You keep thinking lightning is different from USB. Lightning is a physical form factor, not a protocol. Also, nothing in Apple's MFI DRM limits it to the lightn

You keep thinking lightning is different from USB. Lightning is a physical form factor, not a protocol. Also, nothing in Apple's MFI DRM limits it to the lightning form factor as the electrical signals are identical to USB, even USB-C like the iPad pro Lighting, in the USB mode, has ZERO differences compared to any other USB 2.0 bus - they have [D+, D-, VCC, GND] signals, and when you plugin a USB protocol analyser/ bus sniffer, you can see USB packets go back and forth on the bus. (This is publicly available information, which I can share without breaking Apple NDAs). The only addition is DRM (termed MFI authentication). Apple limits USB Mass storage to the MFI program - this is a well known, publicly documented fact!! I simply cannot reveal ANY FURTHER technical details, because of NDA restrictions. If you don't believe me, go and apply to the MFI program[1], and READ THE OFFICIAL APPLE spec for DRM OVER USB. Or ask a friend within Apple More specifically, Apple's DRM over USB is officially termed "IAP2" (for USB) [2] details of which are only available through the MFI program with an NDA. [1]: https://developer.apple.com/programs/mfi/ https://developer.apple.com/programs/mfi/ [2]: page 96 of https://developer.apple.com/accessories/Accessory-Design-Guidelines.pdf https://developer.apple.com/accessories/Accessory-Design-Gui...