
iPhone 5 through 8 and some iPads self-destruct w non-MFi cables and chargers - hexbinencoded
https://www.ifixit.com/Answers/View/400522/How+to+I+test+the+Tristar
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throwaway851
I’m not surprised that if you use accessories that aren’t vetted to work with
a particular system, that the system may get damaged over time in a way that
isn’t an intentional “self destructing” design. At the time that I’m writing
this, the HN title is an editorialized “iPhone 5 through 8 and some iPads
self-destruct w non-MFi cables and chargers” when the ifixit link says “How
[do] I test the Tristar?”

If you take your car to a mechanic and get repairs with generic third party
parts and the car isn’t as efficient or reliable as the same model car that
was taken to the dealer mechanic doing repairs with parts officially approved
by the car maker, would you be surprised?

Back in 2013, a woman in China was electrocuted because a poorly designed
generic charger was letting dangerous current through to the phone while it
was being used:

[https://abcnews.go.com/Technology/apple-starts-power-
adapter...](https://abcnews.go.com/Technology/apple-starts-power-adapter-
trade-program-electrocution-reports/story?id=19882296)

If you were Apple and wanted to guarantee a minimum level of quality and
safety, doesn’t the MFi program make sense? I’ve never thought of MFi
certification as a ploy to charge more just because they can. Such a program
lets you buy (MFi certified) Anker lightning cables for a lot less than a
similar cable made by Apple.

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hexbinencoded
This looks like an under-recognized, purposefully-anti-competitive gambit to
lock people further into Apple's hardware ecosystem, limit consumer choices,
and purposely ruin a customer's product if they stray outside the walled
garden.

Both of the "tristar" and "hydra" chips are fragile and prone to degradation,
when they are connected directly to the Lightning port.

[https://store.rossmanngroup.com/ics-components-and-
chipsets/...](https://store.rossmanngroup.com/ics-components-and-
chipsets/components-by-type/charging-circuit-components/tristar.html)

[https://www.ipadrehab.com/article.cfm?ArticleNumber=32](https://www.ipadrehab.com/article.cfm?ArticleNumber=32)

iPadRehab mentions a tester, on which site also explains the causes and
symptoms

[http://tristartester.com/en/](http://tristartester.com/en/)

More technical discussion about Lightning

[https://nyansatan.github.io/lightning](https://nyansatan.github.io/lightning)

Replacing these fragile chips isn't a solution in the long-term because it
reinforces an artificially-constructed monopoly. In the short-term, it may get
a user's device working but it doesn't help but throw them right back into
debt peonage.

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simonblack
That just shows that the iPhone is "not suitable for use" and should be
discarded.

Also a Brand that shows that it's "not suitable for use" is a Brand that I
would be very reluctant to purchase again.

