Apple Lightning to USB 3 Camera Adapter

UPDATE - October 2, 2024. This adapter works with iPhone 13 on iOS 18, but not with iPad Mini6 on iPadOS 17.7. Just a heads up. At the time I bought it everything worked good with the older model iPhone and iPad 8th Gen, mainly because this is a lightning not USB C plug in. Had to buy a new Apple adapter (here on Amazon, genuine Apple USB-C Digital AV Multiport Adapter) to get everything going again on file transfer for the iPad Mini6. Also, I noted in my original review below, this lightning to USB 3 adapter needs an additional power supply (wall plug) to operate the transfer. The new USB C Digital AV Multiport Adapter does not require extra power to work. A real plus! Plug that baby into your iPad or iPhone that has a USB C charging port and you’re good to go. ORIGINAL REVIEW - This adapter was exactly what I was looking for to transfer photos to/from a PC to iOS and iPadOS devices. Initially the not enough power notification came through as noted by others until I realized it needed to be plugged into the wall, or a power bank. Once the lightning port was plugged into the adapter and connected to a power source with my Apple cable and wall plug (or power bank), I then connected the usb with my photos copied from the PC to the USB port on the adapter. Final step was connecting the whole unit to the iPhone with the adapter’s lightning cable. My iPhone Files app read the drive and the usb with jpg files was recognized and placed onto the list of Locations for the iPhone Files app. Simply tapped the files I wanted to download into my photos app and they were there in just a very short time. It also works with a power bank while mobile. This procedure also worked flawlessly with my iPad running on iPadOS 14.8. But take note, the power supply for the iPadOS must be its original charging plug for the files to transfer. It’s a higher power source to adequately accommodate the function of the adapter itself. I can also transfer jpg files to the usb from my IPhone and iPad to the PC. I noticed when uploading these files to the usb from my iOS device there are duplicate file types. One is recognizable as a standard jpg file and the other is a type of file not recognized by my PC. Not sure about the whys and the wherefores specific to this transfer, but the file that is compatible with the computer is standard identity where jpg files are concerned. The odd name has a couple of characters in it before the common file name. I downloaded both to the desktop and put the common file name into a file I created on the PC and deleted the other. Hope this helps and makes sense. I’m not a tech guru but I do enough trial and error based on common logic to get results. There is also a YouTube video that shows steps for working with file transfers on iOS devices from a PC.

I bought this adapter to connect a few midi devices (keyboard, drum pad controller, etc) and a Canon EOS R to a second gen iPad Pro and iPad Mini 5, both which have a Lightning port. I found that this adapter provides a stable connect between devices and can provide a sufficient charge to power the iPad, as long as the connected device has its own power supply. I currently have an Arturia Keystep Midi Controller and Sequencer Keyboard connected to the iPad Pro (see my attached photo) and the connection is solid. This adapter also powers the iPad Pro perfectly when using it with the Canon EOS R camera. Midi devices may require more power than the adapter can provide though, so a separate power supply to power them may be required. Unfortunately, while my iPad Pro is powerful enough to power the keyboard, this adapter cannot provide sufficient power to keep the iPad charged while I'm using the keyboard in Garage Band, which itself is a bit of a resource hog. I expected this to be the case though, so I purchased a separate power adapter for the Arturia Keystep. I am now able to keep the iPad fully charged while using the keyboard on the iPad Pro, since the Keystep no longer requires power from the iPad to operate. I expect that other midi controllers should work equally will with the same caveat taken into account. A separate power supply may still be needed, depending on the power draw that the device requires to operate. All in all, this is a great little adapter that does exactly what I hoped it would do and I feel confident in recommending it to others who need to connect their iPads with Lightning ports to cameras, midi keyboards and and other midi devices via USB3. I am very pleased with my purchase. ** Note: If you found this review helpful, please mark it helpful to let me know and help other buyers. Thanks! **

Appears to do everything it’s supposed to do according to Documentation referring to using it for whatever Product you are trying to connect your iPad to. If there is any issue it’s always an Update Issue with either the App is not Updated or the iPad. It’s very difficult to keep Applications and Operating System currently Updated across the board; that is an Apple Issue in its entirety. But if everything is Updated and the Documentation calls for using one of these to make your device happy with the iPad it will work. It does for me. Oh, other factors that could make it not work are Cables. If anything in your path is not Apple or something Apple endorses it wont work. That is the nature of Proprietary Software and Hardware is extortion and greed. That is why everywhere else in my Audio world I use Linux. Just about everything on earth works with Linux except Proprietary things. Far more affordable and fun. I do like my iPad but I will never buy another anything that does not use USB C anymore. This will be my very last Lightning device. And if I go iPad again it will be the newer ones with USB C only. Everything USB C until they come out with something new and different that everyone migrates to. Until then I will make this work. For me it’s for my Audio things; Recording Guitar and Music. I do all my Editing through DAW’s on a Linux computer.

