3.0 Update breaks 3rd party video cables for iPod Touch and iPhones

Sat, 07/04/2009 - 1:23am — Seth Weintraub

For those who have their iPod Touch or iPhones connected to their TVs through a third party video cable, the 3.0 update was a bad one. It appears to have disabled the ability of non-Apple cables to transmit video. Forum members at iPod Touch Fans and MacForums are both reporting the issue.

One forum member reports:

I have an AV Cable for my iPod Touch 1g which up until now worked fine. Then I updated to 3.0, jail-broke it fine and everything else seems ok, but the AV cable brings up the message about it not being a valid accessory.

It isn't clear if Apple will restore this functionality in a future update.

As a side note, those with Apple chipped cables also notice a significant difference in the way video out works on their iPods. The video no longer plays on the device while it is playing on the TV. The device only displays the album art of the video.

In the case of the iPod touch, some users are downgrading to the 2.2 firmware. However, in the iPhone, this isn't as easy to do due to the baseband update with the 3.0.

( Filed Under:

iPhone - iPod

)

Comments

Hey I bought the apple cables

Sat, 07/04/2009 - 1:57am — KORG (not verified)

Hey I bought the apple cables so they better work or my money back!

Did the cable work before he

Sat, 07/04/2009 - 5:03am — 9to5Mac Noob (not verified)

Did the cable work before he jailbroke the 3.0 upgrade?

Genuine question - are Apple

Sat, 07/04/2009 - 5:33am — Colin F (not verified)

Genuine question - are Apple technically allowed to remove functionality from a device after someone has bought it?

Technically, yes. You don't

Sun, 07/05/2009 - 1:45pm — Fhadso (not verified)

Technically, yes. You don't HAVE to upgrade your device. They cannot, however force their customers to use Apple-branded accessories with the iPhone, so this is illegal in some way. Can you say "Monopoly"?

Mine too!

Sat, 07/04/2009 - 5:36am — Susan (not verified)

I have an FM transmitter cable in my car. I had originally bought it for my iPod, but then used it to charge my 1G iPhone in the car. When I got my new iPhone and tried to charge it with the cable in the car, it said it was an invalid accessory! I was pretty ticked off, especially since the battery life is so crappy.

Thats because it is a 3G and

Sat, 07/04/2009 - 7:12am — 9to5Mac Noob (not verified)

Thats because it is a 3G and has a different cell radio. Mine gives me that message ever since I got a 3G last year.

It's actually because lots of

Sun, 07/05/2009 - 9:04pm — 9to5Mac Noob (not verified)

It's actually because lots of older iPod accessories had charging via Firewire, but iPhone don't support that so many older accessories won't charge properly. Try doing the same thing with an iPod Classic and you'll get the same thing. Apple has changed to USB charging only, not the old Firewire standard.

i noticed that my iphone

Sat, 07/04/2009 - 7:00am — 9to5Mac Noob (not verified)

i noticed that my iphone won't play video now when using a dock - it has to go direct through the cable. very odd considering all items are official

i noticed that my iphone

Sat, 07/04/2009 - 7:00am — 9to5Mac Noob (not verified)

i noticed that my iphone won't play video now when using a dock - it has to go direct through the cable. very odd considering all items are official

damn

Sat, 07/04/2009 - 7:24am — charliehumble (not verified)

First I have to find out that the Leopard 10.5.7 update broke half of all Macs' external monitor support and mine is one of them, so I wanted to work around that with my iPhone and original AV Cable so I could at least watch movies and TV shows on the big screen... Argh, if someone can help me, please do so.
This frickin sucks majorly! I paid a shitload of money for those stupid cables.

Did it really change?

Sat, 07/04/2009 - 8:08am — 9to5Mac Noob (not verified)

I haven't tride my Apple branded composite cable but the symptoms you mention have always existed for me since OS 2.0

my original iPhone never played video on both the phone and on tv? It only played on the tv when the video out cable is used and a thumbnail was displayed on the phone.

