In the past, when using Lightning, many external devices had to go through MFi certification. However, since the iPhone 15 switched from Lightning to USB-C, is MFi certification still required? Our company has developed several UVC devices, and we have confirmed that iPads can read frames from external cameras through the external device type in AVFoundation. However, this is not supported on iPhones. We are currently exploring feasible ways to enable UVC device support on iPhones. Is MFi certification the only option? If so, is the MFi certification process for USB-C the same as it was for Lightning? Does it still require purchasing an MFi chip and manufacturing specially designed USB-C cables?

I'm using an iPhone 15 Pro, which has switched from Lightning to USB Type-C. My iOS version is 18.3. According to Apple's documentation, AVCaptureDevice.DeviceType should support external device types. 🔗 Apple's Official Documentation: https://developer.apple.com/documentation/avfoundation/avcapturedevice/devicetype-swift.struct/external The documentation clearly states that iPadOS 17.0+ and iOS 17.0+ support external devices. However, in my actual tests: On iPhone, discoverySession does not detect any external devices. On iPad, discoverySession can detect external devices without any issues. My Question: Does iPhone USB-C actually support external devices (e.g., UVC cameras)? If not, why does Apple's documentation claim that iOS 17 supports external devices instead of specifying iPadOS 17 only?