Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

iPhone 5 will not charge via my car's USB connection

ericg301

ericg301

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Jun 15, 2010
2,265
2,433
I have a brand new Hyundai Elantra (2013) that has a built-in USB port. I plugged in Lightning-->USB cable to my iPhone 5, expecting it to charge. Nada. The battery icon flashes like it's charging for a few seconds, stops, then runs off battery.

So then I tried my old iPhone car charger, which has an extra USB port to charge an additional device. Plugged the Lighting cable into that too. Nada.

I was hoping this would keep me charged in the car until I get the 30 PIN adapter to use with the Hyundai-specific cable (that lets me control music via the steering wheel).

I repeated this with all 4(!) Lighting cables that I've received between yesterday and today. They all work fine on my PC or wall charger.

Anyone experience this? Very frustrating.
 
H

HXGuy

macrumors 68000
Mar 25, 2010
1,679
0
Are you sure that's a powered USB port? Have you tried it before with your old iPhone and the 30 pin cable?

The reason I ask if because my car also has a USB port but its only for software updates, it doesn't actually charge. Have to use the iPod connection to charge the phone and play music.
 
geoelectric

geoelectric

macrumors 6502
May 19, 2008
328
17
Even the old iPhones didn't reliably charge off a power-only USB port. At work, mine won't charge from powered USB hub unless it's plugged into my MacBook.

Think iPhone chargers (and probably the Elantra port) had some circuitry to do USB negotiation. Sounds like maybe they need something different now.

There are adapters out there that solve this problem for Android phones by bridging two pins in the connector. I wonder if they'd also work for this.
 
E

emaja

macrumors 68000
May 3, 2005
1,706
11
Chicago, IL
I can't speak the built-in USB ports, but my Alpine head unit and plug in USB charger work just fine.

I have THIS Rocketfish USB charger.
 
lorenwade

lorenwade

macrumors 68000
Aug 27, 2008
1,951
0
emaja said:
What has changed about the iPhone 5 that makes this so? All of my chargers still work.
Click to expand...

I said some. The USB car chargers on the cheaper end don't work. My normal one works but the ones we bought on eBay do not. Not sure what's different.
 
S

sabu213

macrumors newbie
Sep 15, 2012
29
9
Fresno Ca
emaja said:
I can't speak the built-in USB ports, but my Alpine head unit and plug in USB charger work just fine.

I also have an Alpine head Unit. A DVD/NAV double din with a USB connector. Iphone 5 w/ lightning cable works fine audio wise. I plug it in and close center console. all music controlled threw deck.
Click to expand...
 
ericg301

ericg301

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Jun 15, 2010
2,265
2,433
Here's the response from AppleCare:

"Due to the Lightning connector being all digital, it won't work with current models of vehicles or other charging stations other than the wall adapter it came with. However, there might be an adapter in the future that will solve that. I will send this to Engineering and see what they come up with for a quicker solution in case they might have a better way of getting this to work."
 
Y

yang88she

macrumors regular
Oct 26, 2011
217
34
ATL
Works fine on my USB car charger, it came from AT&T when I bought it for my android phone with a mini USB plus a USB slot

Noticed that the lightening cable charges incredibly fast as I was on 8% and charged to 85% in an hour ride home
 
ericg301

ericg301

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Jun 15, 2010
2,265
2,433
That's bizarre because I tried the same thing with my car charger, that I got with my iPhone 3G, but no charge.

I'm slightly annoyed about these compatibility issues, but beyond pissed that Apple launched the phone without all of the adapters ready to go. Apple has prided themselves on delivering turnkey solutions for their customers.
 
C

CaCohen0509

macrumors regular
Jan 2, 2010
186
10
ericg301 said:
I have a brand new Hyundai Elantra (2013) that has a built-in USB port. I plugged in Lightning-->USB cable to my iPhone 5, expecting it to charge. Nada. The battery icon flashes like it's charging for a few seconds, stops, then runs off battery.

So then I tried my old iPhone car charger, which has an extra USB port to charge an additional device. Plugged the Lighting cable into that too. Nada.

I was hoping this would keep me charged in the car until I get the 30 PIN adapter to use with the Hyundai-specific cable (that lets me control music via the steering wheel).

