iPhone XS Max lightning port charging issue

I just emailed Jeff Benjamin (@JeffBenjam, jeff@9to5mac.com) with a plea and link to this thread asking if he could help bring attention to it. If he can't help maybe he can recommend someone who can. If anyone else wants email him as well, maybe that would help? I'm sure he gets lots of emails so not sure if he'll respond. I'll keep you posted.

Hi Erica

Hope this pays off..

what colour phone do we all have btw as I was aware apple outsourced some of the devices to be created by a 3rd party

Tried swapping the phone same results.. kinda driving me up the wall.. so I hope they fix it ASAP...

Either it’s a batch issues or are phones all originated from one factory if it was software I would expect to see it doing it to every iPhone Xs max.. though I could be wrong

Hello guys, so I’m pretty sure I’ve figured out what the issue is. I’ve literally swapped out 3 iPhone XS MAX at the apple store and I’ve spoken with them personally there about what the issue could be. So on the last phone I swapped out we tried to charge the phone before we even set anything up and the issue still persisted with it not recognizing the charger when the screen was off. We even tried the apple associates personal phone since he has the same one and guess what? The same thing happened to his. One of my siblings has the same phone also but silver instead of the gold and the same thing is happening to his. So after checking 5 iPhones and all those having the same issue we concluded that the issue is a software related problem that will probably be resolved in an update in the upcoming weeks. So to save you guys the trouble of waiting at the apple store don’t even bother switching the phone as I guarantee you will probably be having the same issue with the new one, so for now I would just be patient and wait for an update to resolve the issue. Thanks!

Can't believe more people aren't noticing and reporting it.

I'm sure its happened with many more people if software is the issue.

Maybe if we get some YouTube exposure on this it'd sped things up.

I just tweeted this thread to @jon_prosser (front page tech). His channel has been in the tech news circles recently.

Please tweet to him any others, maybe one of them reports on this.

Software issue? Are you sure? my friend just came over with his XS Max and we tried to reproduce this issue....and his iPhone does NOT show this problem - whereas mine does show this issue every single time i plug in the lightning adapter after screen turns of for 5 sec.

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.

yes....I know...but it is exactly like I said....his XS Max works every time when he plugs in the cable...even after his phone is in sleep mode for more than 10 min.....

mine does have the issue every time i plug in and display is turned off

Yeah I’ve noticed it only happens when the screen is asleep and all 5 phones I’ve tried it on it’s the same thing. For it to happen the screen has to be in sleep for 5+ seconds as mentioned. Also I would like to state it doesn’t always happen but it happenes frequently enough that you notice it, also I have NOT had it happen to me when the screen is actually on. When I plug in the cable when the screen is on it’s okay there’s no issue. The issue only seems to present itself when the screen is asleep and like I said it doesn’t happen always 100% of the time but it happens frequently. So I’m pretty sure it has to be a software issue. Oh and the cable fits good on all the phones I have tried it with, no slack or it doesn’t fall out of the charging port whatsoever so I’m sure it’s not a hardware issue but a software problem

It could still be hardware but not in the sense of the port. There has to be a chip or controller in the phone because it tells you when you plug in a non supported accessory. I agree I’m leaning towards software but a faulty power controller or chip could also be the issue, although unlikely. The connection is fine because I’ve wiggled my wire once connected and the charge is unaffected.

Yeah I’m pretty sure its a software issue too. Let’s just hope some sort of update patch comes out soon to address the issue. Also I feel like if it was some sort of hardware issue with the physical port or an internal chip then it would also happen when the screen was on don’t you think, and it doesn’t happen when the screen is on only when it’s asleep

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...

Yeah I tried tinkering with that setting as well and no dice. My original was the silver 64gb XS Max. I traded for a gold 256gb max. I am currently on 12.1 beta and the issue seems harder to replicate now. Has anyone else tried updating to the iOS 12.1 beta?

I normally always participate in the betas. For a while I even had developer betas installed on my 8 Plus. (huge risk). The only reason i hadn’t installed on my XS Max yet is I wanted to be aware of any non-beta related issues.

With that said I have never really had any problems with any betas aside from an app not working here and there. It’s early for me to say this charging issue is fixed, but i will keep testing.