Following Apple’s announcement that third-party manufacturers will be able to license the female Lightning port, the company has now released more detailed specifications for how the port can be implemented various accessories, 9to5Mac reports. Apple is apparently hoping that a large range of different accessories will move from micro-USB to the Lightning port standard, and will allow manufacturers to have the port draw power from any MFi-certified power adapter, as well as providing passthrough charging and syncing for iOS devices connected to the other side of the accessory, such as iPhones used in battery cases.
The passthrough feature could also allow a dock to simultaneously charge an iPhone while also providing audio output to Lightning headphones.
The specs note, however, that only one Lightning port will be allowed per accessory, ruling out the development of Lightning splitters or hubs.
Faster charging will be possible via Lightning, however, with MFi-certified USB power adapters providing power ranging from a minimum of 1.0A to the Apple-recommended 2.4A level suitable for charging an iPad at full speed. Unfortunately, at this point the Lightning port is only available in sample quantities for development purposes, and all specs remain in “Developer Preview” mode, with some sections still listed as “to be determined.” It’s therefore unclear when the first accessories with female Lightning ports will actually appear.