I repeated this with all 4(!) Lighting cables that I've received between yesterday and today. They all work fine on my PC or wall charger.

Anyone experience this? Very frustrating.
Click to expand...

I have the exact same car as OP. I also tried plugging in directly to the USB port and saw the same flashing on and off charging symbol. I'm hoping that when the adapter is available. It'll fix this.
 
C

chele519

macrumors regular
Sep 15, 2012
161
0
ericg301 said:
I have a brand new Hyundai Elantra (2013) that has a built-in USB port. I plugged in Lightning-->USB cable to my iPhone 5, expecting it to charge. Nada. The battery icon flashes like it's charging for a few seconds, stops, then runs off battery.

So then I tried my old iPhone car charger, which has an extra USB port to charge an additional device. Plugged the Lighting cable into that too. Nada.

I was hoping this would keep me charged in the car until I get the 30 PIN adapter to use with the Hyundai-specific cable (that lets me control music via the steering wheel).

I repeated this with all 4(!) Lighting cables that I've received between yesterday and today. They all work fine on my PC or wall charger.

Anyone experience this? Very frustrating.
Click to expand...

I have the 2012 Elantra, when I plugged mine in I had the same battery flashing then got the message USB read error. When you get the adapter, can you please post to say if it works for the steering wheel controls?
 
HazyCloud

HazyCloud

macrumors 68030
Jun 30, 2010
2,779
37
I ordered the Griffin Powerjolt for iPhone & iPad. I figured if it can charge an iPhone and an iPad, it should be able to charge the 5 with no issues.

In case it doesn't work, I bought it from eBay for about 5 bucks so it won't be a huge loss.
 
M

milk242

macrumors 6502a
Jun 28, 2007
695
15
HazyCloud said:
I ordered the Griffin Powerjolt for iPhone & iPad. I figured if it can charge an iPhone and an iPad, it should be able to charge the 5 with no issues.

In case it doesn't work, I bought it from eBay for about 5 bucks so it won't be a huge loss.
Click to expand...

I'm sure your griffin will work. I have the powerjolt duo micro and it charges my iPhone 5 fine.
 
swordfish5736

swordfish5736

macrumors 68000
Jun 29, 2007
1,898
106
Cesspool
ericg301 said:
That's bizarre because I tried the same thing with my car charger, that I got with my iPhone 3G, but no charge.

I'm slightly annoyed about these compatibility issues, but beyond pissed that Apple launched the phone without all of the adapters ready to go. Apple has prided themselves on delivering turnkey solutions for their customers.
Click to expand...

what is the USB port in the car for specifically?
 
S

Slabonski

macrumors newbie
Oct 25, 2011
26
0
Perhaps it is a faulty lightning cable? Check this out. http://fenix-tech.com/iphone-5-lighting-cable-problems/

Anyone know the iPhone 5 charging requirements? I find it hard to believe it changed much from the iPhone 4S.

BTW the max for a standard downstream USB 1.0 & 2.0 port is 5 volts at 500ma (.5A) and USB 3.0 bumps it to 900ma (.9A). A USB charging downstream port or dedicated charging port can go up to 5A (with cable length restrictions).
 
ericg301

ericg301

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Jun 15, 2010
2,265
2,433
swordfish5736 said:
what is the USB port in the car for specifically?
Click to expand...

For charging USB devices and playing back music

----------
Slabonski said:
Perhaps it is a faulty lightning cable? Check this out. http://fenix-tech.com/iphone-5-lighting-cable-problems/

Anyone know the iPhone 5 charging requirements? I find it hard to believe it changed much from the iPhone 4S.

BTW the max for a standard downstream USB 1.0 & 2.0 port is 5 volts at 500ma (.5A) and USB 3.0 bumps it to 900ma (.9A). A USB charging downstream port or dedicated charging port can go up to 5A (with cable length restrictions).
Click to expand...

I tried 4 different lighting cables that all work fine with my computer or charging adapters
 
S

Slabonski

macrumors newbie
Oct 25, 2011
26
0
ericg301 said:
For charging USB devices and playing back music

----------



I tried 4 different lighting cables that all work fine with my computer or charging adapters
Click to expand...

Ok so maybe the iPhone 5 will not work with a standard downstream USB port and requires at least a charging downstream USB port?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom