With any luck, Apple’s working on a patch for this.
Following Thursday’s release of its iOS 16.5 update, a number of users have complained that the update breaks compatibility with Apple’s Lightning to USB 3 Camera Adapter accessory for iPhone and iPad users.
This dongle connects to an iPhone or iPad via Lightning and has a built-in USB-A port that you can use to connect a myriad of accessories to an iPhone or iPad. There’s also a built-in Lightning port for charging the iPhone or iPad. According to users who rely on this accessory, however, iOS 16.5 breaks compatibility with both ports.
Users on assorted forums have stated that the update breaks compatibility with the adapter and that the Lightning port does not passthrough power to charge the iPhone and iPad. Connecting an accessory to the adapter via USB-A results in an error message that says the adapter requires too much power to operate.
While Apple bills this as a “camera adapter accessory,” iPhone and iPad users actually rely on it for connecting a range of USB-A products to their devices. This includes things like Ethernet adapters, digital audio converters, and more.
A user offered the following complaint:
“iPhone 13 Pro Max here hitting same issue. I’ve been using the official Apple Lightning to USB 3 Camera Adapter for months to send lossless Apple Music to my DAC, and it’s worked flawlessly and charged my phone at the same time. As soon as I updated to iOS 16.5 this morning, the adapter not only doesn’t communicate to the DAC at all, it doesn’t even charge my phone. When I test plugging in an iPad on a previous OS version, it communicates and charges just fine.”
Apple support has been unable to help the affected customers. The problem is likely software-related, given that it was tied to the release of iOS 16.5. Hopefully, this will be pinned down in a forthcoming iOS 16.5.1 update.
Please let us know if you’ve seen this issue on your end in the comments.
Via 9to5Mac, MacRumors, Reddit, and support.apple.com