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Lightning Adapter - iPod/Video Out?? [MERGED]

So What Do We Do Buy and Pray?

With all this confusion over what the adapter will and will not do, what's the answer? Buy one and hope for the best? Crazy.

I was all set to preorder all new iphone 5's for my firm and now I guess my only choice is to wait until they came out and see what everyone's experience is. Guess I'll be in the 2nd or 3rd round of iphone purchases if it actually does work with car iphone cables.
 
Bye bye to all the "universal" docks out there (including the two that I have).

Not very happy about this. I'm sure Apple weighed the cons, but decided to go ahead and "reinvent" anyways.

And they need to price these adaptors less.
 
vega07 said:
Bye bye to all the "universal" docks out there (including the two that I have).

Not very happy about this. I'm sure Apple weighed the cons, but decided to go ahead and "reinvent" anyways.

And they need to price these adaptors less.
Click to expand...

buy one adapter, hook to the bottom of your phone when needed. If you can't afford $29 you can't afford $200.
 
vega07 said:
Bye bye to all the "universal" docks out there (including the two that I have).

Not very happy about this. I'm sure Apple weighed the cons, but decided to go ahead and "reinvent" anyways.

And they need to price these adaptors less.
Click to expand...

I wonder how long it will be before we see dual docks, or docks where rather than swapping out the small plastic surreound around the dock connector, you get 2 dock connectors (Lightning or 30 pin) to select from, that slot in place to allow you to use whatever Apple item you choose
 
Both of our Ford vehicles with Sync have USB and I think Aux as well. We have a 2009 and a 2011. I always thought getting a doc connector hard wired was an iffy proposition. I'd rather have a USB plug that will accept any cable/device.
 
articulatefool said:
Your expensive stereo doesn't have Bluetooth or an axillary input jack???
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My dad's BMW 535xi has an auxiliary jack and an iPod interface that communicates over USB. The auxiliary jack would work fine, but need to hook up the USB if we want to be able to use the steering wheel controls, browse by playlist, etc...
 
vega07 said:
LOL. :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Why do some people think its about money? Its about having a very expensive audio system designed to control and play music from an Iphone/Ipod. Even in my daughter's car she put in a $2000 Kenwood GPS with an integrated iphone connection and if she upgrades, she won't be able to listen to 99% of her music.

The issues is also being able to control your iphone from your car GPS and see song id3 tags and playlists. If the adapter is what apple says it is, no upgrade will be possible.
 
I have a 2001 vehicle that doesn't have any of these extra features. Normally I will go and purchase a replacement CD player that has an AUX input jack but I haven't for this current vehicle yet. Just using one of those things that plugs into the car charger and runs through the radio freqs until I get a new CD player. Hopefully I may not have to bother with the adaptor by the time I get the new iPhone. CD players are cheap these days. If I just get one that was only a radio and AUX in I would. Hell I barely even need the radio.
 
Lightning Adapter - iPod Out??

On the description for the Lightning adapter, it says that Video and iPod Out are not supported. Does this mean that this adapter will not work with say an iHome? What specifically is iPod Out?
 
swwesq said:
Why do some people think its about money? Its about having a very expensive audio system designed to control and play music from an Iphone/Ipod. Even in my daughter's car she put in a $2000 Kenwood GPS with an integrated iphone connection and if she upgrades, she won't be able to listen to 99% of her music.
Click to expand...

why do some people think its about money? All you have done is spout off about your firm and your fleet of cars and now your daughters car with the expensive radio. Relax I'm sure the phones will work fine in your cars. If not go buy another yaucht to make you happy :rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:
 
OriolesMagic said:
On the description for the Lightning adapter, it says that Video and iPod Out are not supported. Does this mean that this adapter will not work with say an iHome? What specifically is iPod Out?
Click to expand...

ipod out is an interface for car radios that was introduced with ios 4 I believe. It lets cars share the whole iPod interface. I don't think it caught on wildly.
 
I'm not sure, but the audio jack is right next to it on the bottom of the phone now, so any dock could have both a lightning and an audio jack to plug into the phone, to charge and play music.
 
CrAkD said:
ipod out is an interface for car radios that was introduced with ios 4 I believe. It lets cars share the whole iPod interface. I don't think it caught on wildly.
Click to expand...

Hated it and ended up just connecting through the audio jack myself, so the change isn't big. Guessing the main reason why the audio jack is located at the bottom with the dock connector.
 
I'm wondering about that too...

If I recall correctly the 30 pin plug had both a analog audio connection (older accessories) and a digital variety of some sort (new devices), so I wonder if the new "all digital" connector just means accessories that needed the analog audio wont work.

For instance my old car had a special ipod cable that had USB and a 1/8" stereo plug, the USB was just used for control information, however my newer car pretty much any ipod USB cable will work nothing special needed. (Some cheap cables won't but I'm guessing because they cut corners somewhere that it needs but most do not.)


