[BPMSport]

Originally Posted by Technic

Only Combox (MY2011 in Europe, MY2011.5+ in the USA) allows the use of the white Apple USB cable.

Any and everything else requires the OEM "Y" iPod USB cable.

Good to know.

I ditched that cable a long time ago after I retrofitted the combox.

Surprising that the Y cable is still being used in 2011 cars w/o combox.

All the more reason to have the retrofit done and have bluetooth streaming too.

[Technic]

Originally Posted by Mike Benvo

Good to know.

I ditched that cable a long time ago after I retrofitted the combox.

Surprising that the Y cable is still being used in 2011 cars w/o combox.

All the more reason to have the retrofit done and have bluetooth streaming too.

It is because of Apple.

The OEM "Y" cable works only with the iPod/iPhone because it uses the iPod/iPhone analog line audio output as the AUX input. The USB only serves as the control interface medium. This was done as a patch to allow DRM songs to be played but not copied.

If you have an Android/Windows phone or USB stick then the USB port handles both control and audio digitally, regardless of Combox.

[jphughan]

Originally Posted by JasonCSU

It seems most of you only read the thread title and not the actual reason why it is taking time for the development. It's not just a new plastic cradle they have to build, but also new circuitry for the connector. As stated in the first post:

" The changes however, are said to be quite complex (due to the new connector) and development will therefore require some months to complete. The changes are not as easy as one may think. For example, the iPhone/iPod Out function requires the video Digital/Analog converter circuitry to be integrated into the actual snap-in adapter, which will naturally take some time to develop, test, and release."

In their defense, that part of the original post you quoted was added later via an edit; except for the first, generic "changes being complex" sentence, it wasn't there when the other comments were left.

[cipher5]

Just in time... for the next iPhone :P

[f30nynj]

Whatever!!

Apple is to blame here, they moved away from a widely used micro-USB interface, so they can now charge a price for licensing the adapter.

If only all cellphone makers had 1 single type of interface, you never would have to swap your cradle.

Another point is when the whole world is moving to wireless why not make wireless charging more ubiquitous.

[Technic]

... I bet that the edited changes somehow were based on my iPod Out post. It was almost verbatim.

[jphughan]

Originally Posted by capriguy84

Apple is to blame here, they moved away from a widely used micro-USB interface, so they can now charge a price for licensing the adapter.

If only all cellphone makers had 1 single type of interface, you never would have to swap your cradle.

Another point is when the whole world is moving to wireless why not make wireless charging more ubiquitous.

I agree that micro-USB might be nice from a standards perspective, but if you've ever looked at the pinout diagram for the 30-pin connector, you'd know that it can do a whole lot more than normal USB can: line-level analog audio, amped analog audio, digital audio, composite video, S-video, component video, HDMI video, USB traffic, and probably more I'm forgetting. I'm sure Lightning will support far more functionality than typical USB as well as it's developed over the years. I'm not arguing that that should necessarily outweigh the convenience of going with a standard port, but claiming that Apple made a new port just to charge licensing fees is ridiculous.

And a standard cradle wouldn't be possible even with a standard connector because the dimensions of the phones themselves would still vary, as would the location of the standard port on the phone.

Wireless charging is still relatively expensive and inefficient.

[phillye30fanboy]

Originally Posted by G2G

hahaha, next june.....wtf?

word. thats straight retarded long...especially with an over 5million people in the US ALONE rockin an iphone 5, not to mention the new ipod touchs....

[Blubaron79]

Originally Posted by jphughan

Wow, so even if they meet their release target (and don't end up recalling it right away like the last one) it'll be available just a few months ahead of for the iPhone 5S, or whatever. Hopefully Apple keeps the same form factor like they have in the past.



Now why would you want to pollute a perfectly good driving experience by turning it into yet another place where email can suck away your time, life, and soul?



I really don't see that happening. BMW hasn't produced a car that requires a Y-cable for 2 years now, so I suspect people with iPhone 5s and older cars are out in the cold. However, you should be able to make it work in at least one of these two ways:

1. Buying a Lightning to Dock adapter and connecting your Y cable to that.
2. Using the standard white Lightning to USB cable and also a normal headphone cable to connect from the iPhone's headphone jack to your AUX In. However, the other option above would likely result in better sound since it would be delivering line-level audio rather than amped audio like the headphone jack does.

Can't just add the iPhone 5 dock to my car to replace the Y cable hook up I have now in my 09?

[JasonCSU]

Originally Posted by jphughan

In their defense, that part of the original post you quoted was added later via an edit; except for the first, generic "changes being complex" sentence, it wasn't there when the other comments were left.

Gotcha. I wasn't aware of that.

