ios 8.4 breaks charging

Hi,

I upgraded my son's ipad yesterday to 8.4. To do the upgrade, as the battery was at 40% I plugged it into my normal charging set up - Anker 5 port 40w charger, USB extension cable and Apple lightening cable so I know this works. After the upgrade I noticed it was no longer charging. If I removed the lightening cable and re-inserted it, the charging light briefly flashed then went out. If I removed the USB extension cable, so directly connected the Anker to the lightening cable, charging then resumed. To test things out I then used the genuine Apple brick and that was OK with the lightening cable but not the USB extension cable as well. I then replugged the lightening cable back into the Anker charger and that would no longer work. I tried plugging the lightening cable into my Dell laptop and again the green charging light flashed on then reverted to not charging. Note I can charge from the genuine Apple charger and lightening cable so the device is still usable until the battery dies but I really need to be able to use an extension cable.

It seems like ios 8.4 has changed some parameter (voltage?) required at the lightening socket to allow charging, but it must be outside Apple's own specification as they say you should be able to charge from a PC/Laptop USB socket.

I am in serious difficulty now. My son is disabled with severe learning difficulties and needs the longer lead so he does not drag the mains cable round with him or put undue strain on the lightening cable. The longer lead is also needed so he can use it on long journies in the car to reach the car charger as the batteries don't last a long journey.

Please can I have an urgent fix for the problem?

TIA,

Nick

PS I am not sure which category to post into as I dont see an ios specific category, so if I have used the wrong one, please can you change it?

iPad Air 2 Wi-Fi, iOS 8.4

Posted on Jul 6, 2015 12:11 AM

74 replies

Jul 9, 2015 12:31 PM in response to kanchanfromauckland

The new cable was only shipped today so I don't have it yet.

I am really p****d off with some of this. The fact that Apple can freely take the "holier than thou" attitude and just disable a lot of its customer bases' charging just because they want to force you to use very expensive, Apple certified products.

On the other hand, possibly because my disabled child really needed a longer power lead, they have sent me one f.o.c. That is good customer service but I don't think they should have broken my set up with the ios upgrade. At a minimum there should should have been a prominent warning somewhere.

Philly_Phan

Level 7

20,737 points

Jul 9, 2015 1:01 PM in response to nickfrompetersfield

nickfrompetersfield wrote:

...just because they want to force you to use very expensive, Apple certified products.

No, that's not the reason.

Jul 9, 2015 4:57 PM in response to Philly_Phan

I called Apple about this same thing, and the guy I talked to was not aware of this. What is the basis for your information?

raymond73

Level 4

1,843 points

Jul 9, 2015 5:30 PM in response to nickfrompetersfield

I have four devices all upgraded to IOS 8.4. I am using Apple cables, some more than three years old. None of the devices have had any difficulty charging with Apple chargers, Anker power supplies, Mophie power packs, Anker power packs, USB ports on my Surface Pro 3 power supply, the USB port on my Creative speaker.

I have a few friends with Apple products. None have experienced any problems with charging on the 8.4 update.

Your problem is not atypical of what I have experienced.

Jul 9, 2015 6:13 PM in response to raymond73

My wife has a 5s and ipad2, no probs. MyiPad retina has no probs. just my iPhone.

Also my friends who have iPhones or iPads don't seem to have a problem.

Hence they're not posting here about their lack of problems in this matter, and searching for a possible solution to their non-problems.

raymond73

Level 4

1,843 points

Jul 9, 2015 7:16 PM in response to kanchanfromauckland

My wife has a 5s and ipad2, no probs. MyiPad retina has no probs. just my iPhone.

That would indicate some type of issue with your phone and not IOS 8.4. Have you tried backing up your phone, restore as new, then restore your backup? Sometimes strange things happen with an IOS update that redoing the update may cure. Yeh, it's a pain and tedious. But a couple of flipped bits in the download that is not caught by the checksum routines and you will have problems.

Jul 9, 2015 7:36 PM in response to raymond73

Yep, yep, yep, yep, yep...definitely tedious.😐

Jul 9, 2015 10:57 PM in response to Giantsfan88

Giantsfan88 wrote:

I called Apple about this same thing, and the guy I talked to was not aware of this. What is the basis for your information?

The basis of my information is that I spoke to Apple customer support and the girl escalated the issue to her supervisor, Her supervisor said that they had seen too much damage caused by sub-standard third party chargers so they were tightening up on what the Lightning socket would accept and this will have blocked some power bricks.

For me I can still use a Belkin 2 * 2.1A power brick. I can also use 3 out of 5 ports on the Anker. I can no longer use my 3m USB extension cable at all or my 1m extension on some PSU's. With my engineering hat on (I am an electronics engineer), especially with the extension cable issue, it very much suggests that the voltage requirement at the Lightning socket has been increased slightly and the extension cables are causing to high a voltage drop. Prior to 8.4 this was OK and the issue only happened during the upgrade.

It is possible that the Lightning socket has a problem that it is demanding too high a voltage, but there is no way I could convince Apple of this because it charges OK with an Apple cable and brick.

So, ultimately the basis of my statement is from a conversation with Apple Tech support. There are quite a lot of other posts around on the web with similar issues - charging failing after upgrading to 8.4. There is even another poster in this thread (kanchanfromauckland) so it is not just me.

