There is nothing in this article which suggests this (that it applies only to the accessories) is the case. Remember, a USB-C cable not just a bunch of wires h

There is nothing in this article which suggests this (that it applies only to the accessories) is the case. Remember, a USB-C cable not just a bunch of wires hooking two connectors together. It's two SOCs which negotiate the cable's capabilities with the devices on either end before allowing the flow of power or data across the cable itself. In fact, there is no spec on what the cable itself consists of - it could be a fiber optic cable for all the USB-C spec cares. It's why you can use an expensive DP USB-C cable and not get thunderbolt support - because the chipsets in the cable itself have to support the thunderbolt spec. It's why it's entirely plausible that Apple can specify that you can only use MiFi compatible cables if you want full charging or data transfer capabilities.