Do you think there's still a chance that Apple will wiggle out of it?
Have no idea. Didn't follow the suit. But actually, there are quite a few suits against Apple for all sorts of similar complaints. Deep pockets are big targets.
You recall I only had one complaint about Apple and that was how difficult they made it to cancel unneeded Apple Care+ AC+, IMO, is a ripoff but I'm sure some see value in it.
Some of these rumor mongers have a pretty successful track record. They're not always right but more than a few have been right more than they have been wrong. If Apple has gone to the trouble of enabling MFi, you can pretty much bet that they intend to make use of it.
I do pay attention to some of the rumors, those where the source comes from someone working for a contractor who is developing the product but many are in violation of NDA too.
The issue with MFi is that while Apple does overcharge for their cables, they also license 3rd party to make MFi cables as well and these are often superior in durability from those skinny Apple white cables. All my MFi cables here are el cheapo MFi certified from Amazon. They work just fine. The only Apple cables I have are those that came with the iphones.
While the claim that there is reduced charging speed has been levied, I find it not true. You just need to change a setting in the menu for full speed depending on the size power source. But it can make the iphone very hot.
The data transfer rate limitation is something I haven't looked into yet. Tomorrow I plan to test the iMAC Thunderbolt 3 ( 40GBs) to a USB C 3.2 connection to an M.2 stick that I know is amazing speed on my windows cloning setup. I'll let you know how that works out. The new Crucial m.2 should arrive by Amazon today.