iPhone Xs and Xs max charging issue effecting all phones

If you have a charging issue with your XS Max, you'd best have it checked out at your local Apple Store.

Genius Bar Reservation and Apple Support Options - Apple

Did you see the battery charge indicator come in when you plugged in your cord?

JorgeShaf wrote:

Since updating to iOS 12.1 my phone stops charging both wirelessly and with the standard lightning cable at 81% but the most if any it’ll go to is 87% and no further. Contacted support and all they could tell me was to do a factory reset and see if that fixes the issue.

Does Battery Health show any issues?

iPhone Battery and Performance - Apple Support

Here's another useful link: If your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch won't charge - Apple Support

Especially the section "if your device stopped charging at 80%"

Note also that charging slows considerably above 80% to prevent overcharging. It can take a couple of hours to go from 80% to 100%. So you might try charging it overnight and see if it is at 100% by morning. Overnight charging is a best practice, anyway. If you enable automatic backups in iCloud settings the phone will create a daily backup when the phone is connected to power and Wi-Fi, and the screen is locked.

Your previous iPhone 8 Plus did not have:

• An OLED screen that uses more energy than the LCD screen on your iPhone 8
• A larger screen that has more pixels to generate heat and use energy
• An A12 faster CPU than the A11 in the 8 Plus
• A tru-depth camera with infrared lighting
• Gigabyte class LTE, which uses more energy that the LTE chip in your 8 Plus

Every one of these features uses more energy that the equivalent feature in the 8 Plus, so it will run hotter than the 8 Plus because of this additional energy consumption.

Davetheraveuk wrote:

Hi Idris I understand what your saying , but chances are I will end up speaking to someone with no technical knowledge who will tell me to take it in to swap. As I believe this is software I wanted to see how many other people are reporting this.

You will speak to someone who will log the issue. That's how Apple knows there is an issue. Discussing it here doesn't tell Apple anything as they don't read here (except to make sure we follow the terms of use). If you actually want something to get done, you need to let Apple know there is a problem.

There is a new security feature in iOS 12 that disables the Lightning port on a locked phone 30 minutes after the phone has been idle. This is to prevent hackers (or the police or FBI) from hacking into your phone through the port to get your data. If you use a wall adapter to charge the phone (or a wireless charging pad) it should still charge, but if you are using a computer USB port it will not.

This change was made because there is a security company that sells a hacking tool that works through the port.

I am having a similar issue, although I have raise to wake enabled. My phone very randomly won’t recognize a charger, but if I unplug it and replug it, it works fine. Also yesterday I plugged it in and it wasn’t recognized until about 2 minutes later. This morning I had to touch my screen to get it to recognize the charger. This is all via the wall plug (not a PC USB) I have also used 2 different official cables and one 3rd party cable, also have used 2 different 5w bricks and the 12w brick, all apple brand. I have the same issue on all of the above accessories.

I get this charging issue - iPhone XS Max not charging when plugged in on stand by - when using the supplied 5W charger and legacy USB to lighting cable. However when using the 30W fast charger and USB-C cable I bought to speed up the (very) slow charge I was getting out the box there’s no problem.

All true but my point concerns the ongoing problem of charging not commencing when the lightning connector is plugged in and with the screen off. I have found that I get this problem with the 5W charger but not with the 30W charger.

pjprime wrote:

iPhone XS Max The phone doesn't charge until you wake up or tap in the screen, and sometimes I even have to twist and turn the lightning cable in order to begin the charging.

There might be two problems here. I make no judgement about the phone-wake to commence charging, because I have yet to see it on my own devices. However, having to "twist and turn the Lightning cable" is a strong indication for a defective cable with intermittent connections. Replace your Lightning cable.

JohnCoventry wrote:

I get this charging issue - iPhone XS Max not charging when plugged in on stand by - when using the supplied 5W charger and legacy USB to lighting cable. However when using the 30W fast charger and USB-C cable I bought to speed up the (very) slow charge I was getting out the box there’s no problem.

Two points.

(1) The 5W charger supplied is capable of 1000mA output. That is about the maximum desirable for regular charging to 100% on most smartphones. Recent iPhones are capable of fast charge with the USB-C adapter, but if I remember correctly they are limited to about 80% at fast charge, then fall back to a lower rate to avoid overheating problems.

(2) The power adapter is simply a voltage source providing a regulated 5.0v supply at the end of a Lightning cable. All the control of charging is done by the device being charged, so it is not inherently the USB-C adapter which makes a difference except that it has a higher maximum charging current. OK, the USB-C fast charge detects something different in the cable to tell the phone it can fast charge, but that only comes into play when the phone starts controlling the charge current after the initial wakeup.

Applying this information and expanding on it.

iPhones since the 5s can use more than the 1000 ma, so they will charge faster using a 12 watt power source. The 5s will use 1500 ma if available. The 7 and 8 will use 2000 ma. The X and later can also charge at 2000 ma, and also at a higher current and voltage using a USB-C power source. As you point out, the devices will only charge at the maximum rate until the stat of charge reaches 80%; it then slows to prevent overcharging and overheating, shutting off completely at 100%. So it is safe to leave it connected after it reaches full charge.

The XS has a 2700 ma-hr battery, and the Max a 3200 ma battery. So using the included 1 amp power source a Max should take about 3 hours to reach 80% taking into consideration that charging is never 100% efficient, and probably another hour or two before reaching 100%. Using a 12 watt iPad power source will halve the time to reach 80%.

These values assume that the phone is not being used while charging; if it is the charge time will be longer.

A new security feature disables the port if the phone has not been unlocked for an hour. To see if this is the problem go to Settings/Touch ID & Passcode and turn on USB Accessories. Normally this will only apply to data transfer devices, but if the cable or power source is not MFI certified or is defective it might also disable a power source.

Mine is a 5 day old 64GB XS. Same problem. If I plug in any cable or charger, Apple made or aftermarket, the phone will not charge when sleeping. I have to wake it by tapping or raising for it to work. Wireless works fine sleeping or not. I have already filed a report to Apple.

Turning off the security features on the port changes nothing.