iPhone XS And iPhone XS Max Reportedly Plagued By Unreliable Charging Via Lightning Port

As is the case with most new iPhone launches, the latest crop of smartphones are giving some users trouble. Some users have complained that the wireless signal strength for both the Wi-Fi and the cellular connections aren’t as strong as previous iPhones offered. Now reports are coming in that the iPhone XS and XS Max are having charging issues via the bottom-mounted Lightning port.

Complaints have turned up on the Apple discussion forums with multiple users claiming they have had the same issue with their iPhone not recognizing the charger when plugged in. One iPhone XS Max user named xMASTIFFSx wrote on the Apple support forums, "So Just got my new iPhone. and noticed this issue I've been having. I connect the lightning cable to my phone to charge and most of the time it’s automatically charges. However, I’ve noticed several times plugging the phone in and no charge comes up. Tried unplugging and plugging back in, sometimes it’ll work. I started to test it out. And I noticed the times I plugged it in, and I get no charge, I‘d leave the phone alone for 10-15 seconds. I pick it up, the screen illuminates and then the charging symbol pops up. I've Tested these only with apple cables. So I’m thinking it’s either a port issue or possibly software. Any ideas or recommendations?"

Some users report that after unlocking their iPhones, the charge cable is recognized again. While there is no official word from Apple on the charging problems at this point, some may wonder if this is related to Apple's USB Restricted Mode. This mode is meant to make iPhones not recognize any connected accessories if the phone has been left locked for extended periods of time. Law enforcement has been angry with Apple as this mode makes it hard for authorities with a court order to access a phone during an investigation to gather evidence. Some reports indicate that even when USB Restricted Mode is turned off, the iPhone still suffers from the charging issue. You can see a video of the issue from Unbox Therapy below regarding the issue.

One user on the Apple discussion forum notes that several iPhone XS and XS Max models have been tried and all the tested devices have the same charge issue. One of the users in the discussion thread claims that an AppleCare supervisor stated that Apple is aware of the issue and advised him to get the device replaced suggesting it could be a hardware issue.