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Has anyone else had any issues with their lightning connectors? I just bought an iPad 4 two weeks ago, and unfortunately the lightning connector broke off inside the iPad last night. I took it to the Apple Store, and they charged me $300 for a replacement iPad.
It appears that the lightning connector is significantly more flimsy and fragile than the old wide connector. Please be careful!
iPad
Are you folks truly talking about the USB to Lightening cable that shipped with your iOS device? Or is this a 3rd party cable you got sonewhere?
I ask because I have taken the Apple supplied cable and purposely tried to snap it off in my hands and I can't do it. It is a very sturdily built connector!
Can some of you provide photos of the cable with the end busted off? And of the piece stuck inside your iOS device?
I had the same problem, the connector broke off and Apple refuses to replace/fix it. I tried the superglue trick, but I should have done that before Apple tried to fix it. Now it is probable more stuck than before. Apple in thailand wants to charge me over 400 dollars to repair it. This type of connector is to small and fragile for the normal size iPads. Very bad design by Apple. Will never buy another iPad with this kind of connector!
Finally I did some "googgling" looking for an unofficial service. I found some very professional company that repaired the ipad in 48 hours (with the two urgent shippings) and they charged me about 100$. I hope you'll find also a professional service too. (Because it isn't the Apple case).
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
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!
It was the same Lightning connector that came in the box with my iPad.
It was the same Lightning connector that came in the box with my iPad. I wish I had taken photos of it, but the Apple Store required me to hand it over in order to get a new one (which saved me $30). So they essentially agreed that the Lightning connector was defective and replaced it for free -- but the iPad that was ruined because the connector broke off inside was on me. :-P
If you actually take a Lightning connector apart, the metal on the sides is very thin. It's easy to see how it could get broken with very little force -- like if you have trouble getting it to seat properly.
Dan -- I wish I had taken it to one of those phone/tablet repair stores that are popping up all over the place. It potentially would have voided the warranty on the iPad, but likely would have cost a lot less. My guess is that they might have been able to pry the broken piece out -- maybe without even opening the iPad up.
Unfortuantely I needed the iPad immediately to test an app we were developing. I didn't have time to wait on a repair.
Good luck!
Smarkle,
I wish I would have had the same experience that you had with Apple stating the lightening connector was faulty. I also tried to state this to the rep over the Internet and in person to the genius bar and they refused to listen stating that the iPad was "abused". I purchased a replacement iPad at a discounted price.
Others on the posts: It could very well be faulty - my daughter also reported that she went to unplug the connector and that it had snapped off. There is no way she could have physically broken it off seeing as though she's only 11 years old. If the connector was made properly it should be impossible to snap off, as one other person on this post stated.
Don't bother attempting to take the iPad apart. It does not do any good. The connector is encased in a conduit so it is impossible to force the broken peice out from the backside of the conduit. It is completely enclosed by a metal casing. The only way to get the broken peice out is with very small pliers. If you get lucky enough, and obviously have the right tools you can grab it with the tool and slowly pull it out. I do not recommend the super glue trick. It just forces the peice further in when you attempt to take the remaing wired peice and press it into the broken off peice. Not a good thing. I tried everything and anything I could on find based on suggestions over the Internet. I even took the iPad to my jeweler who did not even have a small enough tool to reach up there and pull the broken off peice.
Again, I chalk it up to a faulty connector, but ufortunately Apple won't own up to that. My connector was the original connector that came in the box when the iPad was gifted Christmas 2012.
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.
Or....
The piece fell off 'after' the connector fell apart. You cannot presume to know what happened, you are not all seeing all knowing.
It would be interesting to see if these would be considered to have fallen apart due to fair wear and tear (UK consumer rights act). I think it is reasonable to assume that people will need to remove the cable from the device to transport it as it is a 'mobile' device, therefore the designers should have made it more robust OR provided a suitable size to grip the connector with.
I am getting ready to leave the country in the morning. I treat all of my electronics with great care and I cannot believe what just happened. I was charging my iPad and went to unplug it and the connecter simply and easily snapped off leaving the broken end inside the port. Oh my God! What am I going to do? All of my trip plans and notes are on that iPad. I cannot believe that it broke that easily.
Da Veed, you are completely clueless.
I can't be clueless if I have the device.
Dah.veed,
Even if she had it in her lap, how much force could possibly be exerted to snap off a metal piece? I'm sorry, I disagree that she exerted that much force while it was inside the device, and sitting in her lap, to snap it off. It just seems highly unlikely. But, obviously we all have our differing opinions as to what may have happened and I can agree that she may be covering herself as to what actually happened.
The picture posted by skmcg6 is not what happened to my daugthers; if it had at least there is enough of the peice remaining so that it can be pulled out of the device. These cables are not very sturdy. I purchased a replacement for my iphone 5 after the other one just stopped working. They apparently "short out" and no longer work after a few months (read the reviews on Amazon). I can assure you that I also took very good care of the cable. There are known issues with these cables (just Google it). You must treat them with kid gloves. Here's a better picture of what happened with my daughters (this post is by someone other than myself who also experienced the same problem):
It is not impossible. I purchased my ipad in may of this year. I was going to do the update this week and when I started to plug it in to charge it would not plug in. Looking closer I found that the adapter had broken off inside my ipad rendering it useless.. Apple refused to fix it without a fee of $299.00 as they called it abuse. I can tell you for a fact my ipad has not been abused AT ALL!!!!
Lightning connector broken off inside iPad?
