When I got the iPhone and iPad for the first time I also bought the (pretty pricey) Apple’s VGA adapter for these devices. Over the years I had used that adapter very infrequently. Most of my computer monitors either use the VGA cable to connect to the permanently attached computer, or, especially these days, don’t use the VGA for input. Another inconvenience with the VGA adapter is that it doesn’t carry audio, so a separate audio cable needs to be connected to the audio jack of the iPhone or iPad. Furthermore, the VGA resolution is pretty low, and most TVs these days either don’t have a separate VGA plug or that mode is underutilizing the full potential of their resolution. The bottom line is this: the VGA adapters are largely useless for most purposes that I would need them for.

This HDMI adapter is everything that I would want from such a device/cable. It connects my iPhone and iPad to the high-res TVs effortlessly, and provides the high resolution output that I have come to expect these days. My first generation iPad was recognized by my 24″ Westinghouse HDTV as a 720p input, and my iPhone 4S was recognized as 1080p input. I streamed several YouTube videos at various resolutions, and the output through this cable broadly corresponded to what I’d expect. I’ve watched whole episodes of Netflix-streaming shows, and have had no problems or delays with the picture quality. I was also able to mirror various iPhone apps onto the TV while using them. One of my favorite things to do with this adapter was to watch various videos and pictures that I had recorded onto my iPhone. Previously I had to settle to watching them only on the small screen.

One of the most innovative features of this adapter is the ability to simultaneously charge your iOS device while watching the videos on your TV. In my previous experience streaming video content to the outside screen would usually result in a very rapid draining of the internal battery. With this adapter not only does this not occur, but I actually end up with extra battery power in my iPhone.

There have, however, been some shortcomings and hiccups with the use of this adapter. Almost all of them were caused by the restrictions in either the iOS or the particular app that I was using. I was not able to play a movie that I downloaded into my iPad’s movies collection due to some silly copyright rights management issues. While watching a Netflix move I was not able to pause it without disconnecting my iPhone first. There were some other minor glitches while watching the YouTube videos.

As you might have guessed from this adapter’s description and ints picture, this adapter is not designed to work with the latest generation of iOS devices. I hope that the future edition of this product incorporates those changes. I would also like to see the future version of this adopter use the mini HDMI output instead of the standard HDMI. Both of these changes would make such an adapter considerably more compact.

Overall, this is a great product and its’ definitely worth the money. You’ll make the most out of your iOS devices with it.