One thing is for sure. Under no circumstance should they allow OEMs to make Mac hardware. I'd even go as far as to say to control for this all hardware that could be build by the end user (which could be a business or person I suppose) must be certified through the MFI program. If I was postulating a way for this to work, the only way I see it working is:
1) They charge yearly for the priviledge through either the developer accounts and deployment accounts (for businesses and individual devs) and direct sales. I would say to make up for any potential lost margin we are talking $400-700 for this. Just like back in the OS X server days.
2) I imagine all hardware will need to -no must need to- be MFI certified and likely I could imagine Apple not only getting their cut from that but perhaps every MFI part sold will have a hearse are chip that ensures authenticity and compatibility
3) this will never be something OEMs could partake in. As a stipulation for the MFI program I could see them stating that hardware can't be sold to OEMs only direct purchases.
In the most realistic scenario I can come up with that's how it would work. Even then I doubt Apple wants to or could otherwise make it viable. It could potentially do so much brand damage otherwise
One thing is for sure. Under no circumstance should they allow OEMs to make Mac hardware. I'd even go as far as to say to control for this all hardware that could be build by the end user (which could be a business or person I suppose) must be certified through the MFI program. If I was postulating a way for this to work, the only way I see it working is:
1) They charge yearly for the priviledge through either the developer accounts and deployment accounts (for businesses and individual devs) and direct sales. I would say to make up for any potential lost margin we are talking $400-700 for this. Just like back in the OS X server days.
2) I imagine all hardware will need to -no must need to- be MFI certified and likely I could imagine Apple not only getting their cut from that but perhaps every MFI part sold will have a hearse are chip that ensures authenticity and compatibility
3) this will never be something OEMs could partake in. As a stipulation for the MFI program I could see them stating that hardware can't be sold to OEMs only direct purchases.
In the most realistic scenario I can come up with that's how it would work. Even then I doubt Apple wants to or could otherwise make it viable. It could potentially do so much brand damage otherwise