Thought I'd share this story because I couldn't find any answers on the internet until I tried this myself.
I have a Kenwood stereo with USB input and iPod control in my car (didn't come with the car, I bought and installed it myself, specifically for the iPod control). The interface has worked flawlessly with my iPhone 4, and while I really wanted to get an iPhone 5, reading about the cable I had resigned myself to believing I would have to buy a $30 adapter to keep the functionality, and even then, it still might not work. I finally got the iPhone 5, and being as no lightning to 30-pin adapters were available I went ahead and plugged the thing directly into my stereo to see what would happen. At first, it was stuck on the "Reading" screen forever, and I assumed it didn't work -- that was right out of the box in the store parking lot. When I got home, I restored my new iP5 in iTunes to get the data from my old phone. Tried for kicks plugging it to the stereo directly again and it worked fine. Apparently, from what I gather, the reading issue had to do with iOS 6 (a problem with the fresh/factory install -- the restore still kept iOS 6 but fixed whatever was causing the error) and nothing to do with the cable. I can confirm that my iPhone 5 is working with and can be controlled by my car stereo WITHOUT THE LIGHTNING ADAPTER.
I post this primarily to give everyone my lesson learned -- if you're hesitant about the iP5 because of accessory compatibility, just try it out first. That's what I did and I saved myself $30.
Also worth noting, is that I found out later that the iPod controls on my stereo use a fully digital interface, which is why the lightning cable worked. If you have a stereo or car interface that works the same, I think you have a good shot at being okay.
Hope this helped!
I have a Kenwood stereo with USB input and iPod control in my car (didn't come with the car, I bought and installed it myself, specifically for the iPod control). The interface has worked flawlessly with my iPhone 4, and while I really wanted to get an iPhone 5, reading about the cable I had resigned myself to believing I would have to buy a $30 adapter to keep the functionality, and even then, it still might not work. I finally got the iPhone 5, and being as no lightning to 30-pin adapters were available I went ahead and plugged the thing directly into my stereo to see what would happen. At first, it was stuck on the "Reading" screen forever, and I assumed it didn't work -- that was right out of the box in the store parking lot. When I got home, I restored my new iP5 in iTunes to get the data from my old phone. Tried for kicks plugging it to the stereo directly again and it worked fine. Apparently, from what I gather, the reading issue had to do with iOS 6 (a problem with the fresh/factory install -- the restore still kept iOS 6 but fixed whatever was causing the error) and nothing to do with the cable. I can confirm that my iPhone 5 is working with and can be controlled by my car stereo WITHOUT THE LIGHTNING ADAPTER.
I post this primarily to give everyone my lesson learned -- if you're hesitant about the iP5 because of accessory compatibility, just try it out first. That's what I did and I saved myself $30.
Also worth noting, is that I found out later that the iPod controls on my stereo use a fully digital interface, which is why the lightning cable worked. If you have a stereo or car interface that works the same, I think you have a good shot at being okay.
Hope this helped!
