> who mumbled something about "advanced functionality". This isn't fair. Each lightning connector has a small chip with MFI certification info, performs the ma

> who mumbled something about "advanced functionality". This isn't fair. Each lightning connector has a small chip with MFI certification info, performs the magical asymmetric pin switching for reversibility, and in some situations it informs the device of the cable's purpose and functionality. E.g., at one company we built a custom lightning cable for high-speed (at the time) RT video streamed from a consumer camera. The cable's pins could be configured ad-hoc to support data transfer (when streaming) or power transfer (charging the camera) as needed. Sure, today this can be done without a special cable and some custom USB drivers, but 8 years ago it was really cool.