Lightning Lint Causes iPhone Charging Problems
No crud was visible in the Lightning port, and a quick blast with a can of compressed air didn’t blow out anything I could see, but even so, it solved the problem. Since I cleaned out the port, the iPhone charges properly with any Lightning cable, and with no pressure necessary. Others have reported using a paperclip or pin to clean out the Lightning port, but the compressed air approach seems safer.
This has happened twice already with my iPhone 5s. Neither time did I see anything blown out. I don’t recall ever having charging problems with my 30-pin iPhones, despite the larger receptacle.
Update (2018-06-02): Dr. Drang:
The Lightning port is so narrow that even these tweezers couldn’t reach in and pluck out the lint. I had to use one side of the tweezers as a pick to poke at the lint and draw it out. And it took several minutes to clean because even the sharp pointy ends of the tweezers had trouble digging in and getting under the lint.
The two lessons here are don’t assume you’ve done something right without checking and don’t wait over 2½ years before cleaning out your Lightning port.
