Check Out Doom Running on Apple's Lightning to HDMI Adapter (2025)

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Tuesday February 4, 2025 2:17 pm PST by Juli Clover

Installing Doom on a range of unusual hardware devices has become a fun challenge for programmers, and we've seen the game running on everything from the Apple Watch to the MacBook Pro Touch Bar. Over the weekend, another Doom demo was uploaded to YouTube, this time showing the game running on Apple's $50 Lightning to HDMI Adapter.

The Lightning Digital AV Adapter is more than just a dongle, because it has an SoC inside and it runs a super simple version of iOS. Lightning does not have the bandwidth for transmitting HDMI, so Apple needed an adapter that would compress video from a connected Apple device, send it over the Lightning connection, and then decompress it into raw HDMI for viewing on a TV screen or display.

Since the adapter has an SoC in it, it's able to run Doom. Actually getting access to the accessory took work, because Apple has it locked down, like any of its devices. While there is a MacBook and a display shown in the video, Doom is running on the SoC in the dongle.

[ 66 comments ]

Top Rated Comments

Blackstick

2 weeks ago

I seriously wonder why Apple resisted moving to USB-C for so long.

The answer is a near complete pricing monopoly on all iPhone accessories and "made for iPhone" lightning connectors. With over a BILLION built-in customers buying.

If that business segment were its own company, it'd be a Fortune 1000 org in its own right. (To be fair, AirPods on their own would be larger than some of the smaller Fortune 500 sized companies)

Apple used to pocket a few cents (up to dollars for high end products) on every licensed lightning (or 30 pin) accessory sold. Today... you throw Anker (or some no-name USB-C brand) $17 on Amazon for a generic USB-C accessory and Apple sees none of it unless you buy their USB-C stuff.

Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)

zorinlynx

2 weeks ago

>Lightning does not have the bandwidth for transmitting HDMI, so Apple needed an adapter that would compress video from a connected Apple device, send it over the Lightning connection, and then decompress it into raw HDMI for viewing on a TV screen or display.

What an incredibly clunky kludge. I seriously wonder why Apple resisted moving to USB-C for so long.

Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Westside guy

2 weeks ago

I think at some point we’re going to have to recognize that Doom is very old and doesn’t require much processing power.

I resist that, because it would also force me to recognize that I am very old (and perhaps no longer have as much processing power? :p )

Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Anonymous Freak

2 weeks ago

Mostly because they didn't invent USB-C. They could have tighter control over the connector if they owned the rights.

Except….

Apple did co-invent USB-C. They do have tighter control, but they were intimately involved with the creation of USB-C.

Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)

surferfb

2 weeks ago

The only reason they resisted moving to USB for so long because lightning was a proprietary solution and they could earn more ???. Thankfully the EU forced Apple to use USB-C like every other vendor. Better throughput, better connectivity, cheaper cables.

That’s been debunked. The amount of money lightening made was reportedly “pocket change” - Apple just had a different opinion on when USB-C was ubiquitous enough to move its most important product over after getting raked over the coals they last time they did so (which was actually a switch to a considerably better connector, unlike this instance).

Besides, the EU had AMPLE opportunity to pick any of these other awful choices to force a universal connector. Don’t buy into that USB-C-is-The-One garbage.

They tried to make micro-usb the universal connector - thank god they failed! Why anyone thinks that the government mandating which connectors devices use is a good idea after that, I will never understand.

Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)

HJM.NL

2 weeks ago

>Lightning does not have the bandwidth for transmitting HDMI, so Apple needed an adapter that would compress video from a connected Apple device, send it over the Lightning connection, and then decompress it into raw HDMI for viewing on a TV screen or display.
What an incredibly clunky kludge. I seriously wonder why Apple resisted moving to USB-C for so long.

The only reason they resisted moving to USB for so long because lightning was a proprietary solution and they could earn more ???. Thankfully the EU forced Apple to use USB-C like every other vendor. Better throughput, better connectivity, cheaper cables.

Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)

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