iPhone 12 Pro Max Wireless Charging Problems Persist post iOS 14.3 update

According to the tech at my local Apple Store, 3rd party Qi chargers not expressly designed for the iPhone 12 line of devices can intermittently stop charging the devices. This is apparently because even though the actual wireless charging spec remains the same as previous generations of iPhone, the magnetic ring inside the device, that makes the mag-safe chargers work the way they do, leaves for a smaller charge coil inside the device, which in turn requires more-precise alignment for charging. This is apparently especially prevalent on stand-style Qi chargers, where the upright-standing device may not align with the chargers coils correctly.

One suggestion they gave me was to try putting my device down on the charge stand sideways to see if it would get better alignment. But that’s a limited workaround because now your Lock Screen is sideways.

Short of that, they suggested replacing the Qi charger with one expressly tested with the particular device I have (iPhone 12 Pro), preferably a brand that is certified by Apple, such as Belkin or Mophie. These are, admittedly, going to cost more than some generic charger on, say, Amazon.

Hi! I had the same problem. I was waiting for the iOS update, but it didn't fix the problem. So I went to servisu with iPhone. I got a new piece, which again didn't work Qi charging! So I had to go to the service again, which gave me a new iPhone again. And it finally works! I've been charging every night on a Qi charger for two months now!

I believe I have solved the problem. Because of the position or size of the coil on the iPhone 12 Pro Max it is hard to line it up in a vehicle. I placed a quarter inch block of wood in the bottom of the drop in charger there by raising the phone to the appropriate level. It now continues to charge.

No luck with the car, but I went & tested it on a small charging pad & it worked, but I did not try charging it before the update to see if it was working which I should have.

to make a long story short after I saw it does wirelessly charge on a small pad I went back out & tried the car again.

here is what I found, will not charge with case, will not charge without case. However my same phone will charge so I swapped cases & now her phone will charge. Tried her case of mine, it will not charge, tried mine without a case & it will not charge.

so what I can figure is it is the camera lenses not allowing the phone to sit flat to charge on a large pad. My phone case is a Quad lock case & the cameras lenses do not protrude out further than the case itself so it allows my phone to sit flat in the middle where the coils are. Without the case the camera lenses put the phone on an angle & will not allow proper connection.

so I will be looking for a different case for my wife…..UGH

If a lay-flat charge pad isn't charging your device, you can try putting your device down on it in different positions to see if you can get more-stable coil alignment. But short of that, or if your Apple-certified charger isn't charging the device as expected, you will need to work with Apple's support, as there may be a defect in your device or the charger. Only they have the tools to determine that for sure.

If you are not using an Apple-certified charging device, be prepared for the final outcome to be a recommendation to replace your charging device with one that is both Apple-certified and labeled for your device. It should go without saying that this is also likely to cost notably more than a typical 3rd-party Qi charging device, but that should be of no surprise due to Apple's design strategies.

I bought new chargers when we got iPhone 12 and 12 Pro Max and we haven't had any issues. But friends I know who were having issues with wireless charging have told me since iOS 14.5, their issues have gone away completely. It's the new Mag Safe system, where the charging coil was moved to a very specific location on the back of iPhone 12 and many older chargers just don't align correctly, causing issues.

Scottthompsonsr6, the mag chargers you tried, how big are they? What I discovered is the iPhone 12 Pro Max is not completely fat on a charger (exactly parallel to the charging pad) it will not work. The issue with the 12 is the lenses protrude out & do not allow the phone to sit completely flat. If you get a case which is flat meaning you put it on a flat surface & there is no movement then the phone will charge. I had an issue with my wife's new car & the charging pad in it & I solved it my getting a new case which she does not like, but it now charges. I was also able to get her old phone case to work if a put a disposable mask under the end of the phone which does not have the lenses, but not a clean a look as just swapping the phone case.

It seems to me the issue with the iPhone 12 pro max is the charging coils need to be exactly parallel to the charging device or the phone will not charge. At least this is what I found to be the case.

In my case the lenses (and certain phone cases) caused the phone to not sit flat on the charging pad. This was the case with my wife's phone & my phone. From everything I learned through trial & error the iPhone Pro max needs to be perfectly parallel to the charger to charge wirelessly & on the nightly wireless charger I have it needs to lay in just the right spot.

JetCityPD I am sure it is possible you may have bad charging coils which if that is the case Apple with supply a new phone.

Good luck as I know how frustrating it can be.

Because they make design assumptions that may not hold true for future models of phone.

Auto makers like to cover their exposure as much as possible.

The iPhone 12 complies completely with the Qi specification, as it does not specify where on the device the charging coil must be located.

This is why many wireless charging "stands" also did not work with the iPhone 12.

Note something similar happened with Logitech charging stands when the iPhone 11 was released - the stands no longer worked properly.

Logitech and Belkin both said "we did not say our product was compatible with the iPhone (11/12) so it is not).

Belkin has since come out with a new stand charger that is compatible with the iPhone 12.

Same here with iPhone 12 Pro. if I restart the phone, either via normal shut down or hard restart and put it on the charger immediately afterwards, it will charge for a while and then stop after an indeterminate amount of time, always short of a full recharge. Further there seems to be no pattern whatsoever as to what charge level it stops at, so that eliminates any deliberate battery-saving charge limitations.

if I pick the phone up and put it back on the charger, it sometimes starts to charge again for a while and other times not. If it starts to charge, it will again stop after an indeterminate amount of time, short of a full charge, again with no apparent pattern to indicate it might be a deliberate battery saving feature.

Restarting the phone always gets it to start charging ok, but again often stops after an indeterminate amount of time, short of the expected charge. This is a poor workaround however, because it still stops charging short of expectation and having to restart the phone totally defeats the convenience of wireless charging.

They are third party chargers, but they are Qi certified and work well with all other Qi devices in the house, including my old iPhone XR.

Further, the FordPass app completely drains my iPhone 12 Pro’s battery if left running in the background within a few hours. Ford’s tech support says it’s a known issue that has to be fixed by Apple in an iOS update and to swipe-up kill their app whenever I finish using it, as a workaround.

Finally, updating to iOS 14.3 did not fix any of these issues for me.

As of 2/302021 with all current updates, my iPhone 12 Pro Max will not charge properly in a reliable manner. Sometimes it will and sometimes it will not... On the same charger. IMO this is a hardware issue that will not be fixed. My other iPhones charge just fine on that charger. Initially I went through several new chargers because I thought it was the chargers. Then I busted out my older iPhones and they confirmed what I suspected... This problem is with the iPhone 12 and not the chargers.

It is not due to the lenses either... The lenses do not come into contact with the charger I am using.

Same here and I’m not finding it has anything to do with proper alignment. When it stops working, the only way to make it charge again is to reboot the phone. So frustrating!

If your phone doesn't charge on a wireless charger, make an appointment to have your phone examined:

Genius Bar Reservation and Apple Support Options - Apple

Then take your phone in to be examined.

I've used almost nothing but MagSafe and Qi chargers to charge my 12 Pro Max since November.

Genius Bar Reservation and Apple Support Options - Apple

This is random. I've had three new iPhone 12 Pro Max have this issue out of the box. Apple initially told me it was a hardware issue so I swapped the phone out. Prior to swapping the phone out the first time I tried my older iPhone on all three wireless chargers I had and all three worked flawlessly. The 12 would not work reliably on any of the three chargers. After swapping out the phone the first time Apple doubled down on "it's a hardware issue" and we swapped out the phone again... All three new phones had the same behavior. This is clearly a design flaw. Apple advertised that the phone would work with the chargers we had and that's simply not true. NOT COOL!!!