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Lightning cable only works one way?

J

JGar

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 1, 2008
10
0
One of Apple's selling points for the new Lightning connector was that it doesn't matter which way you plug it in. I'm not sure if I've got a defect or what but mine only works one way. I've tried my iPhone 5 with two different cables and both of them only connect when plugged in the "right" way. I took a sharpie and put a little black dot on one the side that was working and it appears to be consistent in that only the one direction will work.

I asked my friend who also purchased the "5" to test his and his works both ways. Is anyone else having this problem? I can't figure out how the phone would even know which way it was plugged in?
 
JGar said:
I've tried my iPhone 5 with two different cables and both of them only connect when plugged in the "right" way.
Click to expand...

The Lighting connector does not have a "right" way since it can be plugged in facing either direction unlike the 30 pin cable which does have a "right" way.
 
Yeah Apple is venturing out, so yours sounds defective as they are supposed to go both ways ;).
 
Mines is doing that now. I tried 4 different lighting USB cords and only works on one side. Guess I will take to Apple tomorrow and see what they do.
 
This whole thread sounds like the joke where a patient claims that his whole body is in pain because it hurts any where he pokes.

You sort of alluded to it, but have you checked to make sure it's not your phone that's the problem, not the 4 cables?
 
Last edited:
Maybe it is your phone.. not those cables? In either case, I'm sure you can get one or the other replaced under warranty.
 
I have found a few people mention that dust/lint in their charging ports has caused issues. I was curious, so I took a peak in mine and, sure enough, there was quite a bit of lint accumulating in there. I never had issues due to this, but I blasted it out with some compressed are anyway. Just something to check before heading to the Apple store.
 
lordofthereef said:
I have found a few people mention that dust/lint in their charging ports has caused issues. I was curious, so I took a peak in mine and, sure enough, there was quite a bit of lint accumulating in there. I never had issues due to this, but I blasted it out with some compressed are anyway. Just something to check before heading to the Apple store.
Click to expand...

I did that before I went to Apple and when I got there the Apple rep did that too. But still didnt work. But its cool....I got a new iPhone.
 
Lightening cable works one way

JGar said:
One of Apple's selling points for the new Lightning connector was that it doesn't matter which way you plug it in. I'm not sure if I've got a defect or what but mine only works one way. I've tried my iPhone 5 with two different cables and both of them only connect when plugged in the "right" way. I took a sharpie and put a little black dot on one the side that was working and it appears to be consistent in that only the one direction will work.

I asked my friend who also purchased the "5" to test his and his works both ways. Is anyone else having this problem? I can't figure out how the phone would even know which way it was plugged in?
Click to expand...


I upgraded to iOS7 and started having issues charging my iPhone 5. I discovered that if I have the lightening cable plugged into the phone before I plug the charger into the wall, I don't get that message about 'this cable is not blah blah blah'. However if I plug in the phone after I plug in the charger I do see that message. Talk about strange.....bottom line-plug in the lightening cable to the iPhone first and then plug in the charger into the wall outlet.
 
sharrahl said:
I upgraded to iOS7 and started having issues charging my iPhone 5. I discovered that if I have the lightening cable plugged into the phone before I plug the charger into the wall, I don't get that message about 'this cable is not blah blah blah'. However if I plug in the phone after I plug in the charger I do see that message. Talk about strange.....bottom line-plug in the lightening cable to the iPhone first and then plug in the charger into the wall outlet.
Click to expand...

The issue you for you is that you're using a 3rd party cable. iOS 7 attempts to deter you from using unauthorized cables with the iPhone.
 
JGar said:
One of Apple's selling points for the new Lightning connector was that it doesn't matter which way you plug it in. I'm not sure if I've got a defect or what but mine only works one way. I've tried my iPhone 5 with two different cables and both of them only connect when plugged in the "right" way. I took a sharpie and put a little black dot on one the side that was working and it appears to be consistent in that only the one direction will work.

I asked my friend who also purchased the "5" to test his and his works both ways. Is anyone else having this problem? I can't figure out how the phone would even know which way it was plugged in?
Click to expand...

You phone must be defective as my lightning cable works both way on my two phone, ipads and ipod. It should be easy to reproduce at the Apple store and they will give you another phone
 
on that note, there are official non Apple lightening cables that work fine with the new os and phone such as rocket fish from best buy and other places right?
 
I found it only worked in one direction also. Two days ago it quit working at all. Anyone else have this problem? I was concerned I had ruined the contacts by plugging it in incorrectly. I only received the audio response from one direction. I wish I had marked my cable.
 
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