How to Attach an iPhone to an External Monitor
STEVE GREGORY
TECH
Apple’s Lightning to VGA Adapter and Lightning Digital AV Adapter are designed to connect your iPhone to an external monitor, such as a TV. In addition to the adapter, you need an appropriate connection cable -- such as an HDMI cable -- to transfer the content on your iPhone’s screen to the monitor’s display. Each adapter supports video mirroring and can display the content on your iPhone’s screen up to a maximum resolution of 1080p. The Lightning Digital AV Adapter supports both audio and video content, but the Lightning to VGA Adapter only supports video content. However, you can still listen to audio content with the VGA adapter by connecting external speakers to your iPhone or using the device’s internal speaker.
Turn off the external monitor and your iPhone.
Insert the Lightning connector end of the Lightning Digital AV Adapter into the iPhone's Lightning connector jack.
Connect one end of the HDMI cable to the HDMI port on the external monitor.
Connect the other end of the HDMI cable to the adapter end of the Lightning Digital AV Adapter.
Turn on the external monitor and your iPhone, and then launch the app that has the content that you want to display on the monitor.
Turn your iPhone and the external monitor off, and then insert the Lightning connector end of the Lightning to VGA Adapter into your iPhone's Lightning connector jack.
Connect one end of the VGA cable to the adapter end of the Lightning to VGA Adapter.
Connect the other end of the VGA cable to the VGA port on the external monitor.
Insert the external speaker's 3.5mm audio cable into the iPhone's headphone jack.
Turn on both devices, and then navigate to the content on your iPhone that you want to view on the monitor.
- Information in this article applies to an iPhone 5 running iOS 7. Instructions may vary slightly or significantly with other versions of the phone and operating system.
- Instead of using a physical connection to project your iPhone’s display on an external monitor, you can use the AirPlay utility. The utility wirelessly projects your iPhone’s display to a monitor connected to an Apple TV or another appropriate AirPlay receiver. Swipe up the iPhone's screen to open the Control Center, and then tap "AirPlay." Select the appropriate AirPlay device from the list.
- If applicable, press the appropriate "Source" or "Channel" button on the external monitor -- such as a TV -- to display the iPhone's screen.
- 1 Apple: iPhone User Guide for iOS 7 Software
- 2 Apple: Shop iPhone: Lightning to VGA Adapter
- 3 Apple: Shop iPhone: Lightning Digital AV Adapter
- 4 iPhone The Missing Manual, 7th Edition; David Pogue
- 5 Apple: iOS: About Apple Digital AV Adapters
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