What is Apple MFI Certification? – Here's the Full Answer
If you use any Apple’s product, let’s talk generally. Consider you’re using an iPhone or iPad. When you purchased these products, everything that comes in the box is made by Apple itself. But almost everyone has been in scenarios where their cables will get faulty. Also, they can have other circumstances due to which their accessories are no more working.
Then most of the people will go to shops and buy replacements. We don’t know the quality of those cables as they are not made by Apple. We don’t know how much time that new accessory will work. Also, it’s even hard to know just by looking at a glance at what kind of performance that accessory will provide. We are talking about the performance, build quality and durability of these replacements.
These accessories can be used to perform several tasks. Therefore, we are depending on them. If the specifications of these accessories are up to date, then they will work with our Apple product. Otherwise, there will be an error message popup, that the accessory is not supported. There can also be some other errors as well. Also, even if they work, these non-certified accessories won’t give us a nice experience.
So let’s talk about what exactly is Apple’s MFI Certification Program.
MFI Program
Apple’s MFI program is not for consumers. It’s for the manufacturers of certain Apple’s accessory. There are a bunch of companies out there who make accessories for Apple products. For example, lightning cables, earbuds, chargers, and other Bluetooth accessories. Therefore, if they make all these products according to the specification and recommendations of Apple. They can take part in this MFI program. Many companies sell Apple MFI certificated cables.
Therefore, these companies can take part in this program. After taking part, they will have to take approval from Apple itself. When a good company makes an apple accessory. They make it according to the level of their original product.
After all that, Apple tests that product and they will give MFI approval to the manufacturing company. That accessory will therefore be called the MFI Certified Product. But what does it even mean?
The word MFI stands for, “Made of iPhone/iPod/iPad”. This shows how much Apple is focused on having the best accessory for their customers. These MFI products are almost equivalent to the original product which comes in the box.
There are many companies like Amazon that make and sell the apple’s accessories. If you research a bit, there will be a tag of MFI certified in their products. So how can you find out if a product is MFI Certified?
How to verify that a product is MFI Certified?
In normal cases, Apple’s products are really expensive. Therefore, most people prefer buying a third-party charger or product that will be working. Most of them do work. However, the quality and standard is not just on par with Apple’s products. Therefore, you should and you must buy MFI certified accessories.
Just don’t go on buying random Apple accessory. I’ve seen lightning cable for like, as low as 1 USD. But they just won’t work. Sometimes they just won’t even let you charge. Therefore, it’s really important to be wise in choosing products like that.
So how do you find out if a product if MFI Certified? Whenever you buy an Apple product, if there’s a tag saying, “Made of iPhone/iPod/iPad” trust me you can just choose it without thinking twice. The tag itself is the evidence that this product is made for Apple’s products. All the accessories that are certified by apple will have this logo on that product’s box. Therefore it’s pretty simple to find this whole system out.
Honestly speaking, the Chinese are way ahead of us. They make some products that have the MFI Certified logo. But actually, don’t perform well. So how do we find out for sure? Of course, Apple cannot find a whole list of brands that are faking this MFI Certification. But there is another method using which you can find out whether the product you’re using is MFI Certified or not.
Troubleshooting
Click HERE to redirect to Apple’s official website to troubleshoot whether your device is MFI Certified or not. It’s important to know because there are brands out of these faking this MFI Certification. But Apple was kind enough to provide.
Here you will find a box in which you can choose the product you want to check whether its MFI certified or not. You can enter the name of that particular brand you want to check. You have a brand list and the products they make. Therefore it’s pretty simple so whenever you buy an apple certified lightning cable or some other product. I recommend you to check this website out.
Therefore, you shouldn’t trust any brand without checking this link out. This is because 3rd Party duplicate cables and other accessories are not even par with Apple’s product. Your phone is pretty costly, so it should have special treatment too. Finally, you should research a bit about MFI without the article up ahead. So let’s begin digging deep into this issue.
Now we are going to talk about the whole process of how a product makes its way from its manufacturing stage toward the end of the MFI Certification process. I am going to take an example of Lighting Cable. Therefore let’s continue with our article now.
Lightning Connecting cable
The Lightning connector is made by apple. This product is being used since 2012. But here’s a real deal. Inside every lightning connector, there is an authentication chip that tells us whether that cable or connector is MFI approved or not. This is pretty important for Apple to do this. It’s because many fake brands make non-MFI cable that ultimately destroys your device.
There are often errors too that the accessory is not supported by the iProduct. But why are these cables so harmful? They are harmful because these wires can extremely get hot. They might cause damage to your phone. Your phone might become hot too and heating causes a lot of issues too.
A genuine MFI cable has 30 pin connectors. Each cable has a serial number that is unique assigned to them. Moreover, non-MFI cables give an error which is as follows:
"This cable or accessory is not certified and may not work reliably with this iPhone". Let’s talk about the certification process these connectors go through.
Certification Process by Apple
After applying to apple for MFI Certification. Your product is processed. This process contains a complex amount of testing. But if it’s worth the MFI certification, everything will go smoothly. Once the product gets approved, companies just beginning to roll out their products.
The companies must submit some samples of their products. Apple will independently test these cables. These cables will be put through a rough testing. Mechanical test, stress tests and electrical tests too. Also, a simple cable is tested twice to make sure that the product is not that faulty.
