I’ve been having this problem since the iPhone 5 came out, but now I really need to suck it up and do something about it. I wired in (well, I half way did it and then got stuck and Best Buy finished the job) an aftermarket iPhone connection to my car stereo. It gives way better sound than the FM transmitters but works similarly (has to be on a specific frequency.) It charges the phone and plays through the speakers.
Of course, it had the old dock connector. When I got the 5 I got an adapter - this charges the phone but does not play through the speakers. (Official iPhone adapter.) I read somewhere that the adapters with short cables may be missing a chip that the adapters that are just one plastic piece have, but that kind doesn’t work either.
Can this be fixed without getting a whole new car doohickey? Could the nice young men at a car stereo installation place just put a different plug on the end, or do I need something else? I’ve kept an old phone as a car music player but I’m tired of that - I’d like to charge my real phone in the car, play Pandora, etc.
Do you know what kind of adapter you had installed? I recently bought a new car stereo, and I was surprised to see that some car stereos did not support integration of the iPhone 5, while 4s and 4Ss were supported.
I’m a little confused. So you bought some sort of adapter to make the new phone work with the old dock? It might be helpful to post some links to the actual products you’re using in your set-up since there’s a lot of different paths to getting your phone to work with your car.
I believe that on Apple products, there’s an actual physical switch inside charging port that lets the phone distinguish between a cable connection and a docking connection. Some phone docks don’t rely on the docking feature and instead the “dock” has the same connection as a charging cable and you use the headphone jack to run the audio into the car stereo instead of through the charge connector. If you bought a cheapo adapter designed for one of those docks, it may be that the switch in the connector won’t recognize that it’s in dock mode and the phone won’t send the audio feed through the charge port.
So you’re using an FM transmitter that has been permanently wired into the car? I have a connection in my car that uses a special cable that ends in a 30 pin connector. The apple branded 30pin to lightning adapter cable works fine with mine. Are you using the apple branded adapter?
I don’t remember anymore the manufacturer of the cable-going-to-the-car-stereo thing. I can’t actually look at it because it’s inside the car stereo behind a bunch of the car’s trim. There’s just a cable that comes out from behind the stereo with a 30 pin connector.
I believe the adapter I tried using to connect the newer phones to the 30 pin connector is this one. I got the Apple one thinking that maybe off brand ones would give me trouble, but it doesn’t work.
Thanks, that helps. So you have an in-line FM modulator that sits between your antenna and the head unit. The cable you are using is the proper one from Apple. Sadly if that one won’t work, I’m afraid nothing will. In my opinion you’ll either have to buy a newer version of what you already have that supports the newer iPhones, or get a newer head unit that support iPhone natively with a USB port. If I were in your shoes I’d go for the second option, assuming you don’t have a vehicle that makes replacing the head unit undesirable (controls on the steering wheel, for instance).
So did you buy a separate dock you use it with? It looks like the FM modulator you linked just has a funny cable that goes from a (I think) proprietary Alpine connector to an iPod plug, so I’m guessing some sort of adapter would have been necessary to use it with a dock.
Which goes from the same proprietary Alpine connector to just a regular 3.5mm headphone connector and so you could still use your snazzy FM modulator, but you wouldn’t get the simultaneous charging (without a separate charger) or the song information on your factory stereo.
Did you buy the adapter from that Amazon link? I would return it and buy it from an Apple Store or authorized dealer before trying to get other hardware.
Reading the reviews indicate several people received fakes and had audio problems with the cable. If you bought from that link you actually bought from a third-party seller and not Amazon itself. Most Amazon and eBay listings for Apple accessories are counterfeits.
The real cable has circuitry to provide analog output from the digital connection in the Lightning port and to provide the accessory control signals. Fake ones just connect the power for charging.
I would concur. If the only thing changed was an iPhone 5 with a 30pin-to-Lightning adapter it should still work. I know the OP said it was an “Official iPhone adapter”, but does it have an** Apple™** logo on it? Aftermarket adapters will do exactly what you describe, charge only but not play music. Bite the money-grubbing-scumbags Apple bullet and buy an official $30 Lightning adapter from Best Buy or any (real) cellphone store.
That isn’t the specific adapter I bought - I can check and see if it has the official logo on it, but although it’s been awhile I’m pretty sure it came in official packaging. Plus, I tried the other one (and returned it) - the one that doesn’t have a cable, it’s just a solid connector, and that one was more recent so I remember clearly that it was an Apple connector.
Sorry, GreasyJack, I was lazy with terminology - when I said “dock” I meant as opposed to lightning cable. It’s just a 30 pin cable.