I purchased an XT+2 from AliExpress with the purpose of reprogramming it for XBlast purposes (RAM upgrades n such), but I found that this chip I purchased included an NPN transistor on the D0 line to properly drive it (rather than using the pin on the Lattice CPLD directly).The Jafar chip uses this same method albeit using a MOSFET of some description but the effect is the same.
This seems like a new development, I haven't seen anyone else have a chip like this and I imagine most of the new ones produced going forwards will be this way. But it shows that the producers are taking steps to bring the modchips forward into the modern day.
Here is a closeup of the board, you can see the added transistor.