Apple Lightning to Digital AV Adapter won't work on iPhone 13 Pro

I finally got it to work. See my new comment with instructions.

I had this problem and Apple customer support was no help. After about 2 days of Googling information…

you have to be sure you have “Accessories” turned on under Settings/Face ID & Passcode. The phone has to do an update for the device.

If you plug in the adapter when this isn’t turned on, it won’t read it. It’s as if it’s not plugged in. You can tell if this is your problem by going to Settings/General/About. The Adaptor information should show up in the WiFi section. Mine appears below “Carrier Lock”. If it doesn’t show up, the phone is not recognizing the AV adaptor.

Do a hard reset on the phone. Volume up, volume down, press and hold the on button on the right until the phone shuts down, the apple icon comes on and the phone restarts.

Now make sure “Accessories” is turned on and plug the AV adaptor in. The upgrade should process for the device and the phone should recognize the adaptor.

Good luck! Figuring this out and getting it to work on my iPhone 13 when Apple support kept telling me it was my TV was quite annoying!

well we're now on iOS version 16.6 and I just got off the phone with Apple support and he couldn't resolve the issue. The adaptor works just fine with my really old iPad but my iPhone 13 Pro doesn't even register the adapter. I got the message about needing firmware but when I try to find if firmware loaded, the adapter doesn't exist.

Is anyone else still having an issue using the Apple lightning digital AV adapter on their iPhone 13?

SOLUTION: on 10/10/23 I found the posting from Randy Zeitman that solved this issue for me on my iPhone 13 Pro with 17.0.3.

Plug your lightning adapter into the iPhone along with the HDMI cable into the Lightning & TV. I had to make sure no other units were sending a signal to other HDMI sources, so I turned off my dish box. Then do a hard restart of your iPhone. When it rebooted… My TV finally could see the lightning connection again.

Thank you so much for this solution! I just experienced my hdmi chord not being recognized when I tried to watch a video today. I just updated my system to IOS 17.3 and I have an iPhone 13 Pro Max. Thank you for being so detailed. Your instructions were great! I didn’t have time earlier to bother with this matter. I get annoyed when Bluetooth is automatically on every time after an update too. Now I know just to look for it:-) Thanks again, everything works fine now. Have a good one!

This worked, super simple. Restart your phone. Power phone back on. Plug in your hdmi adapter to your phone and tV Then go to settings drag your finger from the middle of the screen down until it brings up that little search bar and type in HDMI . Then it will automatically bring up “Send to HDMI” . Click on it and you will see a little blue icon in the top left corner appears , basically showing that it is now reading your hdmi adapter. You should be able to use your tv remote and select the correct input to display your phone screen.

My experience and troubles with my adapter are strange. It works with my new 15 running iOS17 but randomly with my SE running iOS16.(something). Sometimes it connects and sometimes it doesn't. I want to use the SE since it the SE's size/aspect ratio fills the TV screen while the larger 15 doesn't. I've tried hard resets and just about everything else, including bypassing my HDMI input switch that was also connected to my cable box. Connecting directly from adapter to TV didn't solve the problem. Its a real head-scratcher. I'm now upgrading the SE to iOS 17 to see if that solves it.

Thank you for the reply Famman1949!

Downgrading our iOS is not possible. Since the issue persists, please use the link at the bottom of that article to set up service for your iPhone. Here is that link for your convenience:

Get Support

Cheers!

I know it’s a bit late but for anyone else having trouble try pulling down control centre while videos playing and touch icon in top right of media controls box this should give you the option for which sound source you wish to use :-ie headphones and try changing to Bluetooth headphones and back

I agree. There “answer” is a standard response but this is an OS issue that happened to too many users. I have had less problems on 16.6.1 so perhaps fixed? Would be nice if the issue and fix was recognized.

I’m using iPhone SE 3rd Gen (iOS 17) and encountered the same issue. I got help from apple’s official Support app. Basically, a firmware was missing from my phone. iOS is supposed to download the firmware once you connect the adapter to your phone.

If your phone doesn’t do that, force reset it. Disconnect the adapter before doing the reset.

Force reset it by pressing the volume up button quickly (press and release immediately), then quickly press volume down, then press and hold the side button (aka lock/power button). The slider to power off should appear. Don’t release the button, yet. Keep holding it until your phone turns off. Keep holding the power button after your phone turns off. Once the apple logo appears, release the side button. Wait for your phone to boot up.

This next step isn’t necessary but I did it just so my phone can “completely load” - I waited 30 seconds by setting a timer in the Clock app.

Now connect the adapter and some pop ups should appear about firmware. After the firmware is done downloading (should only take a few seconds), the adapter should work.

Hello Famman1949,

The steps in this article can help resolve your issue:

About Apple Digital AV Adapters for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch - Apple Support

Get help

Find out what to do when you have the following issues.

If you see video but can't hear audio

Make sure that you're using a Digital AV adapter (which has an HDMI port). If you're using a VGA adapter, it doesn't carry audio signals. To hear audio with a VGA adapter, you need to connect to the headset jack on your TV, monitor, projector, or stereo.

If an app doesn't display video or play audio

The app might not be compatible with your adapter. Check compatibility on the app's info page in the App Store or contact the developer.

If an alert says that an HDCP-compatible device is required

Your content might not be compatible with your adapter. Movies, TV shows, and certain streaming video apps require High-Bandwidth Digital Content Protection (HDCP). If you try to play these movies, shows, and streaming videos using a non-HDCP digital connection—like the Apple VGA Adapter—an alert will ask for an HDCP-compatible device.

If you need help with other issues

1. Disconnect and reconnect your adapter from your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch and from your TV, monitor, or projector.

2. Make sure that your VGA or HDMI cable works, since the issue could be with the cable.

3. Remove any VGA or HDMI extension cables or converters. Accessories that convert a VGA or HDMI signals to different video formats (DVI, Composite, Component) aren't compatible.

4. Make sure that you have the latest version of iOS.

For more help, contact Apple Support, to set up service for your: iPhone

Best Regards.

I don’t understand your instructions. Can’t even find “Settings/Face ID & Passcode”.

Also can’t follow the steps you wrote …. “You can tell if this is your problem by going to Settings/General/About. The Adaptor information should show up in the WiFi section. Mine appears below “Carrier Lock”. “

I have an iPhone 13 Pro and my adapter will no longer allow me to pass Movies once I downloaded iOS 17.0.3. Really looking for a fix. Sorry… I just don’t seem to understand your directions.

I *think* I have a solution. The non-functionality is by design, as a security measure, to prevent devices plugging in that can hack your phone. I noticed when I plugged it in after it being off overnight, there is a notice that you neeed to use your passcode to authorize the device. If you look in Settings, Face ID & Passcode, you’ll see an Accessories settings that is off. Turning it on, is supposed to modify the way it works. So, you need to see that authorization and put in your passcode, to allow it to work—otherwise somebody who doesn’t have your passcode could hack your phone with a dongle.

So, how do you force it to lock and demand that? SOS mode— on a iPhone, clicking five time rapidly puts it in this mode, which also turns off FaceID, which I don’t use anyway, but the idea is at a security check, you could do this so your phone can’t be unlocked with FaceID by somebody point your phone at you.

but, if your AppleTV is on this doesn’t seem to work, so, you also need to go to Settings>General>Airplay & Handoff, and turn Automatically Airplay to never.

[Edited by Moderator]