iPhone 13 mini can't charge to full via MagSafe (overheats) and starts from dead only to turn off again before—anyone else?

[swingerofbirch]

I got chocolate in the charging port of my iPhone 13 mini a while back, and rather than risk shorting something out I started using MagSafe. I can't get the iPhone to charge to full before it has to take a pause to return to normal temperature before getting to 100%. Is this common with MagSafe? It does get quite warm.

The other issue I've had recently is that when I charge it from dead it will almost instantly turn on to the lock screen, and I'll start to use it. Then it very quickly turns off and stays on the battery charging screen for a few minutes before I can actually turn it back on in earnest where it will stay on. I hadn't had that until recently.

The battery health started deteriorating quite quickly once I started using MagSafe and is now down to 82%, but it says it's still operating at Peak Performance Capability.

Wondering if anyone else is having these issues.

 

[JPack]

MagSafe is killing your battery due to heat and the cells are especially sensitive to heat. What you're describing are symptoms of a really degraded battery. I'd get the Lightning port repaired - it isn't very expensive.

 

[JamesFieldson]

I am also having issues charging my iPhone 13 mini via MagSafe. It makes the sound when connected via MagSafe but does not charge the phone at all (in fact, I think the battery drains faster than if it were unconnected). It's quite strange, and happened around the time I upgraded to iOS 17.5.1 (although I'm not certain the two are linked since it took a while for me to realize the MagSafe charger wasn't charging the phone at all).

Did you ever get this resolved?

 

[swingerofbirch]

I am also having issues charging my iPhone 13 mini via MagSafe. It makes the sound when connected via MagSafe but does not charge the phone at all (in fact, I think the battery drains faster than if it were unconnected). It's quite strange, and happened around the time I upgraded to iOS 17.5.1 (although I'm not certain the two are linked since it took a while for me to realize the MagSafe charger wasn't charging the phone at all).

Did you ever get this resolved?

No . . . and I'm still on 17.4.

I now call MagSafe the mug warmer.

I have same thing where it will lose charge while connected at times. It warms the phone first, charging is an occasional side effect.

Since I wrote this, my battery health is now down to 79% and MagSafe cannot charge the phone to 100% at all.

I've not been in a position to be able to bring the phone in to get the battery serviced, but I will when I can and will hopefully be able to get the chocolate cleaned out at the same time so I can charge by wire from here on out.

 

[JamesFieldson]

No . . . and I'm still on 17.4.

I now call MagSafe the mug warmer.

I have same thing where it will lose charge while connected at times. It warms the phone first, charging is an occasional side effect.

Since I wrote this, my battery health is now down to 79% and MagSafe cannot charge the phone to 100% at all.

I've not been in a position to be able to bring the phone in to get the battery serviced, but I will when I can and will hopefully be able to get the chocolate cleaned out at the same time so I can charge by wire from here on out.

Thanks for your response. There are kits where you can try to get the chocolate cleaned out of the charging port.

Some things to try:

--Have you tried a regular wireless charger? The nice thing with MagSafe is it charges things wirelessly very quickly, but I would think that also means it generates more heat. I wonder if you have either just a conventional Qi charger (i.e. one where it's just a pad and you lie the phone down.

It sounds like it still works for you somewhat or you wouldn't be able to use the phone at all.

Have you heard of this happening with other iPhones as well? I'm curious if the iPhone 13 Mini's compact form factor makes its thermal profile particularly susceptible to this (especially since it's not currently being sold by Apple).

If it's a common occurrence across iPhones in general, that would be a shame. You would think they would be willing to charge it at a slower speed and indicate that. My battery just drains on MagSafe.

I realize wireless charging generates a lot of heat and that ages the battery, but there's a difference between that and not charging the battery at all. It's a safety issue if it's not charging the battery and most devices would call it out.

By the way, I made a post about my magSafe charging issues with the iPhone 13 mini here. Thanks.