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

Does a cheaper Iphone Composite Video Cable exist???

C

CaptainMayhem

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Dec 5, 2007
5
0
I'd love to play around with the video out features of the iphone, but I'm not about to shell out 50 bucks for a cable. Does anyone know of any cheap third party cables that exist and work with the iphone?

Also, are there any portable lcd players that work with the iphone? Like the Sonic Impact video 55???

Thanks for any help.
 
I believe it uses a different cable than the video ipod. It needs to use the dock connector.
 
Correct, it is a different cable. From what I understand, there is some sort of chip in the iPhone that detects whether it's an actual iPhone cable or not... therefore, any of the older composite cables will not work with it (which is why my cheaper cable I bought on ebay doesn't work).
 
billchase2 said:
Correct, it is a different cable. From what I understand, there is some sort of chip in the iPhone that detects whether it's an actual iPhone cable or not... therefore, any of the older composite cables will not work with it (which is why my cheaper cable I bought on ebay doesn't work).
Click to expand...

Yeah, I got a similar 5 dollar RCA cable off of ebay awhile back for my 5G ipod video, and it works great. It's total bulls#!t that Apple has hosed these cables, making us pay fifty big ones for a new cable.

It's worth noting, however, that the headphone jack on the ipod video is not the same as the iphone, so these old cables couldn't possibly work because the iphone doesn't transmit both audio AND video signals for the TV through the headphone jack.
 
CaptainMayhem said:
I believe it uses a different cable than the video ipod. It needs to use the dock connector.
Click to expand...

I've got an SVideo cable for my 5G iPod that uses the dock connector and works fine. I'm not saying that this would work for the iPhone, but that the 5G does/can use video cables that connect to the dock connector.

In a couple months some Chinese manufacture will have reverse engineered the iPhone cable and flood eBay with $10 knock-offs. :p
 
iPhone jack is different from iPod

Just to clarify the iPod versus iPhone... The four-connector iPod jack has video, ground, left, and right (audio)... The iPhone removed the video for a microphone input... The jack looks the same, but the video is gone, so cables for that jack won't work... In sum, you have to use the dock connector to get video out... I haven't found a cheaper cable, but I hope someone does...

http://www.appleinsider.com/article...ut_background_and_in_depth_review.html&page=2
 
any updates on this? has anyone found a way to get a cheaper cable to work? i really want this feature but can't talk myself into spending THAT much money for it...
 
What about one of these connectors? It has the same dock connector. I haven't tried one, but I assumed it would work.

I was also looking for a wireless option that would allow video. Belkin had a cool device (I think it was called the TuneStage) but it only streamed audio and not video. Does anyone know of a bluetooth add on that would stream video for either the iPhone or a 5g iPod?
 
So I've been searching more for an answer to this and I can't find anything either. I'm actually looking for a Nano 3g AV cable because it appears to be the same as the iPhone/iPod Touch cable. One guy on eBay had a iPhone av cable but when you clicked on the listing, he said it didn't work on the iPhone (stupid false advertisers!). Anyhow, I'm desperate to find one of these cables to as I'm starting a website detailing the possibilities of the video output for the iPhone and Nano 3G. Help!!! =)
 
Like the previous post says, the video out set-up is different on the iPhone in comparison to other iPods. There are reports online that say there isn't actually an authentication chip, and the erroneous report there was is simply amplified conjecture.

Also, the cable isn't $50, since you also get the USB charger, thus it should be more like $25-30. Has anyone had any luck with finding just the cable, for ~$25, without the USB charger? Does anyone here who works for apple know if it's possible to just order the cable?
 
I just purchased one of these on ebay and it appears to be the correct cable. The only question in my mind is if the cable does indeed have an authentication chip? There seem to be many satisfied customers who have also purchased this cable.

I should note that it doesn't come with the power adapter, but still $6 is cheap enough to be suspect. ALSO, does anyone know off hand if this video out cable will allow the iphone to play anything in quicktime on the tv? In other words, if its a steaming video on youtube will it work? Thanks everyone.
 
would this work with the iphone 3gs? I assume it wont since you have to ssh in and add a file. Unless I'm mistaken, the 3gs can't be ssh-ed yet...correct?
 
Check dealextreme.com, i think they have some cables with chips to trick it into thinking it's Apple-certified. Not sure if they'll have some for the 3g or even iphone, but if they do, theyll be dirt cheap.
 
cheaper iphone composite cable

once googled " iphone 3g composite av cable" n got TVC-MALL sold it at $4.5 or so, but they don't support v3.0:(
 
the only cables that are iPhone 3.0 compatible are the $50 Apple one's

nothing else currently works
 
Of course you can use any third party av cable as long you replace one file in your iphone/ipod touch. I use mine from eBay which cost £3 and works perfect!:)
 
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
Back