My iPhone 4S won't charge

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Level 1

7 points

My iPhone 4S won't charge

Not sure what has happened, but my iPhone 4S will not charge. I've tried 4 different cables. I've tried charging via the wall, my mac mini, macbook air, and iMac. My iPhone 4 and iPad charge with these exact cables no problem. When I plug my iphone 4s in, I no longer see the thunder bolt that usually displays when you're charging, it just shows the battery symbol that you see when your idevice is fully charged, yet my battery percentage is continuing to drop - even while plugged in. I've even restored my iphone 4s software(5.0.1) at least three times. I haven't dropped it or gotten it wet or anything like that. It just sits on the charger and the battery continues to drain.

Has anyone had this problem? Any ideas? Unless I turn my phone completely off, it will surely be dead by noon tomorrow.

A host of Macs and other Apple products, Mac OS X (10.5.6), I love my Macbook Air

Posted on Nov 23, 2011 12:10 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

AnaMusic

Level 9

57,562 points

Nov 23, 2011 12:16 AM in response to New recruit

Have you tried a restart and a Reset...

Restarting your device

1) Press and hold the Sleep/Wake button for a few seconds until the red "slide to power off" slider appears, and then slide the slider.

2) Press and hold the Sleep/Wake button until the Apple logo appears.

Follow these steps to reset your device

Note: Reset your device only if it is no longer responding and the steps above do not work.

Press and hold the Sleep/Wake button and the Home button together for at least ten seconds, until the Apple logo appears.

Restart / Reset

http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1430

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Answer 2

New recruit Author

Level 1

7 points

Nov 23, 2011 12:26 AM in response to AnaMusic

Thanks for the tip. I tried the above, but it doesn't resolve the problem. My battery percentage says 60%, yet my phone displays the battery icon in the status bar that's shown when it's completely charged instead of the lightning bolt. If you have any more tips, feel free to share. I've been really disgusted with my iPhone 4S thus far.

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Answer 3

AnaMusic

Level 9

57,562 points

Nov 23, 2011 12:33 AM in response to New recruit

You're Welcome, sorry you are not having a good experience with the Phone...

All I can suggest, short of returning it to the Place of Purchase, is this..

Backup and Set Up as New Device

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4137

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Answer 4

New recruit Author

Level 1

7 points

Nov 23, 2011 12:43 AM in response to AnaMusic

Thanks! I tried setting it up as new, I tried restoring, I also downloaded iOS 5.0.1 again thinking that my software was somehow corrupt. Looks like I'm gonna have to take it in to the Apple store. Thanks for your help again. My wife's iPhone 4S works like a charm. I might switch out the sim cards while she's asleep. lol

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Answer 5

AnaMusic

Level 9

57,562 points

Nov 23, 2011 12:46 AM in response to New recruit

New recruit wrote:

...My wife's iPhone 4S works like a charm. I might switch out the sim cards while she's asleep. lol

😁 😁

Good luck at the Store...

Cheers,

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Answer 6

New recruit Author

Level 1

7 points

Nov 25, 2011 3:01 PM in response to AnaMusic

Just to follow up. I emailed Tim Cook and gave him the details. About 15 minutes ago an Apple rep called my cell(how cool is that?) from Ontario, Canada. So now I have a date with the Apple Store tomorrow(Nov 26) - Hopefully it goes smooth.

One interesting thing is I never gave Tim my cell number.

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Answer 7

New recruit Author

Level 1

7 points

Nov 26, 2011 6:19 PM in response to New recruit

I went to the North Park Apple store and they gave me a new phone. After running a couple of diagnostics on it(I assume checking for water damage), she handed over a brand new beautiful iPhone 4S. All is good again.

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Answer 8

AnaMusic

Level 9

57,562 points

Nov 26, 2011 6:21 PM in response to New recruit

New recruit wrote:

... All is good again.

That is good news... Enjoy...🙂

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Answer 9

Eldo3603

Level 1

0 points

Sep 9, 2014 6:12 AM in response to New recruit

I have had the same problems and stumbled upon something that works for my phone. Go to settings: general: reset: reset network settings. Allow that to do it's thing and once it reboots, all is well. Now that works for my phone but I am sure each one will react differently. The one downside of doing this is it erases all of your wifi codes...small price.

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Answer 10

Sep 12, 2014 12:00 PM in response to New recruit

Exactly what's happening with mine right now. I've had my iPhone 4s for about 2 years now and it was absolutely fine until a few months ago. It began to play up and go dead randomly, even on high percentages. For example, it could go dead at 50% but when charged and turned back on it would be on 30% - it became an annoying problem and I searched up on what to do and tried lots if different things but nothing ever worked. Anyway I managed to live through this. Today my phone reached 10% so I rushed to get the charger to charge it. But nothing happened! The thunder bolt didn't appear and it wasn't charging! I tried severely different charges for the iPhone but non worked! It came on for some reason but again the thunder bolt didn't actually appear and it wasn't actually charging. Now I'm just sat here trying different things. Seeing this thread makes me wonder, do Apple do this on purpose so you buy a new phone? The battery's gone I think and I seriously just want it to come on. It's my only apple device so because of this I've lost everything. All my photos and contacts. I try and send as many contact numbers to my sisters phone when it comes on but it always ends up going dead again. I've tried plugging it into my laptop to download my photos but it's not being recognised? I'm literally so annoyed right now and I am considering buying an android phone next because I really do not want this problem again. Apple, what do you suggest I do? This is very frustrating.

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Answer 11

Apr 19, 2015 7:18 AM in response to Planetrachel

I completely agree with you. Apple does this so that we upgrade. Never drop my phone, drop it in water or anything. I would be weird charging sometimes. My phone completely died this one night because I forgot my charger. Now all of a sudden, it won't charge at all. Can't even restart because it's dead. Thanks apple, I think I'll be getting a Samsung Galaxy.

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