Should customers who pre-ordered or are willing to buy the iPhone 5 before Christmas hope to see cheap lightning charger for this device? The original iPhone chargers by Apple are pricey. Thus the black market is doing everything to create cheap cables and sell them online to trusting users. Apple launched its new iPhone 5 last month. The company developed a special Lightning 30-pin connector for it which is smaller than the previous charger. But even though the new Lightning charger is harder to fake, it is still possible for black market professional fakers.

Inside the Lightning Connector

Those who had a chance to tear apart the 30-pin connector and iPhone 5 Lightning connector could notice that the second detail has an exclusive chip which is hard to fake. As for the 30-pin connector, it doesn’t have such architecture and it is easy to copy. Even though Apple uses an authentic chip for its Lightning connector, manufacturers can still create it and offer cheap Lightning charger to iPhone 5 owners. Who do you think can make fake products? Surely, Chinese makers are working hard to close the new unit and sell it as low cost Lightning charger for iPhone 5, experts believe.

MFi Program

Third-party companies can make legitimate accessories for iPhone if they participate in MFi licensing program run by Apple. The new official Lightning accessories are worth $19-$39 in the Apple Store. At the same time people can get counterfeits from Asia pretty cheap, even with free shipping. Sellers who promise to sell cut-price accessories for Lightning connector do not publish their contact information or official names and say nothing about their products yet. Analysts think that counterfeit companies will start selling their fake working cables in the future. Right now they need time to develop these unlicensed products. For now all you are left with are official Apple’s accessories [the official Lightning to 30-pin dock connectors cost $29 or $39]. There will be no cheap Lightning charger worth a couple of bucks, at least in the nearest future even though some sites such as Amazon list these products as available for pre-orders.