I bought this on the recommendation of an article at Apple's site, so that I could connect my iPad to some 2T external SSD drives. I need this for load and backup files on the iPad. When I first opened the box and tried it, nothing worked. Nothing was recognized other than flash drives and SD card readers declared upon connection that I needed to power the device in order for it to be used. I was convinced the adapter was defective because it was connected to power, and yet it asked for power. I started a return and packed it up. I then saw a photo of it in use with a power cable...and thought perhaps the usb adapter the lightning cable was connected to was underpowered. Unpackaged everything, plugged it into the back of my iMac...and it worked. Connected to most of my flash drives and to the important 2T SSD drives, and transferred files with no problem. It also works when powered by an external battery pack, although some of these do not supply enough power. I have one that came with my phone that is 2.0A output. Doesn't work. Minimum amp output on a usb adapter for this seems to be 2.1A (same as the output on the adapter that came with the iPad). This is consistent across multiple USB adapters that I've tried. I have yet to find any of my external devices that work with this when unplugged from power, unless that device is, itself, powered. I have yet to determine why some flash drives are not recognized. It may be the formatting, but my SSDs are formatted for Mac and for PC, respectively, and both are recognized, so still working on that question. Anyway, I can't find where the USB Amperage is mentioned in the little insert included with this adapter, so I hope this helps some of y'all.

I make gaming videos on YouTube and I recently upgraded my microphone to a Fifine K669, with my videos being filmed using FilMIC Pro on my iPhone 11 Pro Max. Since the Fifine microphone is a USB-powered audio device, I obviously had to get an adapter to convert USB to Lightning. I originally bought a very highly reviewed and cheaper adapter made by HENKUR, and unfortunately that decision nearly ruined two full-length YouTube videos for me. First of all, the adapter could only be plugged into the iPhone one way, and there was no indicator as to which "direction" was the correct one. So basically I had a 50/50 shot at whether or not FilMIC Pro would even detect the presence of the microphone at any given moment. Secondly, the audio would randomly cut out for 10-15 seconds and then come back on for seemingly no reason. I was able to scrub some of it out to make it a little less noticeable, but on my last attempt using that old adapter, there was an entire 25 second period where the mic just stopped working and then randomly kicked back on, which couldn't be removed, and I was forced to simply just accept what happened. So I was fed up, and ended up returning that adapter and getting this one instead. And man, I'm glad I did that! Immediately when I plugged this in, my iPhone said the adapter wanted to run an update, and I ran it. I was feeling optimistic, but still cautious. So I did a 6-8 minute test video where I was playing some songs on my guitar and singing, and the microphone didn't cut out once, even at peaked levels. Still wasn't totally convinced but I figured I would give it a try on a full-length video, and the difference was night and day. I recorded about an hour and 15 minutes worth of footage and the audio didn't drop one single time. Also, this may just be my relief talking, but the overall audio quality to me even actually sounded MUCH better. I don't like that Apple products don't often reliably work with non-Apple adapters, which thus forces you to buy the much more expensive proprietary Apple products. However, in my case, the convenience, stress relief, and quality difference was more than sufficient to justify the extra $15-20. This is a GREAT device if you are trying to use an external USB mic with the impressive iPhone 11 camera for YouTube, streaming, or podcasts.

This adapter worked well for quite a while. I found it worked a lot better for flash drives and SD card adapters since it is powered using the lightning port. It didn't charge my phone too well but the usb device connection was very stable compared to the non-powered lightning to USB OTG adapters. However, with the recent iOS updates it no longer works. It will say “this device requires too much power” as if the lightning port is disabled. However, if you can find an iPhone with an older iOS (e.g. 16.1, the current is 16.5 at the time of writing) you will probably find it surprisingly DOES work. I noticed this started since updating to 16.4 or 16.4(a). I’m going to submit a bug report about it. You all should too, because I don’t think the adapters are necessarily to blame. Perhaps there is a revision coming to them as well that would warrant RMAs. There may some device security patch against them and thats why they no longer work and we can get them replaced. Edit 6/25/23 — Apple has released iOS 16.5.1 and highlighted that these adapters have been FIXED. Update to 16.5.1 and try using them again. Hope this helps!

Like so many people here I bought this to use with my 88 key full size midi keyboard. If it works for that I’m happy, although I know and can appreciate that other people may have all kind of other expectations and may say they love or despise this adapter based on how well it works for them. The only thing I can definitely state as a negative is I know this thing must cost about ten cents to manufacturer – it is grossly overpriced at almost forty bucks. GENUINE Despite the price I’ve learned a long time ago that if you want to ride in the Apple parade you have to stop trying to cut corners and go cheap with accessories from questionable sources – buy genuine stuff and it will probably do what you want it to and if not just send it back and move on. The unfortunate reality though is that even if you think you are buying genuine stuff you have no idea what the thousands of online sellers are trying to palm off, which is why I usually get stuff like this from the manufacturer’s brick and mortar store. Otherwise you take your chances. I did, and doubly so because I chose to get it from the warehouse. USED If you don’t know about the warehouse deals you should. There are things that I might give a second thought to buying that somebody else already had, like underwear, but for something like this the choice was either to drop close to forty bucks on a new one rather than go with a clone, or get one they describe as like new. Almost every time I make that decision I save big and get something that looks like it’s never been touched. How much you save varies but for me it was half off. YES OR NO Bottom line is it works for me so I’m happy. You will never know if it will work for you by reading somebody’s review, you have to take the plunge and press the buy button and trust it will.

Arrived perfectly and works fine with my iPhone.

Es muy buen producto

Works great!

I tried my camera, external drive, SD card, 8 out 10 didn’t work. I went to Apple Store to ask the genius for help, and they said it’s normal for this product.

I use this to charge my iPhone 11 Pro while hooked up to a USB DAC for listening to music. It works perfectly and is very well built.

Bom acabamento e perfeito funcionamento. Vale lembrar que para usar alguns dispositivos é necessário plugar a cabo lightning no carregador pois o iPhone não tem energia para alimentar o dispositivo.