Yubico launches USB-C and Lightning-compatible Yubikey 5Ci, with native support for iOS apps like LastPass and 1Password out of the box, for $70
But it won't work with USB-C iPad Pros — If you've wanted to just plug a physical security key into your iPhone to log into apps securely …
Context & Ripple Effects
Yubico has been walking toward this launch for two years: it previewed the first Apple-approved Lightning security key in January 2019, after LastPass had already wired Yubico's SDK into its iOS app via NFC in 2018. The 5Ci is that promise shipping as a product — a single $70 key covering both Lightning and USB-C, with LastPass and 1Password support built in rather than requiring SDK setup.
First-order effects
- iPhone users can now authenticate into supported apps by plugging in a key, and the two password managers named at launch — LastPass and 1Password — become the default showcase for hardware-backed login on iOS.
- The dual-connector design exists because of a gap Yubico itself flags: the 5Ci does not work with USB-C iPad Pros, so buyers with mixed Apple hardware still need to match key to port.
Second-order effects
- Other consumer services that added hardware-key support on desktop or Android — Facebook among them back in 2017 — face pressure to light up iOS key support now that a mass-market key exists for the platform.
- Apple's approval gate proved decisive in getting here, giving Apple de facto control over which authenticators reach iPhone users; every rival key maker must now run the same gauntlet Yubico did.
Third-order effects
- With Safari gaining FIDO2 key support in the iOS 13.3 beta shortly after, hardware authentication is shifting from an enterprise-desktop niche toward a consumer-mobile default — and Yubico's follow-on YubiKey 5C NFC a year later shows the roadmap consolidating around one key spanning all major platforms.
The trend: Physical security keys are moving from IT-department peripherals to mainstream consumer login as Apple opens iOS to FIDO2 hardware.