iPhone XS Max lightning port charging issue

Found 2 fixes.

1. Just switch the cable. I had the issue while using my Anker cable and using an Apple cable fixed it.

If that doesn’t work,

2. Turn USB accessories on AND force restart the iPhone

I had to do a force reboot for it to work

its a super simple fix

Just go to Setting --> Face ID & Passcode --> Chose Allow access when lock and turn on USB Accessories

Settings>FaceID&Passcode>USB Accessories. Tap to turn it on.

Settings>Face ID>USB accessories> toggle off for the charge gate problem. It's a safety feature apparently.

I’ve noticed several times mine doesn’t charge unless I hard reset it. Powering it off sometimes works.

Try going into Settings > Face ID & Passcode > Scroll down to USB Accessories and turn on.. then forced reset on iPhone.

Seemed to work for myself

Same issue here too. I’m using my old 6s Plus charger and absolutely no issue. If you have old charger, use that one. It’s not iPhone issue for sure for me.

I’m convinced this is a software issue, I was able to get my wife’s XS max to do the same thing, I read on another forum that if you leave you phone flat and not wake for at least 20 seconds and then try to plug in the lighting cable while it is still sleep it will not respond 9 out 10 times to your lighting cable

***Update***

I just erased everything on the phone and set it back up, I can't replicate the problem. It may be a software glitch although when I called Apple tech support, they said it sounds like hardware.

I still have 10 days to return so I'll keep an eye on it.

I think this affects all iPhone Xs max and iPhone Xs

I bet most people have raise to wake or use Face ID

As such lifting up the phone will wake it and accept the charger the first time. I assume unlike the many we have turned this setting off. As such with the update apple did to block iPhones being cracked when inactive for so long is effecting the charging port , but it’s also causing a glitch when charging as such I assume apple knew this, which is why raise to wake is on by default.

If it was hardware it should effect the charger all the time e.g it wouldn’t make a difference if the phone is awake or not. As such I recoken its software.

I've seen the reply that says this appears to be a software problem. I bought my wife the iPhone XS Max. The earbuds and charging cable that came with it do not fit securely. In the middle of a conversation the cable falls out. We have to giggle the charging cable to get it to charge. Sometimes holding the phone vertically with the charging cable plugged in the charging will stop, or the cable falls all the way out. Seems like hardware to me. Bad lightning port on the phones. A little to large of an opening.

After a frustrating Apple Care support call, I was finally told to plug the iPhone into iTunes and hit the "Check for Update" button.. Didn't even have to hit the button and a new, never-before seen dialog box popped up saying it was applying an update. It wasn't a normal update window, not sure if it was a carrier update or a background software/firmware update (it did not specify). I was required to close iTunes and then the update was applied to my iPhone XS Max. I tested it out an there still seems to be a delay to initiate the charge.. I'll test it tomorrow after I have to charge it again. It's a bit unsettling to not know if its a hardware, battery, or software issue...

I Don't know if this works for you guys,I've just connected my device to my mac with the screen turn off and it was start to charge,And then i've disabled USB Accessories option and Plugged the device again and it worked too.iPhone XS Max.

Personally I think the "problem" isn't really a problem, it's a security measure. Apple is heavily fighting against the bruteforce attacks most have heard about in the last couple of months. One of those measurements is, that the phone "kills" the connection to the lightning port 30 seconds after the phone locked if nothing is connected to it. As far as I know this is not really a problem because in the security settings you can allow that USB accessories are able to communicate with the phone while it's locked.

I have an iPhone XS Max and when the phone is in standby and I plug it in without waking it up after about 20 seconds the phone makes the normal charging sound and also normaly starts to charge. Just to make everything clear I used the original iPhone charging brick and with USB accessories settings allowed and denied.

I also tried it out on my old iPhone 8 and got the same results, so I guess it's because of iOS 12.