Though released with the iPad 2, this adapter will, in fact, pipe both video and audio out of an iPad 1 and an iPhone 4 through HDMI without any problem as long as the app you wish to view supports it.
My main interest in this adapter was to have the ability to watch Netflix streaming on family TVs who do not have Internet service. The Netflix app works beautifully over AT&T 3G connections on both the iPad and iPhone 4, but I wished to have a way to use the service at older family member's houses who do not have Internet of any sort. I had read most of the reviews here on Amazon and done some other digging around, but no one was very clear as to what this adapter could and could not do on older hardware. Here's my assessment to date:
iPad 2 - You get true "mirroring" performance. This essentially means that whatever you see and hear from the iPad 2 on screen gets put through the HDMI connection, including the home screen icons, sound effects, etc. This is what the adapter was created for.
iPad 1 - When plugged in, you do not get to see anything on the TV screen, but the TV will recognize that it is receiving an HDMI signal. It will simply be blank. The iPad 1 screen will behave normally until you open an app that is compatible with video/audio out and that's when the magic starts. In the Netflix app, which is the only one I've tested so far, you still get the menus and whatnot on the iPad 1 screen as always, but as soon as you start playing streaming video, the iPad 1 screen displays a red screen with the Netflix logo. All the video and sound gets piped through the HDMI output to the TV.
I did not have sophisticated testing equipment or ability to display the signal's resolution on the TV, but the resolution appears to be, at least for iPad 1, 720p. There was no distortion or stretching of the picture and it filled the TV screen properly with very small horizontal bars to keep the aspect ratio correct. With three bars of signal, the movie streamed just fine and quality was perfectly viewable with no grossly obvious compression artifacts. Better than VHS and loosely in the ballpark of DVD (though upconverted to 720p, apparently).
iPhone 4 - I tried the same thing on my iPhone 4. It all works essentially the same as on an iPad 1, which makes perfect sense given the similarities in hardware. I did notice much worse compression artifact errors, though, when output to TV. My guess is that the video signal being streamed to the iPhone 4 is scaled down to fit the small screen, where such artifacting would be less noticeable, and that this small-screen version does not scale well to a 42" HDTV. Though both sound and video were output just fine, the quality of the video left much to be desired. In fact, I would describe the video as essentially unwatchable.
It's my understanding that other apps work essentially the same. I don't have a list of apps, other than Netflix, which will work in this way. I wouldn't be surprised if the YouTube app, iPod video, etc. worked and even possibly a game or two. My main need was Netflix, and it works just fine for that purpose.
The adapter itself has two ports, one HDMI female port and one standard female iPod connector port. This permits you to power/charge the iPad or iPhone while simultaneously outputting video and audio. Not included, of course, is an HDMI cable. I would suggest you get at least a 3' cable, possibly a 6' cable, with which to connect to the TV or projector since you'll have to account for needing to physically manipulate the touch screen to start up video output. Build quality is typical Apple, which is to say excellent.
Very pleased with my gamble to purchase this. Didn't want others to have to worry if their intended use was similar. Apple MC953ZM/A Digital AV Adapter ZML
I bought this item right before HBOGo was released so I could watch all of the HBO series' on my TV. I was disappointed that when HBOGo was released and I hooked up my iPad 2 all that popped up on my TV was a HBOGO logo. Besides that it works great, if you buy movies or shows off of itunes they look great on the TV. I would buy this unless you want it specifically for HBOGo
This is a little positive review to try balance out some of these ridiculous 1 star reviews. Duh, of course this adapter only works for iPad 2! They announced it the same day! Don't you think if apple could have made an HDMI adapter for iPad 1, it would have been out before by now?
The amazon listing even SAYS iPad 2 in the title. Please guys, give a review based on if the product works properly or not, not because you didn't bother to read the product requirements.
Like others have noted, this AV adapter should only be used with the iPad 2 for mirroring and watching movies such as on Netflix. I chose to purchase this adapter because HDMI cables carry both audio and video unlike VGA cables which only do video. However, the Netflix quality is noticeably inferior on the TV when using the iPad compared to my other Netflix streaming devices such as my PS3 and Blu-Ray player.
I tried to be a little fancy and connected my camera connection kit to the Apple pinout (this adapter has an HDMI port and an Apple pinout), but the iPad did not recognize the camera or the SD memory card. The pinout can only be used for charging and nothing more. Even though Apple made it clear that the pinout is for charging the iPad, it is still a shame because other accessories could have easily been supported if Apple made an effort to do so.
Overall, the cable does its job but not in a spectacular way. I really thought I would use this adapter often, but the mediocre video output quality and the one-dimensional functionality of this promising product has caused me to only use this only for "emergency" situations.
If your iPhone is jailbroken you can use the mirroring function just as the Ipad 2 can, however you must first install a Cydia app called Displayout, after that it will work fine. I still think that this is too pricey for a simple cable but it is fun to play iPhone games on my HDTV. - Ipad 2 - Ipad - Ipad Accessory'
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