iPhone 5 not charging

I have an iPhone 5 that is just over a year and a half old. Recently I started having charging problems. At first I thought it was a bad cable, or lint. I cleaned out the port with a toothpick but it wasn't really that 'linty'.

As others have said it would *usually* work if I flipped the cable over. Unfortunately this is no longer as reliable a solution.

Sometimes I'll plug the phone in, get the charge tone and lightning icon. I'll walk away, or go to sleep, only to return to find it hadn't charged or might even have drained.

Bad Port? Bad firmware?

Looking for answers.

Just wanted to add that I've had this EXACT same scenario. I bought a used iPhone 5 as a gift for someone but discovered that the Phone won't recognise ANY charger, "device not supported" etc., however, when turned off and plugged in, it charges fine. Very strange but if thats all we need to do with it, I guess my son can put up with it. Very surprised to read all the comments about this all over the web, bad form with this one Apple.

I'm the dad in the family. I've been using I-Phone 4S for a couple of years. My wife and two kids purchased I-Phone 5s on 4 Jan 2014 (2 5Cs and 1 5S). We also have an I-Mac and I-Pad Mini. As confirmed by the >600,000 page views on this thread by frustrated and concerned I-Phone customers with charging cable problems, my wife and kids are also having recurring problems related to charging their I-Phone 5 devices. My wife finally bought a $45 charger from Verizon that works, which seems like a $5 chinese product but it must have the "proprietary Apple software". I refuse to download iOS 7 because I enjoy having all my chargers work on my I-Phone 4S. Lightning cable = headaches. Apple iOS 7 downloads rendered millions of functional charging cables worthless, as planned--but not disclosed--by Apple. The Lightening performance gimmick was simply a way to suck-in I-Phone customers who were previously satisfied with their products and iOS 6. On 4 January 2016 (our 2-Year contract commitment with Verizon ends) we are all switching to Android phones, such as Samsungs Galaxies. Yes -- the Apple charging cables are that big of a problem for our family. I agree with several loyal Apple customers who said that whoever made the decision at Apple to monopolize cables and hold customers hostage to paying inflated cable prices and highly sensitive connection ports should be fired. In my case, it also means the >$1,000 per year I-tunes purchases will soon stop, and I suppose we'll just play the old music we purchased on our I-Mac. I hope other Apple customers stand up for their rights and sned a message to Apple. This restrictive charger policy, gouging customers to pay 1,000% more for Chinese "certified chargers" crossed the line.

A good response and what should be a wake up call to Apple. Unfortunately, I fear the number of new customers gained vs losing die hard older customers is more than enough for Apple not to care. Sad times.

Hi all,

I have been having a similar issue with my iPhone 5 charger.

I ruled out fairly on that it was the cable as I had two.

The symptoms were that when plugged in it would start to charge and the charging symbol would go off. It would also start to charge and disconnect repeatedly.

I finally figured out that there was a build up of lint and dust from my pocket. The charger plug wasn't actually sitting completely in the slot. Using the twists you get with bread packets or on new cables when packaged I slowly loosened and removed the lint which sorted the issue.

The charger sits flush in the phone now.

Hope this helps.

Thank you, I'm aware of this potential fix but having cleaned, then replaced the complete dock assembly plus the battery and then figuring out that the phone would charge when switched off leads me to believe that there is either a software or an actual hardware issue. This is further compounded by the fact that the phone is about 50% harder on power than my other Iphone 5. This has also survived multiple updates in ios7 so it's either embedded deeply in the software (i.e., non proprietary lightening cable blocking run amock!!), or a hardware issue with this particular phone.

it helps A LOT.

In summary : solution if you feel the charger does not fit right in your iPhone 5 and you have to "massage" it to charge it :

REMOVE THE DUST out the ### of your iPhone with a little clip.

Apple is not to be blamed for this, it is just normal thing that happens...

If the iPhone 5 won't charge here is a possible simple fix...

1. Carefully clean the charging port with a wooden toothpick to remove lint, etc.

2. Place dental floss doubled 2-4 times into the charging hole then insert the end of the Apple certified charger cable into the port with the dental floss towards the screen, so as to exert pressure on the contacts which are towards the back of the phone.

This is just a "get by" fix, as I am out of country and not able to access an Apple store, but works for me.

I Bought a $100 solar speaker and it has a USB hookup for a charger. I need to charge my 5s badly but it wouldn't i was really mad because I really only bought the speaker to charge my phone when not near a plug. I also bought a $15 lighting to 5s charger adapter I was also really mad because yet again I waisted money on something That doesn't work because of Apple not wanting me using "off brand" products. Please someone bring this annoying event to apple I really want to actually use the $115 that I waisted.

Hey Bennesier, The solar speaker you purchased, which one? What is the brand and model? I'm interested in the concept of a solar charger for camping and keeping an iPod charged. But don't want to hit the same wall you have. I'm trying to learn from you and may be able to help with more information. I have used a Rocketfish charger and cable with my iPod from day one, never had an issue. The solar speaker / charger, is it rated for use with iPod / iPhone devices? Did it come with a badge or icon stating, "For iPod, iPad, iPhone Use"? Is there any kind of switch on the solar charger to turn on the USB charging function or does it simple detect the device and start charging. Does the solar charger need to be in the sun to charge or does it charge an internal battery so you can then charge the device anytime? If it charges from a internal battery-- was it (the solar speaker) fully charged? That's all I can think of with the info you have supplied, Would like to hear more, Thanks! Cheers.

I have certainly the same sort of problem with my iPhone 5 my iPhone contained lint that was pulled out of the port by me but after a few days when I turned off my phone while sleeping and the next day it wont charge I think that the problem is with the port so you should reach some technician and solve your problem.

Thank you very much! Your advice was spot on. I used a small light to look in the port, and it looked very clean, but after using a toothpick to gently probe the area, I removed far more lint that I would have ever thought. My phone is now charging, and this approach saved me a great deal of money.

My iphone 5s which I ve had for 7 months with thorough enjoyment just did not start up, I thought battery is the cause of black screen no matter how hard I pressed the power button it wont come up. Then I read here to press the home button and power button together for 10 seconds which I did. Problem solved. Thank to the person with that suggestion.

There can be more than one issue which needs to be solved. I even tried solding the broken charger and the circuit was fine but it still didn't charge

you can see the checklist here : http://nabtron.com/iphone-5-not-charging-solved/8011/

Tried everything and nothing worked until I read your comment about the "dental floss fix". Worked like a charm, I was finally able to charge my iPod! Thanks!