversold conditions, the Money Flow Index indicator can also help traders identify divergence in the market. Roughly speaking, divergence occurs when the price moves in one direction, but the indicator readings continue to point in the opposite direction. When this condition occurs in the market, traders can interpret it as a sure sign that the price will soon reverse in the direction of the technical indicator reading.
With the help of the MFI indicator, we can easily identify similar signals, be it bullish divergence or bearish divergence.
Bullish divergence:
Bearish divergence:
MFi cable
The MFi mark means that the cable is intended specifically for Apple products and, most importantly, its manufacturer has received official approval from the Apple corporation.
Apple sells licenses to produce accessories for its devices. Previously, according to the company's terms, third-party manufacturers were required to contribute up to 10% of sales. However, now the conditions have become softer, now Apple receives $4 from each cable. This means that a real MFI cable cannot possibly cost less than $5.
The MFi cable does not show any error during use. With its help, you can quickly charge your device and not be afraid to leave your phone charging overnight. And most importantly, the MFi cable costs less than the promoted original.
Save wisely.
Advantages and disadvantages of the indicator
Market Facilitation Index is one of the most interesting indicators created by Bill Williams. Despite the fact that it does not (with rare exceptions) provide clear signals to enter the market, when combined with the necessary tools, MFI forms effective trading strategies.
When using MFI, you need to remember that Williams developed this indicator for trading stocks on the stock market. This means that the Market Facilitation Index is suitable for analyzing par majors in the Forex market and most CFDs, but will not be effective for new and high-risk assets such as Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
Trading in financial markets involves a high level of capital risk. In order to reduce risks, it is recommended to strictly follow the rules of money management and always set Stop Loss. All decisions that a trader makes when working on Forex are his personal responsibility.
RegistrationDemo account
Installation and configuration of the BW MFI indicator
Installation of the MFI indicator is carried out according to the standard scenario for MT4 instruments. By clicking on the “Indicators” button on the top toolbar, you need to select the “Bill Williams” category, and in it find the Market Facilitation Index.
The ability to customize the indicator is limited: the user can only change the colors of the columns and add levels. The histogram itself is constructed according to a specific formula; no additional changeable parameters are provided.
