iPhone 15 Pro Max thinks charger is an Accessory?

Alyssabuchanan wrote:

Not even, because my phone is doing the same thing and I’m using the charger and adapter that came brand new with my new iPhone 15 pro max.. so what now?

The iPhone 15 Pro Max comes with a USB-C Charge Cable ("What's in the Box") – but no power brick. From the order page:

"Our environmental goals.

As part of our efforts to reach carbon neutrality by 2030, iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max do not include a power adapter or EarPods. Included in the box is a USB‑C Charge Cable that supports fast charging and is compatible with USB‑C power adapters and computer ports.

We encourage you to use any compatible USB‑C power adapter. If you need a new Apple power adapter or headphones, they are available for purchase."

With regards to charging, the Technical Specifications say that phone can handle MagSafe wireless charging up to 15W and Qi wireless charging up to 7.5. It is "Fast-charge capable": "Up to 50% charge in around 30 minutes with 20W adapter or higher (available separately)."

I don't see anything specifically calling out the minimum amount of charging power the phone expects.

Tymoe wrote:

I have an apple 20w charger with the exact specs listed and receive the same error when trying to charge. I don’t get this message while using the MagSafe connector from apple plugged into a Belkin usb-c car charger. Can you explain why this is happening and what I can do about it? Several searches around the internet have only led me to find more and more people with the same problem. ****

[Edited by Moderator]

Despite what you implied in the part of your post edited out by the Moderator, you are not talking to Apple here. The people who participate in conversations on these forums are mostly other users like yourself.

The Technical Specifications for the iPhone 15 Pro Max refer to USB-C charging, MagSafe charging at up to 15W, and Qi wireless charging at up to 7.5W. The Specifications say that the phone is fast-charge capable with a 20W adapter or higher (that would be using a USB-C cable). The link leads to the 20W power brick in the Apple Store, so I have no idea why the combination of that brick and the MagSafe cable would not work with an iPhone 15 Pro Max. Perhaps you should contact Apple Support and ask them for help.

iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max - Technical Specifications - Apple

Maybe I can help. I am in a friends house in a different city. I plugged my 15PM into an outlet with my usual charger and cable and got the same message. I never got this message before, since October. I looked at the outlet and realized it is one that has a circuit breaker, like the ones with a little button you press to reset. I then unplugged it and went to a normal outlet without the button. Got no message with that. Could you be plugging in to the reset button type outlets??

Have the same issue. Was trying to charge new iPhone with the cable provided by plugging into my fairly new apple laptop, and the "cannot use accessory" warning came up and even after unplugging, now won't go away! Requires me to push "ok" but it won't accept that, and stays on screen so now I cant even restart the phone... Hoping if I charge it or let it run to empty, maybe it will allow a reset.

Just bought this iPhone 15 pro max & I am sitting at home have to be at work in the morning it’s midnight & my battery is at 10% & I can’t even charge

[Edited by Moderator]

It’s a necessity!

I bit the bullet and went in to APPLE. I purchased a new plug. Apparently this plus has been used for the last couple of iPhones.

Throw away the charger and get a good quality one.

iPhones do not come with a block, they only come with a cord. So whatever block you using is not one that came with your iPhone.

I have this same issue as of this morning. I have a certified cable and power adapter for Apple. I've been using with my 15 Pro for over a month. No issues ever. Now, I suddenly keep getting this same error message despite never seeing it before after probably 45ish charge cycles? Seems like an iOS glitch that needs to be fixed. Again, my issue is the same and 100% of my accessories are either Apple accessories or MFi certified. I do not use cheap/non-certified accessories ever because I know cheap products can hurt battery performance over the lifespan of the device.

Same with me- showing that the accessory uses too much power- I’m using the apple 35W compact dual usb C brick.

At low battery % like 20-30 and on battery saver it says the accessory uses too much power. Issue is gone when I plug and charge my 15 pro max with 30w apple power brick with usb C to up to 70-80%.

when I plug the phone back to 35w brick- no issues.. and continues to charge

I’m guessing the accessory is trying to fast charge the phone. All bricks and usb c cables are Apple Original.

In reading all the replies I am convinced that this is a software problem. I was getting the same message on iPhone 15 Pro when charging. I admit that I use a third-party cable and brick, but I don't think that matters. If Apple wants to blame it on the cable, I consider that a cop-out.

The phone still charges, but you can't charge it on your nite stand. It will keep you awake. I did a few things to try to fix it as follows:

Updated phone to ios 17.1.1

Turned off low power mode

Turned off StandBy

Turned off Clean Energy Charging

Apparently, I changed its behavior. I now no longer get the accessory power message. Instead, I'm getting the bell sound during charging each time the battery reaches the next percentage of charge. Another annoyance.

So, you see. It is a software problem that Apple needs to fix.

It is really a nice phone, I will not return it. I am patient and will wait.

My phone updated itself to 17.1.1 yesterday. A couple of hours later, I received this message. It wasn't plugged in when I received the message, so this isn't specific to charging. I have never seen it before on any iOS device I've ever owned. I have received it while charging as well.

For me, it isn't happening to the point of blocking things. It's only happened a couple of times. I find it hilarious because the only "accessory" is the Apple Watch I'm wearing.

Jump_Raven wrote:

My phone updated itself to 17.1.1 yesterday. A couple of hours later, I received this message. It wasn't plugged in when I received the message, so this isn't specific to charging. I have never seen it before on any iOS device I've ever owned. I have received it while charging as well.

For me, it isn't happening to the point of blocking things. It's only happened a couple of times. I find it hilarious because the only "accessory" is the Apple Watch I'm wearing.

That would tend to indicate that there is something in the charging port causing a short and confusing the phone.

I have a silicone plug that fits the USB-C port on my iPhone 15 specifically to prevent lint, grit, or heaven forbid, water, from getting in the port. Since I use wireless chargers at home, at work, and in the car, I almost never take it out.

No. My Dad's iPad Pro recently updated to the latest iOS and then started giving this erroneous message as well.

It's a software problem. You can plug an external hard drive into the iPhone for...if you're shooting things in ProRes, for example. I'm sure it's a safety feature that's supposed to give you a big heads up in the form of a blocking dialog box because they don't want you to shoot a bunch of video and then find out you don't have the footage because the "accessory" isn't working right. But there's a bug that is causing it to display this message when there isn't a problem or even an accessory attached. I'm sure Apple is aware of it, and will get to fixing it.

Also, it was never plugged in from when it updated itself without being plugged in, to when I saw the message--still not plugged in.

I haven't seen the message since. I only saw it again recently because my Dad's iPad Pro updated itself.