Lightning connector broken off inside iPad?

Had the same thing happen to me tonight. Used a safety pin to pop it out. Got the tip off YouTube.

New Ipad connector/lightning charger snapped inside iPad?save £250 repair charge👍-1F3FB; - YouTube

I also just had the same issue today. The metal casing and the end of the lightning connector broke off into the socket. I am very diappointed! I did not jerk or pull on the cable and cannot explain how this happened. When I took it in to the store to be looked at all the tech suceeded in doing was getting it more firmly lodged inside the socket. I have only had the device since July, and it was brand new when issued to me.

Are you folks truly talking about the USB to Lightening cable that shipped with your iOS device? Or is this a 3rd party cable you got sonewhere?

I ask because I have taken the Apple supplied cable and purposely tried to snap it off in my hands and I can't do it. It is a very sturdily built connector!

Can some of you provide photos of the cable with the end busted off? And of the piece stuck inside your iOS device?

Here are some wonderful pictures of my 4 month old ipad mini with a broken lightning port.

My wife reported my daughter twisted it off this morning.

My daughter is 5 and not that strong. Not sure exactly what happened, but from the closeups it looks like a snap-off type action that caused the breakage. Notice the right side of the lightning socket seems to have its rim bent out of shape. I think the plug must have snapped off because of too much presure to the right.

I don't think the lightning socket is "blocking an extraction". I think if I can get something to connect to the broken off plug it will come out clean. Need to try to bent the tip of a tiny needle.

Please stop me if you guys have a better idea. I not going to bother with the apple store after what you guys have reported.

I don't want to open the case if I can help it.

Anyone know how to fix this without opening the ipad mini up?

Plan:

Needle first.

then....

I'm looking into the super glue trick. I think I can put the ipad on a tiny vice and then find a drill press type tool to enter the center of the socket.

I am thinking of trimming down a credit card or something to place the super glue on and use the drill press to exactly enter the credit card into the socket to the point that the super glue contacts the broken off tip and not the sides.......

JJ

Possibly the worst post I've ever read on these forums.

Anyway, to the OP, my connector just broke open right near the head for some reason. The wire is now exposed. I'm not pleased.

[Edited by Moderator]

I originally came on here as i was directed by searching for 'apple lightning connector broke'. I work for a large construction company, on my project we have upwards of 60 ipads less than 6 months old. Our company is trying to push for the use of IT to enable higher efficiency and better communication. I am the poor soul who has to tutor staff and try to change the way people work. Not easy when we have been a 100% desktop environment now trying to get usable information out of a device that does not like to share.

Since yesterday we have had 2 cables break and I have been told of one other that was not reported at the time. They are genuine apple connectors as we are enterprise customers and have no need to source third party connectors. Our cables are coming apart in a different location to the ones in this post, i.e. the cable is coming out of the lightning bit. It is worrying that this supposed superior connector can break in so many ways.

Has anyone else had the cable come out of the connector? All three have been in this manner.

The people who are using them are engineers who are 50% office based, i.e. they plug them in at their desks to charge them whilst they are using their desktop pc's, not excatly rough treatment.

I will be sending round an email to all our users advising them to be treat then with more care as having to replace 3 cables is bad enough (5% of our asset in 6 months) but if they start snapping off inside the devices it will start to get expensive!

In summary, not impressed Apple. I think back to the launch when the lightning connector was announced and people clapped. Im clapping now but it is a slow clap.

I had an iPad brought to me this afternoon from a co-worker to fix the problem of a broken off lightning connector from an accessory device. I first headed for the toolbox for needle-nose pliers or tweezers, but I took a closer look and relized there was one great option to fix this -- glue.

I took a plastic twist tie I had sitting around and I bent it in half and glued the two ends to the broken connetor then pulled it out.

It's probably safest to turn the iPad OFF first. Make sure the twist tie is bent and aligned for a good flat fit before applying Krazy/Super glue (not model cement, etc.). IMPORTANT: apply a small amount of glue ONLY to the twist tie. Don't risk trying to put glue on the connector in the hole. I recommend placing the iPad face down on a soft surface. Then with a steady hand, place the twist tie ends straight into the hole onto the middle of the broken connetor and HOLD it with a steady hand. After maybe a minute, you should be able to gently let go and the twist tie should stay. Tip the iPad up and lean it against something safely with the connector straight up to let the glue dry for 15-20 min. Then gently pull the twist tie evenly straight out to remove the broken piece!

I had the iPad returned to a happy co-worker within 30 min.

Later, thinking about this again, cutting a small plastic zip tie would have worked well too.

Message was edited by: Nerdificator

Thanks for the helpful tip for extracting the broken off Lightening connector.

If this is a company iPad, you should now be in the process of getting the iPad away from whomever this employee is. Look at the damage that is very evident in the photo of the connector port. Compare the area surrounding the connector port of the iPad with the broken off connector and the area around the connector port of the undamaged iPad in your second photo. This is not accidental damage, this iPad and it's Lightening cable have been seriously abused by the employee or possibly one of their kids.

Edit;

I see what it is that you were calling the indentations. They can only be seen from the side. But I don't find that area to be week. I just tried to break mine again in that spot with pliers and with normal hand pressure it can't be done.

You can see that where your connector broke would require an extreme amount of torq. I have purposely tried to break my Ligtening cable with a pair of pliers and with normal pressure it can't be done, not even back by the plastic housing, let alone where the one you have broke.

Had exactly same problem twice. Always original Apple cables. And like in your case first time also my 5 year daughter broke it and...¡she´s not Hulk for sure! Second time a slight pull broke the connector again. Apple and his faithful devotees can always blame the misuse, but the reality is that the Lightning connector is a weak Design. And the worst is that there is no official solution or repair, so you have to throw a brand new 600$ Ipad away just for a really minor incident.

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Well this is the first time I've encountered this very same problem. I'm very careful with my iPad and I pull the plug out properly. I've had my iPad for about two years now. I tried the super glue suggestion on this thread, but had no luck with that. I kept on reading for more suggestions and the needle worked for me. It took me about ten minutes and it fell out after chipping away. This definitely should not have happened. I'm a die hard Apple user and I can say the quality of the charger is not that great for this to have happened! I am using the original charger that came with the iPad. I never use generic products for my ipad.

I think that you have guys jerking the cord out by the cable instead of grabbing the base of the connector.

BTW, there is a piece missing in the photo, more evidence that it was jerked out by the cable.

This sleeve obviously went flying when the cable was jerked out of the connector.

You make a lot of general statements that you don't offer links to. In my experience, the cables that are carried on Amazon are rarely genuine Apple products, they are cheaper made knock offs. So yes, those cables are untrustworthy, but don't compare to the genuine article.

Occasionally, when you are dealing with millions of cables, there will be a lemon in the bunch and you or I may get the lemon. A cable that shorts would be replaced by Apple as long as it doesn't show abuse. And since you went there, here is the second photo at the bottom of the article to which you linked;

It's obvious that this wasn't some innocent mishap by a child, this cable connector has been abused!

BTW, here is my genuine Apple cablee that came with my iPhone 5, it is a year old, it goes with me everywhere, it is used multiple times a day for both my iPhone and my iPad and gets loaned to others. It is as pristine as the day it arrived, in spite of the fact that I have purposely tried to break the tip off a number of times.

Only thing I recommend is that you go to the Apple Store where they'll probably give you a free replacemnt in a few minutes.

Hope this helps!