iPhone POS Hardware Compatibility Guide

Please Note: Some of the products linked in this buyer guide might be out of date. We are working to update this documentation. Please reach out to our sales team if you have any questions.

Learn iOS Point Of Sale From The Pros

The iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch have become attractive options for adding mobile point of sale or inventory management to many retail and restaurant operations. With a sleek design and easy to use operating system, these iOS devices offer much of the functionality as mobile computers.

Trying to find the right POS equipment to work with your iOS device can be difficult. Thankfully, we have researched and tested the hardware we feel will offer the best experience in scanning barcodes, printing receipts, or taking payment.

Find iOS POS Hardware By Type

Barcode Scanners

Receipt Printers

Cash Drawers

Card Readers

Barcode Scanner

The built-in camera on iPhones can read barcodes if needed, though it's really only useful for low volume scanning. For the kind of scanning done during inventory checks or retail checkout, a secondary scanner is vital.

iPhones and iPods lack standard USB ports, so you are limited to Bluetooth barcode scanners or scanners that use the dock connector to send barcode data. Our full iPhone scanner listing contains the products we feel provide the best experience for iPhone users. Other scanners can provide similar functionality; please call if you'd like more info.

POSGuys Recommended iPhone Scanners
Model	Type	Devices Supported
Mobilogics iScan	Dock Connector	iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, iPod Touch 2nd, 3rd, 4th Gen, iPad, iPad 2, iPad 3rd Gen
Mobilogics iPDT380	Sled	iPod Touch 4th Generation
Honeywell Captuvo	Sled	iPod Touch 4th Generation
Motorola CS3070	Bluetooth Scanner	Any running iOS 4 or greater
Unitech MS910	Bluetooth Scanner	Any running iOS 4 or greater
Socket CHS Series 7	Bluetooth Scanner	Any running iOS 4 or greater
Opticon OPN2002	Bluetooth Scanner	Any running iOS 4 or greater

Mobilogics iScan - Connects to Dock connector
Honeywell Captuvo Sled - 4th Gen iPod Touch barcode scanning
Motorola CS3070 - Easy to configure bluetooth scanning

Please note that using a Bluetooth barcode scanner with your iOS device will disable the on-screen keyboard.

Receipt Printer

iOS devices don't support printing by default, so it is vital to reference your mobile POS software for hardware compatibility. The top printer in terms of general iPhone POS compatibility is the Star Micronics TSP100. You will need to connect the printer to your network, so a TSP100 with ethernet interface or USB model connected to an AirPort Express is your best option.

Star TSP100 - Ethernet Interface
Star TSP100 - USB Interface

Cash Drawer

Any printer-driven cash drawer is compatible with iOS devices, so long as you have a compatible receipt printer setup properly. However, since the printer is connected through a wireless network, you'll want to be near the cash drawer when you ring a customer up. Having the drawer open on the other side of you business is a quick way to having an empty till.

POSGuys Recommended iPhone Cash Drawer
Model	Type
MMF Advantage	Heavy Duty
POS-X ION	Heavy Duty
MMF Val-U-Line	Medium Duty
APG Series 100	Heavy Duty

MMF Advantage - Advanced Security
POS-X ION - Heavy Duty Design
MMF Val-U-Line - Affordable Cash Storage

Card Reader

There are multiple options for taking payment with your iPhone or iPad. One method involves connecting a card reader to the audio jack on your device and having it transmit the card data as audio. The other method uses the dock connector on your iPhone to transmit data. Both options offer hardware-encrypted reads, giving you greater peace of mind when taking payments.

With card readers from major manufacturers, including MagTek, IDTech, Honeywell, Intuit, and Verifone, you can be sure that your customer's card data is protected.

POSGuys Recommended iPhone Card Reader
Model	Type
MagTek iDynamo	Dock Connector
IDTech UniMag Pro	Headphone Jack
IDTech Shuttle	Headphone Jack

Additional card readers, including the Intuit GoPayment and Verifone PayWARE platforms are available. Please call for more information.