A decade building
what others can’t.
Maktar’s technology story isn’t about a single invention. It’s a decade of compounding capability at the intersection of the Apple hardware ecosystem, in-house silicon design, and mobile software engineering — a combination specialized enough to constitute a structural competitive advantage.
We didn’t set out to build a moat. We set out to solve problems that required us to go deeper than anyone else. The moat is the result.
In 2011 this
was considered impossible.
iOS was a closed system by design. No USB host mode, no file-system access, no way for an App to talk directly to external hardware. Building external storage for iPhone meant solving a problem Apple had deliberately made hard.
OTG approach
Used an OTG IC as the external USB controller, handled FAT32 in firmware, and talked to the iOS App via iAP 1. The architecture worked — but performance was bottlenecked by communication: the App and the IC traded data through a virtual file-read/write protocol.
Three breakthroughs
Switched to a simple USB card-reader IC and moved the FAT32/exFAT file-system implementation entirely into the iOS App. Dual-role App — UI and hardware driver in one. An embedded HTTP server enabled direct 1080p video streaming from external storage — a first for iOS accessories.
Lightning: three plans in parallel
Apple set Lightning power requirements at 100 mA active and 10 mA standby — no IC house in the world could meet them. Mactaris pushed three plans simultaneously: A — ATMEL SAM3U, built from scratch (power-switching patent). B — Phison flash controllers. C — a custom ALCOR card-reader IC integrating everything we’d learned. Plan C won.
MFi isn’t a sticker.
It’s a deep certification.
Apple’s MFi (Made for iPhone/iPad) is widely recognized as a quality mark. Fewer people understand how deep — and how strict — the technical requirements actually go.
Apple coprocessor authentication
Every accessory must include an Apple-certified chip that cryptographically proves authorization.
Protocol compliance
iAP 1 serial communication / iAP 2 Native Transport for high-bandwidth, block-level data transfer.
Power management
Strict power budgets while sustaining USB 3.0 throughput. Requires precise hardware and active power-state management.
Test and certification
Electrical safety, signal integrity, protocol compliance, UX. Products that fail must be redesigned and resubmitted.
Continuous compliance
Each new iOS release can introduce compatibility requirements; Apple updates the MFi spec on its own cadence.
These capabilities aren’t documented in any public tutorial. They come from years of direct development inside the MFi ecosystem — from building nine generations of IC platforms, from protocol-level debugging against Apple’s engineering specs, and from a founder who has been building on Apple platforms since the 1980s.
App Launch
Auto-launches the companion App when the accessory connects — no user interaction. This is the technology that makes Qubii’s automatic backup possible. Most MFi makers use the basic "prompt" version; Maktar discovered and implemented direct launch.
Role Switch
An MFi protocol feature for accessories that need to switch roles at runtime. Qubii uses standard Lightning cables (not a captive connector), which requires dynamic role negotiation between accessory and iOS device.
Power-State Switching
Maktar’s patented technique for switching between USB 1 (low-power standby) and USB 2 (full-speed operation) modes — meeting Apple’s strict power budget while preserving USB 3.0 performance. The key to winning the Lightning era.
Maktar doesn’t use
off-the-shelf silicon.
Each generation is built on an in-house IC platform co-developed with an IC design house — Maktar’s Apple-proprietary know-how paired with the partner’s silicon capability.
To enter this space, a competitor must replicate not only the current generation but also the cumulative learning of nine generations — protocol edge cases, power-management tricks, the pitfalls of Apple certification, and manufacturing yield optimization.
The App is
the hardware driver.
This dual-role architecture, first developed in 2012 with the Gen 2 platform, means the App is simultaneously user interface and hardware driver — a hardware/software integration architecture without precedent on iOS.
What the App does
- File-system operations (FAT32 / exFAT live in the App, not the IC)
- Custom protocol layer over iAP (throughput-optimized)
- Incremental backup with resume-on-interrupt
- HTTP server for direct video streaming
- Hardware abstraction layer (across IC generations and vendors)
- Apple Files / Photos / Contacts integration
What the firmware does
- iAP 1 protocol implementation (backward compatibility)
- iAP 2 protocol implementation (full Native Transport)
- Apple coprocessor authentication (cryptographic handshake)
- SCSI pass-through direct-storage command interface
- USB 1 / USB 2 switching firmware (patented power optimization)
- MFi feature firmware (App Launch, Role Switch)
Qubii App
Maktar’s own consumer App
PowerBackup App
White-label version, licensed to SoftBank, I-O DATA, Elecom
iSmartCopy App
Customized version for Elecom
From local backup
to three-layer protection.
Qubii Air represents Maktar’s technology evolution from single-device local backup into a distributed, multi-layer protection system.
Local Storage Engine
The proven Qubii backup engine: automatic, incremental, interrupt-resilient backup to local storage while charging. Zero network, zero subscription, zero setup. The layer 1.2M+ users already trust.
P2P Remote Access
A peer-to-peer networking layer that lets you access backups from any device — without uploading files to a central cloud. Cloud-like access, with the privacy and economics of local storage.
AWS Glacier
Long-term archival on AWS Glacier. The layer that turns backup into insurance. Even if every physical device is gone — theft, fire, flood — the data lives on.
Beyond patents,
a decade of trade secrets.
USB power-state switching
A patented technique for switching between USB 1 (standby) and USB 2 (operational) power modes — meeting Apple’s strict power budget while preserving USB 3.0 data-transfer speed. The key that made Lightning-compatible iOS storage commercially viable.
Other patents cover aspects of the Qubii Air local-to-cold-storage integration architecture and related innovations.
- Source code for nine generations of MFi IC firmware
- Protocol-level optimizations for iAP 1 / iAP 2
- Apple coprocessor-authentication implementation details
- Manufacturing yield data across multiple IC generations
- App Launch / Role Switch implementation details
- Resume-on-interrupt algorithms tested across millions of real-world backups
This knowledge cannot be reverse-engineered from a teardown. It lives in firmware code, in Apple-protocol edge-case documentation, in manufacturing process parameters, and in the institutional memory of a team that has been doing this for over a decade.
Twelve years of accumulation.
Let’s collaborate.
Maktar’s technology platform is available for licensing, co-development, and strategic partnership.
IC design houses
Co-develop next-generation Apple-compatible storage and accessory IC — your silicon capability paired with our MFi protocol and certification expertise.
Product brands
A complete IC + firmware + App solution. Launch MFi-certified products under your brand with full white-label customization.
Carriers
Qubii Air’s three-layer architecture as a white-label or co-branded subscription service, integrated with your billing and customer-management infrastructure.
Strategic investors
A decade of proprietary technology, validated market traction (1.2M+ units, 68% Japan), and a clear path from hardware to SaaS.