MFi is there to authenticate the accessory (using an authentication coprocessor which supposedly cannot be reverse-engineered).

But that does not say that the chip has to be in the cable, does it? It just means that the iOS device may require authentication, so the accessory device needs the chip.

In that case, it's all compliant: we could reuse the chargers/usb cables. It's just that not all accessories will be allowed, which is another problem.

Of course I'm not a big fan of the MFi-related costs, and I think it would be nice to have an open version of it (just like AOAP on Android). But in terms of security, being able to cryptographically authenticate the accessory from an iOS app is actually nice.