USB C on iPhone 15 not working

If your iPhone charges correctly with the original Apple adaptor and charging cable there is no fault in the iPhone. The problem you describe is likely to be defective or cheap uncertified cables and no-name power adaptors which do not comply with the recognised standards. There is a lot of counterfeit and non-compliant junk out there which looks good and is cheap, but it is not all it pretends to be. Some of it just won't work, other may even be dangerous if it connects to mains power.

I am pretty sure you will find your iPhone will charge if you try accessories from well known and reputable third parties. My list is not exclusive, but you have a good chance with products from suppliers like Mopie or Belkin, and anything branded by well known phone manufacturers who are using USB-C.

Just found a solution after speaking to apple.

when connecting to my Mac Studio it said my iPhone was in DFU mode. It wouldn’t charge. Apple guided me to force restart.

volume up

volume down

hold power button down until it restarts and shows apple logo

This solved the issue for me. I am now able to charge over the usb c port.

I did find the solution to my charging problem. In the settings for the batteries and charging the option «optimization» was on. When I removed that setting all my chargers and cables work fine.

From my own tests, 3rd party charger with PD 3.0 USB-C port can only work up to 20W, not 30W. However, if using USB-A(on charger side) to USB-C cable, you should be fine as QC 3.0 max is 18W only. my iPhone 15 Pro Max works with all quality 3rd party A to C cables with all the 3 party chargers I have, but C(PD 3.0 on the charger side) to C only works if the charger USB-C port is 20W, not working with 30W.

I've had the same issue with both my iPad and iPhone 15 Pro, and now my new home hub mini. The attempts to charge/work and just looks like it's connecting/disconnecting rapidly. I've tried a combination of cables (Apple v non) etc, and both have been checked to be thoroughly clean. The summary of where I've gotten to:

-- I only get the problem with USB-C to USB-C connection. If I use the same sockets/chargers etc with USB-A to USB-C it's absolutely fine.

-- Using the same ports with an USB-C to USB-C cable charge any other non-Apple devices without any problem (even a power heavy 15" PC Laptop).

-- If a magsafe is used on the same ports, again charges completely fine.

-- I have Power sockets in the house walls that have both USB-C and USB-A ports built in. Using the USB-A socket they charge fine, not the USB-C.

---- Electrician has checked the supply from these - said they are fine, but said the Apple devices appear to be controlling how much power is being drawn and it the device itself thats stopping it from charging. Electrican has confirmed these as being able to output in the following 5V DC 3A - up to 15W, 9V DC 2A - up to 18W, 12V DC 1.5A - up to 18W and designed to work with both USB-PD and USB-QC. So despite the fact the power negotiation with the Apple device is stopping it from drawing the power, it should work.

-- Although this has been happening ever since I had the iPhone 15 Pro, it's only started happening with the iPad in the last month. (Don't know if this is timed with an update, as I haven't checked often enough).

I'm at a total loss, Apple don't seem to know (they've just asked me to get in contact after the next update). And I don't really want to go and buy a load of new USB-A to USB-C adapters just so they charge directly.

Thought this might help shed further light on what seems to be a problem for a lot of people.

I think the iphone 15 has some issue too. In my case, I have a 3 party charger with 5 usb ports, one QC 3.0 USB-A 18W, one PD 3.0 USB-C 30W and 3 regular USB-A. This charger can charge my ipad pro 12.9 inch on all the ports. However, with iPhone 15 Pro Max, the PD 3.0 USB-C 30W port doesn't charge at all. So the question is if the charger non-compliance is to blame, why it can charge the latest IPAD Pro which has a newer USB port(USB4/3.1 Gen 2), but not IPhone 15 Pro Max which only has USB 3.1 Gen 2, not USB 4.0?

I also tested all other 3 party chargers with PD 3.0 USB-C 20W with iPhone 15 Pro Max, they all worked fine. So there may be some issue with iphone 15 is not working well with PD 30W.

From apple site, the footnote says the charging test with iphone 15 was done with 20W charger, but "should work with anything above". Also the apple dual 35W only has 17.5W for each port which is again not over 20W.

There is a VERY SIMPLE fix. I was also surprised that my month-old iPhone developed this problem. Apparently the Type C connector picks up dirt and dust more easily from your pocket than the old lightning plug.

