Best Buy is offering the Apple Digital AV Adapter, which provides digital audio and HDMI output, for $14.99 shipped. The price is their Deal of The Day, which means the item will only be offered at this price for today only.
The adapter is refurbished, and carries no warranty beyond the 30 day return period. Best Buy did not state in their product listing if the adapter was refurbished by Apple, or by a third-party.
Apple’s Digital AV Adapter supports the fourth-generation iPod touch, iPhone 4 & 4S, as well as the original iPad and iPad 2. It also works with the latest, third-generation iPad, but owners of Apple’s latest tablet will receive an alert saying that it is “not optimized” for the device. However, users report that the adapter works fine with the third-gen iPad, and Apple has not posted any clarification on how the older version of the Digital AV Adapter is not optimized for the tablet.
Apple quietly updated the Digital AV Adapter in the lead-up to the launch of the third-generation iPad. The newer version trumps the unit offered by Best Buy today, with an improved design, and more robust cable. The cable on the newer version of the adapter is less likely to lose signal when moved, and provides better positioning of the two output ports.
It is also important to note that the Digital AV Adapter provides different experiences, depending on device. For iPod touch and iPhone, the Digital AV Adapter will only display videos if the application supports external video playback. On iPad however, the cable supports HDMI mirroring of what is on the display, and also permits applications to adjust the resolution to match the output of the HDMI device.
At $14.99, while refurbished, it is the lowest price we’ve ever seen for the cable.