Therefore, testing each product twice can prove to be pretty error-free testing. It’s up to these companies to make their products according to apple’s specifications. So really it isn’t even that hard. Companies do need to step up their game in manufacturing.
Result
It might seem to you like a very simple and easy process. But it’s not. Through extensive testing and stuff, we can get an MFI certified iPhone charger by apple. But it’s pretty much worth it. MFI tag symbolizes that your device is capable to be on par with Apple’s product.
It’s like every company’s dream. To have the MFI tag on their products. Many companies sell awesome cables and other accessories for apple’s products. These companies can even go as far as to provide a year of warranty. Therefore, this whole process is worth it.
MFI CHIP
An Apple approved chip comes with MFI chip prebuilt inside. But what is that chip and how does it work? MFI chip is in build into MFI devices. The purpose of these chips is that they are like an authenticator. These authentications provides better compatibility for these products with apple devices. It’s like a check that allows a product to be connected with Apple’s product.
Therefore, due to these chips, charging and high transfer speeds tasks are performed.
Why my iPhone or iPad is saying “this accessory is not certified?
This scenario often happens in many Apple devices. People are pretty pissed off due to this. But most people don’t even know why this message is popping up. They’ve just bought a new product and what’s next? It won’t even work in the first place. So pissing off is probably acceptable.
This simply means that your accessory is not certified by apple of course. But it’s not always the MFI stuff. It could be an error message popping out for some reason. So let’s try and find what exactly causes this issue.
Sometimes when we buy an Apple’s accessory and say we plug it in. We will get the accessory not supported message. But as soon as we plug it out and then plug it in, chances are that it’ll work. It could be a temporary one time bug. Therefore, before assuming that your product isn’t MFI certified, it’s recommended to first plug it out and then plug it into the apple product again.
If that error message doesn’t seem to appear again then you shouldn’t worry about it even one bit. You’re all set to go. Just imagine that it never happened. Moreover, always identify the problem first before jumping to the conclusion real quick. This is because there are just so many circumstances in which you have to deal with a problem like this. So many conditions can cause a problem like this.
Damaged USB cable or accessory
There are some cases that an official apple certified cable will give this message. This message pops up every time your plugin. If it appears sometimes and sometimes it doesn’t. Chances are that your cable itself is damaged. Some cheap cables are victim to this. Even if they are MFI certified, they can be vulnerable to damage.
There can be many causes of damages. Sometimes the cable is messed up by water damage. Or sometimes it’s bent cable.
In addition to all this, there’s also a chance that the charging port of your phone itself is damaged. If you plug in several chargers and it still gives this error, stop blaming the charging cable. The main culprit here is your phone itself. Therefore, always ensure that the USB port of your device isn’t covered with lint or dust.
There is a way to avoid it though. If you want to keep using your iPhone with non-MFI certified cable, then you can only jailbreak and tweak your iPhone or other Apple products to use it.
But if you purchased an MFI certified cable and you see this message regularly. Then the fault must be your cable. You should get a new one or replace it if you have a warranty. But if that cable is broken then you might want to consider buying a new one. Now let’s talk about some of the best lightning cables that you can buy in 2019.
Best Lightning Cables
AmazonBasics USB A Nylon Braided Cable
This product has almost 9,000 five star reviews on Amazon. The cable itself takes the cake for durability. Some people say that these cables are even durable and stronger than Apple’s lightning connector. Moreover, most of the third-party cable has compatibility issues but with Amazon basics, compatibility is just flawless.
The reviews for AmazonBasics are mixed. This is because some people prefer nylon cables while others don’t like.
Overtime Lightning Cable
Overtime lightning cable is alternative to apple’s charging connector. Many reviewers prefer it over apple’s charging cable. This cable is pretty durable too. Many lighting cables start to fall apart in just a couple of months. Yet this cable is durable enough to handle itself even for months.
These cables will last a pretty long time and in addition to that, they are pretty durable too. Overtime also has unbeatable charging speed. Every product they make is flexible and sturdy enough to work for a long time. The price is also impressive. So it’s one of the most recommended cables too.
Anker Powerline Lightning Cable
Anker stepped up their game with this wire. The powerline is 6 feet long. 6 feet is a pretty long form factor. Therefore, if you’re looking for a very long cable. Anker is the way to go. It’s perfect for using in the bed. It’s better than most of the other long cables in the market.
if you’re looking for a replacement or alternative apple MFI cables then these three definitely for you. Other cables will just not come on according to your expectations. That’s why I recommended the top three best cables.
Conclusion
In conclusion to all this, we need to be vary of what we are going to buy. This is because many brands are faking the MFI certification. MFI certified apple products are surely great but the risk still won’t fade away. Therefore, it’s recommended that whenever you buy an Apple product, the first step is to make sure it’s MFI certified.
After that, take it to your home and verify it by the apple’s website. Does that brand even exist in apple’s database? Or is it just a gimmick trying to rip you off. It’s always better to be careful about our products. If you use your device every day, you should care about it a lot. Give it the best cables you can.
Feed the energy from the best possible charger you can buy. Or else you’ll just be in the infinite void of changing cheap wires and replacing everything. So far we’ve talked about a couple of techniques we can use to crack open this issue.
From crack opening I mean, identifying if a product is MFI certified or not,
You should always be careful about choosing these products. Therefore, this is the end of our article today. If you’ve got any queries, kindly feel free to contact us.
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*Trademark Notice
Apple, iPhone, iPad and Lightning are registered trademarks of Apple Inc.