To clean it out sharpen a toothpick, or something soft, and scrape out the dirt. You can also use a needle or pin but be careful as you can damage the connection inside. WORKS like a charm! I am so relieved I don't need a trip to the Apple store

What worked for me was:

Unlock your iPhone. Press

Volume up

Volume down

(not at the same time but shortly after each other)

Immediately hold power button until the Appel logo appears and let it restart.

That's it.

There are YT videos that show you how to press the buttons.

And it worked for me. No more charging issues.

And by the way: This issue has nothing to do with uncertified cables or charger. Thats a myth. My wife and me both have the same iPhone 15. All my cables and charges worked for me but not for my wife. Now all our cables and chargers work for both of us.

Rieppi wrote:

Same thing here. Official Apple usb-c works fine, third party ones do not, or work intermittently. I’m unable to use 5W charge overnight, because sometimes it will stop at 50-55%. Some cables won’t work at all (I’ve tried good quality ones, like samsung or xiaomi but no sign of life at all). Seems like the problem is with usb-c to usb-a cables.

Isn’t usb-c supposed to work with EVERY cable, like other phones do?

Looks like the old days with MFI

USB-C has two types of power: traditional 5V power, and Power Delivery power.

I believe that all USB-C cables are supposed to be able to carry 3A of 5V power, for a total of 15W. (USB 2.0 and 3.0 host ports support up to 0.5A and 0.9A of 5V power, respectively.)

USB-C Power Delivery involves negotiation between both sides. In addition, you must use a USB-C cable which has embedded chips indicating that it supports Power Delivery. I believe the chips probably provide information as to exactly how much power the cable can safely carry. So it is a three-way negotiation involving the devices, and the cable. If the cable isn't PD-certified, the devices shouldn't turn on USB-C PD power.

Better not to turn on power, than to send up to 100W (original USB-C PD) or up to 240W (current version) over a bottom-of-the-line, no-name charging cable.

For the PD negotiation, to fast charge, it needs a minimum of 18W (20W) preferably (and obviously the chair will need to support Fast Charge).

Otherwise anything from 5W will charge, albeit slowly, in non fast-charge mode.

However, there is an issue with Apple’s PD negotiation and sometimes with 18W it won’t draw any power at all. (When I was in the store they couldn’t get it to charge on their own USB-C set socket connection, to replicate the issue I was having at home). Apple are currently ripping out the guts of my phone out and replacing it to see if that can rectify the issue (as it should be able to go into fast charge at 18W OR go into normal charge mode. However there’s some issue in the iPhone 15 that’s preventing that)

Since my original post and an electrician highlighted it’s the power control software on the iPhone that is limiting the power it’s drawing, I have since bought a MagSafe charger and connected that to the same USB-C sockets and it works fine.

So the problem seems isolated only to USB-C to USB-C connection. (All of which work fine on any non Apple device, but no longer work on iPhone 15, iPad, and HomePod.)

Going to try going back to Apple again to see if they have any more insight why.

(Also, re the reboot… The reboot worked for me, but only for that charge. Next time it was charged/turned off and on again, it went back to not charging on USB-C to USB-C again.)

after almost a year working perfectly mine started having issue about a week ago. Very frustrating and I tried everything I found on the net. I just found a YouTube post that had me do a phone reset that was different than what I normally do.

volume up volume down right button quickly. When you hit the right button and get that slide prompt to shut down do NOT do it just keep holding the right button until it goes black and the apple logo shows.

I cannot say this will did it for others but my phone started charging again in the car. I have to test apple CarPlay later. Good luck!

the below is the video I started watching

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=r2lvYu8z3Ys

That’s the only way besides wireless for me, is to use USB A to C. Same thing happens to my iPad and they started happening around iOS 17, it’s got to be some sort of software bug.

Do you know the specifications of the 5 cables? I’m wondering if the two that work are rated for Power Delivery, and the three that do not work, are not.

Just because a cable has USB-C connectors does not mean that it is Power-Delivery-compliant.

A cable that is must have chips to let the attached devices know that it is. So the Power Delivery negotiation process is affected both by the two devices (including any bugs or quirks they might have) AND the cable.

In the absence of a PD-compliant cable, only 5V charging (assuming the iPhone 15 supports it) would be available.