As as a user pointed out he had to remove his dock and connect directly to the video cable. I don't know which dock he has but the original Apple dock that came with my phone never passed video and I always had to connect directly to the phone.

I have to agree with poster

Sat, 07/04/2009 - 11:00am — 9to5Mac Noob (not verified)

I have to agree with poster above me. I've owned an Apple AV out video cable, and it has never played the video on my iPod nano screen or iPhone(2G, 3G or 3GS) while playing on the big screen...

To add more detail, the Apple

Sun, 07/05/2009 - 9:10am — PeterZ (not verified)

To add more detail, the Apple AV cable used to play video on the iPhone screen all the way up to 2.2.1, when NOT connected to a TV.

Let me repeat that: On 2.2.0 and earlier, if an Apple AV cable was connected to the iPhone, but NOT connected via video cable to the TV, then video WOULD play on the iPhone screen, and audio out would work normally. Video would NOT (and never has) played on the iPhone screen while connected to a TV.

2.2.1 BROKE this feature, and I've written Apple several times about them removing this feature. I am still pissed about it.

Know Kidding

Sat, 07/04/2009 - 11:30am — 9to5Mac Noob (not verified)

I could have told you that from day one of the 3.0 release. Also, most 3rd party chargers have a difficult time charging an iPhone on 3.0 as well.

Hey Apple, let's not move backwards in your attempt at progress!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Your mileage may vary

Sat, 07/04/2009 - 12:03pm — 9to5Mac Noob (not verified)

I have one of those really cheap iPhone car chargers (you know, the "1¢" variety you can find on eBay and Amazon).

If works fine with my iPhone 3G running OS 3.0.

I know the iPhone dock never

Sat, 07/04/2009 - 12:19pm — charliehumble (not verified)

I know the iPhone dock never worked with the AV cable because I looked that up before I bought the cable. And I don't think anyone's really interested in watching "dual screen". Maybe there was a misunderstanding.

Before 3.0 it would set the volume bar to the middle but make it useless since the audio goes through the iPhone's line-out which is integrated into the dock connector, so the volume has to be changed on your connected speakers.
Now, in 3.0, the volume bar fades away elegantly once I plug in the cable but then that "not made for iPhone" message pops up; and instead of displaying the cover/thumb on the iPhone and playing back on the TV, the video starts playing on the iPhone while the audio line-out still works like usual.
But my TV screen stays black for now I guess...

misinformation

Sat, 07/04/2009 - 3:25pm — Gazoobee (not verified)

This article is just wrong. As several have pointed out already, the video never played on the iPod or iPhone since before the iPhone existed. Also, the big detail we need to decide what this even means is whether or not the cable is an authorised third party cable, but this isn't mentioned. Are there even any cables other than the Apple ones that are authorised?

If you buy a cable for a device that the manufacturer of the device doesn't authorise, you are takin your chances as they say. This is nothing new and nothing unexpected.

iPod touch?

Sat, 07/04/2009 - 9:56pm — Someone who questions (not verified)

The excerpt said he jailbroke his iPod touch. Who the heck jailbreaks an iPod touch? For what? I thought jailbreaking was to allow the iPhone to work on another network. Am I wrong? Also, there has never been an iPod touch with only 1 gig of memory. Call me a nit-picker.

Jailbreak is so you can

Sun, 07/05/2009 - 2:01am — 9to5Mac Noob (not verified)

Jailbreak is so you can install 3th. party programs, that is not in the app store.
Unlock is so you can use your phone with any SIM card.

Your Answer

Mon, 07/06/2009 - 9:26am — 9to5Mac Noob (not verified)

Why Yes, you are wrong.

"Jailbreaking" is the term used to describe the process of changing certain core operating scripts to allow for unsinged, (3rd party programs) to run/work on the iPhone/iPod.

"Unlocking" is the term used to describe the process of changing certain core operating scripts to allow for unsinged, (3rd party programs) to enable the iPhone to use another cell phone carrier instead of only AT&T.

You are right about the 1 gig comment, though...
;)