Lightning cable seemingly breaks iPhones' lightning Ports, prevents them from charging with other lightning cables

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Lightning cable seemingly breaks iPhones' lightning Ports, prevents them from charging with other lightning cables

My girlfriend noticed her iPhone 13 Pro Max wouldn't charge when plugged into the USB-C to Lightning cable that came with her phone. That cable was plugged into the USB-C wall adapter. I plugged my iPhone 11 into it and it worked one way, but not on the other. Assumed it was a bad cable. It's possible it may have been a little pinched between two desks.

Later that day, I plugged my iPhone 11 into a different charger, different adapter and cord, and it didn't recognize the cord; didn't charge on either side. I plugged the adapter (which was an older 12W iPad USB-A adapter connected to a 6ft extender plugged into a power strip) into different wall outlets, and into my girlfriend's phone. Nothing on all attempts.

Got a new, never used USB-C to Lighting cable and plugged it into the other, new USB-C wall adapter. Nothing on both sides on both phones, except this time both of our phones said "Charging prevented due to water detected in the Lightning port" or something like that. Both phones' ports were dry. We restarted our phones, and tried them with the first two cords, nothing. Tried them with the one that caused the notification, and they seem to work when plugged in for a brief period of time.

Is it possible that the original lighting cord that might have been pinched shorted something, or otherwise somehow broke something in both of our lightning ports that caused neither phone to work with any other charger cable? Extremely frustrating that with three adapters (we tried an old 5W iPhone adapter as well, and nothing) and three cables between us, we can seemingly only charge one phone at a time, not to mention that we're afraid it might break again.

Also, I did check the original cable for damage to the prongs, and it looked to be in perfect condition. Didn't notice anything off about any of the other cables either.

Seems to be a niche issue, read that it might even be a software bug, but if anyone has any insight into this issue, that would be a life saver. Thanks.

Posted on Feb 24, 2022 8:54 PM

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Answer 1

Tesserax

Level 10

158,670 points

Mar 9, 2022 7:48 AM in response to Rabuscus Fields

Ok, thanks for clearing that up. I must not have had enough coffee when I read your post. ;)

FYI ... both sides of the Lighting connector are identical. However, flipping it, as you did, could ensure a better contact between the connector and the port. Certainly worth a try. Of course, if a new cable does not resolve the issue, the Lightning port on this iPhone may be suspect.

Also, you mentioned in your original post that you saw a "water detected" message. You may want to take a look at the following support article in this case: If you see a liquid-detection alert on your iPhone - Apple Support

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Answer 2

Tesserax

Level 10

158,670 points

Feb 24, 2022 10:42 PM in response to Rabuscus Fields

Rabuscus Fields wrote:

My girlfriend noticed her iPhone 13 Pro Max wouldn't charge when plugged into the USB-C to Lightning cable that came with her phone. That cable was plugged into the USB-C wall adapter. I plugged my iPhone 11 into it and it worked one way, but not on the other. Assumed it was a bad cable.

Just to be sure I understood what you wrote. Are you saying that you used your girl friend's USB-C to Lightning cable on your iPhone AND that you tried inserting it both ways ... that is, you first inserted the Lightning end into your phone, and then, reversed it to insert the USB-C end into it? If so, there would be a good chance that doing so could damage the lightning connector port on the iPhone.

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Answer 3

Mar 9, 2022 6:48 AM in response to Tesserax

Tesserax wrote:

Rabuscus Fields wrote:

My girlfriend noticed her iPhone 13 Pro Max wouldn't charge when plugged into the USB-C to Lightning cable that came with her phone. That cable was plugged into the USB-C wall adapter. I plugged my iPhone 11 into it and it worked one way, but not on the other. Assumed it was a bad cable.

Just to be sure I understood what you wrote. Are you saying that you used your girl friend's USB-C to Lightning cable on your iPhone AND that you tried inserting it both ways ... that is, you first inserted the Lightning end into your phone, and then, reversed it to insert the USB-C end into it? If so, there would be a good chance that doing so could damage the lightning connector port on the iPhone.

No. I mean I flipped the lightning connector over and tried both sides of the lightening connector side. At this point we're going to buy a new cable and hope that fixes it. Probably what we should've done from the beginning, but it was a perplexing problem.

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Lightning cable seemingly breaks iPhones' lightning Ports, prevents them from charging with other lightning cables

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