Though I found this article from a few years back that seems to imply the ipod out is more than just audio, I know BMW had ipod interface before this article date with remote control and info displayed this seems to make me think its something more. I know in my car when the iPod is connected you can use the standard media player area that also does CD's, usb flash drives, etc... Or there is a menu where you can go to an iPod specific application that looks, feels and works more like the old click wheel iPods, perhaps that special interface is iPod out..?
 
Lightning Connector

Has anyone noticed that the Lightning to 30-Pin adapters do not support iPod or Video Out? I assume iPod out is the Analog audio.

This tells me if you need to pass Analog audio out of your iPhone 5, you are going to need some type of adapter that also connects to the headphone jack. This may explain why the headphone jack was moved to the bottom also.

Here is a "mock up" I saw some time ago on an Italian blog:

http://www.melablog.it/post/21489/nuovo-iphone-5-con-micro-connettore-dock-a-19-contatti

If I am right, this means none of these adapters will work for simple Speaker docks, unless the docks use the "mass storage" interface, and take over the iPod - like some Car Stereo's do.

When I use my iPhone in a rental car that has only an Aux input, I use a cable with a 30-pin on one and, and a USB AND 3.5mm plug on the other. USB goes to the car charger, 3.5mm goes to the Aux port, and 30-pin goes to the iPhone.

With the iPhone 5, we may be back to two cables to connect the iPhone to a charger and Aux port.

I hope someone makes a dual Lightning to USB and 3.5mm to 3.5mm cable...

Also - where are the iPhone 5 Docks? Are we going back to leaving our iPhones lying flat on the table to charge? I want a lightning charging dock...
 
tigress666 said:
After reading the page that explains it, I doubt mine is using iPod out, but since you seem knowledgeable I'll ask you.

What are the chances a 2003 Toyota that has an aftermarket mod put in to let me control an ipod (not iphone though it works with my iphone despite my iphones protestations) through my factory car radio uses ipod out?
Click to expand...

If you purchased the aftermarket iPod interface for your 2003 Toyota BEFORE 2010, then I'd say the odds are pretty good that the aftermarket interface does NOT require "iPod Out."

Mark
 
kas23 said:
Bluetooth is not an option (poor quality) and no car made in the last 5 years have a 3.5 mm aux in jack.
Click to expand...

What? I use BT in my Ford all the time and it sounds amazing on it's 450 watt Sony Sound system. Way easier to use than the USB System. I can also stream BT to my Onkyo Home Theater with great results too.

My Mazda is a 2008 and it has a 3.5mm jack inside the armrest.
 
b_scott said:
are you kidding me? I rent cars all the time and almost all have an aux input.
Click to expand...

Sorry, I would expect this of a rental car or cars of similar ilk. At the risk of sounding snobby, I haven't been in a sub-40K car in over 5 years. An Aux 3.5 mm input is an inferior way of connecting your iPhone to your car. The sound quality cannot compare to the 30-pin connector, neither can it charge your phone.
 
kas23 said:
Sorry. At the risk of sounding snobby, I haven't been in a sub-40K car in over 5 years. An Aux 3.5 mm input is an inferior way of connecting your iPhone to your car. The sound quality cannot compare to the 30-pin connector, neither can it charge your phone.
Click to expand...

Yeah, sounds pretty snobby.

One would think a $40k car would have the option of hooking it up more than one way, when cars half the price have both ways. A $16k '12 Beetle has both.

Just shows that you're paying for the name and name only.
 
Akuratyde said:
Using Bluetooth or the Audio input jack is not a practical alternative. It will render the steering wheel controls useless. It would also render the ability to navigate the iPod menu (Artists, Playlists, Genre, choose song, etc.) through the touch-screen GPS (if you have one) useless.
Click to expand...

What car do you have that doesn't allow steering wheel controls when using Bluetooth? My BT and in-dash navi both work beautifully and I can still navigate the touch screen via the in dash 8" display just fine. Sounds to me more like you're having more of a vehicle related issue.
 
puma1552 said:
Yeah, sounds pretty snobby.

One would think a $40k car would have the option of hooking it up more than one way, when cars half the price have both ways. A $16k '12 Beetle has both.

Just shows that you're paying for the name and name only.
Click to expand...

I own both a 2012 Mercedes ML350 and a 2008 BMW 328xi. Neither have a aux input. But I suppose they must be crappy cars then, huh? I noticed, too, how you didn't touch upon the inferiority of the 3.5 mm plug either. Why? Because they're crap. Their sound quality is garbage, they can't charge your phone, and they necessitate navigation through your songs by operating your phone while you're driving. A recipe for disaster.

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pdqgp said:
What car do you have that doesn't allow steering wheel controls when using Bluetooth? My BT and in-dash navi both work beautifully and I can still navigate the touch screen via the in dash 8" display just fine. Sounds to me more like you're having more of a vehicle related issue.
Click to expand...

Bluetooth has inferior audio output, plus drains your battery. And you can't charge your phone over Bluetooth. It's not a suitable alternative.

Next, I suppose we're going to start championing the use of those FM transmitters we used to have to use to listen to our iPhones.
 
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