[TheBry]

Originally Posted by lawgone

Agreed. They take forever to get these adapters out and then have the nerve to charge $250 for them! It's a piece of plastic with a little metal connecter that they should charge no more than $50 for (and that's being generous.) $250 is just highway robbery.

The adapter is more than just "...a piece of plastic with a little metal connecter [sic]...". I have the media cradle in my 7 series and it's actually a very nice cradle. The cradle itself has a locking / eject mechanism that makes it really easy to snap the iPhone in and pop it out. It also has a built-in motorized mini-fan that keeps the iPhone from overheating when docked. There's a little switch that's pressed down when an iPhone is snapped into the cradle. When the switch is pressed (by snapping in the phone) the fan turns on. Thought that was a nice touch. And, finally, it not only charges the iPhone and passes media (audio / video / apps / calendar, etc) through to iDrive, it also connects the phone to the car's antenna system for better reception. It was worth every penny to me to get the added media capability (especially the calendar), and to not have to fish around my center armrest looking for the end of the connector to plug into my phone. I consider it a convenience fee -- which is, understandably, subjective. Since I have the iPhone 5 now, I've simply plugged the lightning connector into the USB port in the armrest and am using it that way. I am counting the days until a new cradle is available. Definitely going to buy one for the convenience.

Originally Posted by capriguy84

Whatever!!

Apple is to blame here, they moved away from a widely used micro-USB interface, so they can now charge a price for licensing the adapter.

If only all cellphone makers had 1 single type of interface, you never would have to swap your cradle.

Another point is when the whole world is moving to wireless why not make wireless charging more ubiquitous.

Easy to blame Apple, but I choose not to blame anyone. It simply is what it is -- progress. Apple kept the 30-pin connector (which was not micro USB by the way) for ten years. Think about that... TEN YEARS. Technology has, since, marched steadily on. The connector outlived it's usefulness. In my opinion, Apple needed to move to a much smaller design (even smaller than micro USB) so they could continue to control their own destiny when it comes to slim, sleek device designs. If I recall correctly, when they announced the new connector, they said it was going to be standardized across their mobile product line and would take us "into the next decade". So, however painful it is, at least they gave us some sense of security knowing the connector would be around for the next ten years or so, and a hint that it'd make its way to iPad and iPod, which means those devices, in turn, can now become thinner and lighter.

[jphughan]

Originally Posted by Blubaron79

Can't just add the iPhone 5 dock to my car to replace the Y cable hook up I have now in my 09?

Not unless you got the Smartphone Integration option (6NF) with your car, which is required to use ANY dock. Although it's possible that the iPhone 5 dock may only be supported on newer cars that also include BMW Apps (6NR), since that came with a newer cradle baseplate. We'll have to wait and see.

[Karazy]

One more reason to hang on to your "old" 4 or 4s. I am.

[Blubaron79]

Originally Posted by jphughan;1281****

Not unless you got the Smartphone Integration option (6NF) with your car, which is required to use ANY dock. Although it's possible that the iPhone 5 dock may only be supported on newer cars that also include BMW Apps (6NR), since that came with a newer cradle baseplate. We'll have to wait and see.

The question NO ONE can answer me is: Will the Y cable work with the lighting adapter attached? Some guy in the X5 forum said yes, and others have said no.. Guy at the ATT store said his buddy has idrive and it works with the adapter.

I might just have to try it.

[gspannu]

If you are really desperate for a cradle, you can do something like this.... until BMW release one.

http://f10.5post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=755477

[EdM5]

What a complete failure

[dela]

Too many people in here knowing nothing of development time required before releasing a product. 6-8 weeks alone will be molding tools, and before that is prototypes, mechanical development and testing. Everything on a BMW requires simulation before it's implemented and stock needs to be build up as well as implementing in to production. Development tales time.

Either that, or there would be a swarm of threads in here on malfunction connectors and how vad a company BMW is...

[cpdp]

Originally Posted by Envyscorpio

Anything for Android?

what's that?

[fre2bpowerless]

So it'll be out 3 months before the 5S

[bclemans]

I also read earlier that BMW is also developing a portable wifi hotspot that will use the space currently occupied by the cradle.

If that is true, I will just use the USB cable to connect the iphone 5 to the car and consider using the same "cradle space" for the yet-to-be-released wifi hotspot.

I echo some of the earlier comments that the timing (next June) is bad for the cradle as the iphone 5s or iphone 6 will only be a few months away. Who can say for certain if Apple is going to change the form factor then?

What gives?

[Schm]

BMW should have tried to start work on this 7 months ago. Plus as said before it'll cost like $250

I just got my new iphone 5 and love it, but it sucks not being able to charge it in the car.

[jonpride]

By then the iPhone 6 will be out and render this useless