Jul 9, 2015 11:55 PM in response to nickfrompetersfield

Hi,

yes, something has changed with iOS 8.4. I have done a few tests with my equipment. My background is also electrical engineer.

I have a iPhone 4s and and iPad mini 2. Charging the iPhone and the iPad using Apple and non-Apple cables is working fine, as long as I connect them directly with the charger, also Apple/non-Apple chargers and external batteries.

However, if I connect my iPad using the Apple-Docking cable (ca. 1m) with the Apple docking-to-lightning adapter (ca, 20cm), it says "Not Charging". The funny thing is that it is actually charging, when I check the power output of the charger. It still charges with 3-5 Watts as before. When I disconnect the charger some time later, the battery meter of the iPad also shows the increase.

Whatever, even if it intended to block out possible faulty chargers, the status display "Not Charging" is somewhat false and actually misleading the user in my point of view.

As stated, the combination of the cable+adapter worked with iOS 8.3 without any problems.

I was using this setup mostly in my car. [Just a side note: The iPod-Interface of my car (Mercedes W203 from 2006) still works very fine with the iPhone and the iPad. Kudos to Apple & Mercedes for not changing the interface specification. :-) ]

Hope this helps.

Jul 10, 2015 12:13 AM in response to MarsMan72

Hi MarsMan72,

Thanks for the confirmation. In my case I get various different results depending on which hardware I use. I do sometimes get the green charging icon which almost immediately switches to black and "not charging". Other bricks or USB extension combinations also sometimes do not even get recognised as being plugged in.

I don't have the kit at home to test, but from the symptoms I've seen I'm pretty sure it is a voltage detection/requirement issue at the Lightning conector.

Nick

Jul 10, 2015 12:49 AM in response to nickfrompetersfield

Hi MarsMan72 and nickfrompetersfield,

I am not an electrical engineer so I'm not looking at our problem from a hardware POV of voltages etc. The discussions around this, started from the tech phone call to you nick.

I suggest another possibility: that the IOS 8.4 update (which is firmware) has caused a glitch in our firmware (and not everyone, for those others that wish to remind me), but because firmware is a tangible electronic component with embedded software instructions, such as a BIOS it is possible that this update has a glitch in our systems?.

Here's the post I found that seemed to explain what happened when the IOS 7 came around and it's firmware stopped users from using uncertified cables. I used Method 1 (using original cables and charger to get a charge on my 5S - but I am not happy having to turn it off during the day) http://recomhub.com/blog/this-cable-or-accessory-is-not-certified-iphone-fix/

I'd be interested to note if either Method 1 or 2 works for you guys (nick - before you get the new cable)?

Kanchan

Jul 10, 2015 5:38 AM in response to kanchanfromauckland

Hi kanchanfromauckland,

I don't think your issue is applicable to me. I've always been using a genuine Lightning cable so I never get the “This cable or accessory is not certified or may not work reliably with this iPhone” warning/message. What I have not been doing (in different combinations) is using a certified USB extension cable (it does not exist as far as I know) or an Apple power brick.

Regards,

Nick

Jul 10, 2015 7:14 AM in response to nickfrompetersfield

The good news for me is that the 2m Lightning cable has just arrived. It has a thicker cable than the 1m Lightning cable (so, possibly, lower resistance) and it works plugged into the Anker 5-port brick (but not with an extension cable as well). At least my son will be less likely to damage it now.

Jul 10, 2015 8:56 PM in response to nickfrompetersfield

Yeah after the update my iphone 6 did the same thing. I have tried 4 different cables and wall & car adapters and all have the same result (the phone is charging but at a rate of 1-2% every 15 minutes or so. After one hour my phone battery will only charge up to 10% what it was originally at. My battery also seems to drain a lot quicker as well. Hopefully Apple sends out an update to fix the issue because it is definitely a software issue with ios 8.4. I am heading to Apple tomorrow to see if they can fix the problem but its frustrating because i pretty much can not use my phone unless i have it connected to a charging device. Oh and all cables work Apple or not with my device and I have used each one to charge my device after the update all with the same result (slow charging and fast draining).

Zappy69

Level 1

0 points

Jul 13, 2015 4:09 PM in response to nickfrompetersfield

Well you are not alone. My iPad 3 has had the same issue since I upgraded to 8.4. I have read the old content related to an earlier issue on one of the iOS 7 updates., tried a cold restore, didn't work. (Response to other comment) Hmmm so on the basis of "I know a few people who have apple products and they have no problem" = you know all 200 million apple product users in the US? Ok yeah. Things I have found out that might be useful....my iPad will charge on the 5w trickle charger, but only when I don't use it. It does not charge using the apple approved charger that came with it. The cable is working fine, the port is clean, tried different outlets, borrowed an approved cable from a friend with an iPad 3, no joy. Dimming the screen a little saves power. The issue happened immediately after the update....puts on tin foil hat....is it a deliberate ploy to get us to buy expensive replacement cables that cost peanuts for some sweat shop kid to make? Hmmmm probably in small quantities as not to cause mass hysteria....removes tin foil hat. That is as helpful as I can be 😕

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ios 8.4 breaks charging