Apple iPod, iPhone (2g, 3g), iPad Dock connector pinout

 

 

 

30 pin iPOD proprietary connector

at the player ( white side up)

 

Used in 3rd and later generation iPods for charging,
connecting to a PC via USB or Firewire, to a stereo via line-out, to a serial
device (controlled via the Apple Accessory Protocol). This connector exists in
most Apple iPod MP3 players (iPod 3G, 4G, 5G Video, 5.5G Video, Nano (1G, 2G,
3G, 4G), Mini, Classic, Touch, Touch 2G, and iPhone (1G, 3G and 3GS))

Pin	Signal	Description
1	GND	Ground (-), internally connected with Pin 2 on iPod motherboard
2	GND	Audio & Video ground (-), internally connected with Pin 1 on iPod motherboard
3	Right	Line Out - R (+) (Audio output, right channel)
4	Left	Line Out - L(+) (Audio output, left channel)
5	Right In	Line In - R (+)
6	Left In	Line In - L (+)
8	Video Out	Composite video output (only when slideshow active on iPod Photo) or Component Video Pb
9	S-Video Chrominance output	for iPod Color, Photo only or Component Video Y
10	S-Video Luminance output	for iPod Color, Photo only or Component Video Pr
11	AUDIO_SW	If connected to GND the iPhone sends audio signals through pin 3-4, otherwise it uses onboard speaker.
12	Tx	ipod sending line, Serial TxD
13	Rx	ipod receiving line, Serial RxD
14	RSVD	Reserved
15	GND	Ground (-), internally connected with pin 16 on iPod motherboard
16	GND	USB GND (-), internally connected with pin 15 on iPod motherboard
17	RSVD	Reserved
18	3.3V	3.3V Power (+) Stepped up to provide +5 VDC to USB on iPod Camera Connector. If iPod is put to sleep while Camera Connector is present, +5 VDC at this pin slowly drains back to 0 VDC.
19,20	+12V	Firewire Power 12 VDC (+)
21	Accessory Indicator/Serial enable	Different resistances indicate accessory type: 1kOhm - iPod docking station, beeps when connected 10kOhm - Takes some iPods into photo import mode 6.8 kΩ - Serial port mode. Pin 11-13 are TTL level. Requires MAX232 chip to convert to RS232 levels. 68kOhm - makes iPhone 3g send audio through line-out without any messages 500kOhm - related to serial communication / used to enable serial communications Used in Dension Ice Link Plus car interface   1MOhm - Belkin auto adaptor, iPod shuts down automatically when power disconnected Connecting pin 21 to ground with a 1MOhm resistor does stop the ipod when power (i.e. Firewire-12V) is cut. Looks to be that when this pin is grounded it closes a switch so that on loss of power the Ipod shuts off. Dock has the same Resistor.
22	TPA (-)	FireWire Data TPA (-)
23	5 VDC (+)	USB Power 5 VDC (+)
24	TPA (+)	FireWire Data TPA (+)
25	Data (-)	USB Data (-)
26	TPB (-)	FireWire Data TPB (-)
27	Data (+)	USB Data (+) Pins 25 and 27 may be used in different manner. To force the iPod 5G to charge in any case, when USB Power 5 VDC (pin 23) is fed, 25 must be connected to 5V through a 10kOhm resistor, and 27 must be connected to the Ground (for example: pin 1) with a 10kOhm resistor. iPod 5G can also be forced to charge by attaching the data + and the data - pins to the 5v via a 10k Ohm resistor ( BOTH PINS) and connecting pin 16 to the 5v (ground). (Confirmed working with iPod 5G 20GB). This provides 500mA of current for charging. For quicker charing, up to 1A, see below. To charge an iPhone 3G / iPod Touch 2nd gen or Ipod Classic (6th Gen), usb data- (25) should be at 2.8v, usb data+(27) should be at 2.0v. This can be done with a few simple resistors: 33k to +5v (23) and 22k to gnd(16) to obtain 2v and 33k to +5v and 47k to gnd to obtain 2.8v. This is a notification to the iphone that it is connected to the external charger and may drain amps from the usb. To charge iPod Nano pins 25 and 27 should be tied together and then connected to a 10K ohm resistor, and the other side of this resistors then needs to be connected to 5v power. It's also possible to charge the iPod's or iPhone's battery to make use the of internal +3.3v output (18) terminal to connect the USB Data + (27) thru a 47k ohms resistor and the USB Data- (25) thru a 47k resistor to the USB Power source +5v (23).  This way the USB function is still useable for normal operations and makes it easier the fit in a plug. The resistors are not to critical 2x 150k's still work.
28	TPB (+)	FireWire Data TPB (+)
29,30	GND	FireWire Ground (-)

Back side of dock connector;
 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30
 1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 25 27 29

Pins 1,2 connected on motherboard.

Pins 15,16 connected on motherboard.

Pins 19,20 connected on motherboard.

Pins 29,30 connected on motherboard.

If you disassemble the original apple-ipod-dock-connector-cable and look at
the connector itself, on the back side, where it is soldered, you can see the
number 1 and 30 (e.g. pin 1 and 30). In this description NUMBERING is
INVERSED: pin 1 is pin 30 and pin 29 is pin 2, so, don't look at numbers on
connector.

The remote control, iTalk and other serial devices use Apple Accessory
Protocol for communication with iPOD. This protocol was introduced with the
3rd generation iPods, and is also compatible with the 4th generation iPods and
mini iPods. The connections uses a standard 8N1 (one startbit 8 data bits 1
Stopbit) serial protocol, 19200 baud (higher rates up to 57600 also possible,
but speed faster than 38400 may cause problems with large amounts of data),
delay of 12 microseconds inserted between end of the stopbit and the beginning
of the next startbit (also working without this delay).

Electrical: high +3,3V low 0V

default line state: high. Codes used for communication with peripherals
are here

This device may be connected to the firewire computer port by straight cable
(TPB+/-, TPA +/- should be twisted pairs in cable)

 

iPod Nano 4th Gen no longer will charge from 12 volts on the firewire pins.
If you tie pins 25 and 27 together and then connect a 10K ohm resistor to
+/- 5 volts to pins 23 and 15 (or 16) then it will charge. If you don't tie
25 and 27 together, it won't charge.

 

iPod Touch 2G requires pin 11 connected to 15/16, then connect that to pin
21 with a 68kOhm resistor to use the audio line out. This is because the
device needs to be told to redirect the signal to the Line Out pins rather
than to the built-in speaker. This explains why certain accessories won't
work with the iPod Touch 2G and maybe even the iPod Touch 3G. The Nano 5G
will require the pin 11 connection but not the 68kOhm resistor for
redirecting audio.

 

Nano 5G: connecting the 68kOhm resistor to ground will disable the audio
redirection accomplished by connecting pin 11 to ground..