How do I connect my iPod Mini to a 2012 GMC Yukon XL?

If the connection is made through a USB port, the iPod (or iPhone) is probably NOT doing the "playing." It is acting as a storage device with song files, and the car audio system is accessing the song files and doing the playing. It would be the same as putting song files on a USB flash drive an connecting it to that port.

Therefore, I think the problem comes down to whether the car audio system can access whatever is connected to that USB port, and find the song files on it. An iPod mini is quite old at this point, so that car audio system may not know how to access it and find the song files on it. You'll need to consult the car audio system's specifications to see what devices are compatible (and also what audio file types are compatible - AAC, MP3, bit rate...).

It is likely to be compatible with any standard USB flash drive. You can get a 16GB USB flash drive for around $10-20 these days, so instead of connecting an old iPod (or iPhone) there, you may want to load a cheap USB flash drive with songs, and leave it connected to that USB port (until you want to change the songs). Here's one that barely sticks out of the port.

http://eshop.macsales.com/item/SanDisk/SDCZ33016G/

If the songs on the iPod mini are in your computer's current iTunes library, you should use that as the source, and not the iPod mini.

If the songs on the iPod are NOT in your computer's iTunes library, you will need to offload the songs from the iPod to the computer and add them to your iTunes library, as the first step.

You cannot transfer song files from iPod to computer using iTunes, except for songs purchased from the iTunes Store. However, there are third-party methods and utilities that can transfer from iPod to computer. If you do a Google search on something like "ipod transfer," you should get some links.

To get the song files from the iTunes library onto a non-Apple device, such as a USB flash drive, open iTunes and select the music library so that the list of songs is shown. Or, you can show any playlist with songs. Open a Windows Explorer (or My Computer) window that shows the storage device. Drag the songs you want from the iTunes window the to window showing the storage device. That should copy the song files.

I know, I need a new Apple laptop; but,this Dell just won't completely die!

A new MacBook would be nice, but iTunes works mostly the same between the Windows and Mac versions. 🙂

If you have any follow-up questions, just post back...