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Some iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone Air Users Experiencing a Charging Issue

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Earlier this week, 9to5Mac's Benjamin Mayo reported on an apparent charging issue affecting at least some of Apple's latest iPhone models.

iPhone-17-Pro-and-Air-Feature.jpg

In short, Mayo said that when he attempted to charge his iPhone Air with a USB-C cable just seconds after the device ran out of battery, it failed to turn on and did not display the usual red battery icon that indicates charging is occurring.

Mayo subsequently realized that several users have posted about this issue across websites such as Reddit and iFixit Answers, but it is unclear what the root cause is or how widespread it is. Apple has yet to publicly comment on the matter, and the issue does not appear to be fixed in the latest iOS 26.4.1 and iOS 26.4.2 software releases.

As far as I can tell, I also experienced this issue with my iPhone 17 Pro Max earlier this month. While staying at a hotel, I accidentally forgot to charge the device one night, leading it to shut off on me when I woke up the next morning. Naturally, I plugged in a USB-C cable, but the screen remained black with no battery icon for many minutes. At the time, I thought that maybe the hotel's outlets were not working correctly, but I knew something was up after I tried a variety of different outlets and chargers without success.

Just like Mayo, I was eventually able to get my iPhone to turn on by placing it on a MagSafe charger and waiting about 10 to 15 minutes. In my case, it was a MagSafe battery pack from Anker that I carry with me while traveling.

A few Reddit users said the standard iPhone 17 model is also impacted.

All in all, it would appear that the new iPhones have a hit-or-miss charging problem when they fully run out of battery, but there is no guarantee that everyone will experience it. With the issue now receiving attention on 9to5Mac and MacRumors, hopefully Apple is made aware and provides a fix in an upcoming iOS version.

Article Link: Some iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone Air Users Experiencing a Charging Issue
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2026/04/30/iphone-17-pro-iphone-air-charging-issue/
I just don’t get it. It’s 2026. Our phones run our lives they do everything from make a call, play music, open doors, start cars, blah blah blah. It turns yellow to prompt you to plug it in and then red saying no seriously plug me the F in! Who lets the battery die!!!!? I’ll never get it. PERIOD
 
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This is good to know, since I’m currently traveling right now with an iPhone 17 Pro and no MagSafe charger. I usually put it on the MagSafe at night at home, including when it completely dies.
 
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mmmm this makes me thinking more about a full drained battery. Would ultimately USB-C charger finally turn on the phone after a while, like 20 minutes?
When a device battery is fully drained, it is often not able to show a logo after at least 5 hidden percent are charged.
A battery at 0% displayed is still around 8%. And new phones have this way to communicate their position when actually turned off, especially after a battery reaching the official 0%. So, these phones continues to drain the battery and this can bring this symptom. USB-C charging in this case will also need up to 20 minutes to finally display a logo, turn on and use fast charging eventually.
 
I mostly use wireless charging on my Air.... but this is concerning as I would likely resort to corded power if wanting to charge faster from being completely dead.
 
I actually had this happen on an iPhone 15 Pro Max. It was so weird. Would not start charging. I finally plugged it directly into my MacBook pro and than it started charging. Yes it was one of the very few times ever let the phone run to dead. I think it is something going on in the OS maybe. No idea to be honest. LOL
 
I don’t let my batteries die that often, but every time they do, it usually takes a few minutes of charging before they boot up. This has been happening as long as I can remember.

My partner lets his M1 MacBook Air die all the time, it can take a good 10-20 minutes on the charger before it can be used again.
 
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Crackling noises when charging iPhones 17 series with cables is a known issue. They saved on cost for proper shielding.

My cousin work for Apple and they will address this issue by an upcoming update. The actual fix is not possible, what they will do is give you even shorter battery life by reserving a small amount of mAh for the battery to charge when “depleted”.

The crackling charging noises have also been less louder because in certain situations they downclocked the power managment to “solve it”.
 
This happened to my 16 Pro Max this morning. I've never seen this issue before. I had to do the old volume up/down/power button hard reset to make the phone recognize the charger.
 
iSeb said:
mmmm this makes me thinking more about a full drained battery. Would ultimately USB-C charger finally turn on the phone after a while, like 20 minutes?
When a device battery is fully drained, it is often not able to show a logo after at least 5 hidden percent are charged.
A battery at 0% displayed is still around 8%. And new phones have this way to communicate their position when actually turned off, especially after a battery reaching the official 0%. So, these phones continues to drain the battery and this can bring this symptom. USB-C charging in this case will also need up to 20 minutes to finally display a logo, turn on and use fast charging eventually.
Click to expand...

Article says it never did work until charged via MagSafe so this does genuinely seem to be a bug or defect.
 
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Adam5SS said:
I just don’t get it. It’s 2026. Our phones run our lives they do everything from make a call, play music, open doors, start cars, blah blah blah. It turns yellow to prompt you to plug it in and then red saying no seriously plug me the F in! Who lets the battery die!!!!? I’ll never get it. PERIOD
Click to expand...
Software quality control has been trending downhill for well over a decade now. As cool as Craig is, he is a horrible executive and should not be leading the software team.
 
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Taq'aix said:
The 17 Pro has many flaws. Weak chassis. Discoloration aluminum body. Antenna band discoloration. Distorted speakers.

Hope they fix these things with the 18 Pro.
Click to expand...

My silver 17 Pro Max is fantastic so far. I always use a case. But these speakers are so loud and clear I rarely use them at more than half volume.

Seems like a normal amount of manufacturing issues of first run units.
 
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If I'm understanding this correctly, this issue has affected nearly every iPhone I've ever used. If you plug it in just as it dies, it doesn't power on unless you unplug and replug it in, and sometimes holding the power button until it turns on and shows that it's charging.
 
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Corefile said:
OK. But all that being said, there's clearly a charging issue that shouldn't be.
Click to expand...
EXACTLY. Adam5SS is too cool for school. Imagine this dude having an issue with this car (pick an issue ... any issue). he takes it to the dealership and they try to trick him with a ruse saying well.. you wouldn't have had this issue if you had done xyz. I highly doubt he would accept that. He would probably have some smart remark about well ummm... yeah that isn't issue.. I want xyzzy fixed. People can make a statement about "who forgets to charge their phone" in 2026 all they want.. but it doesn't negate the fact that something is obviously odd in this situation and will probably be addressed in a future update. If we all lived by Adam5SS mindset, we would never report any issue and just chalk it up to.. well umm if i had never taken my phone out of the box.. and kept it sealed.. I would have never had the issue lol.

I use my phone at events for social media content. I've been at outdoor events from 6 am to 6 pm and forgot my battery backup I sometimes carry in my pocket. It happens. Not everyone stays indoors or near a charger all day. Heck if my phone battery died Adam5SS would probably say.. I mean who goes to an all day event in 2026 and just umm doesn't bring an extra battery to charge their phone... I mean you can literally make an excuse / comment for almost any situation. lol.

​

 
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macduke said:
This is good to know, since I’m currently traveling right now with an iPhone 17 Pro and no MagSafe charger. I usually put it on the MagSafe at night at home, including when it completely dies.
Click to expand...

Corefile said:
OK. But all that being said, there's clearly a charging issue that shouldn't be.
Click to expand...

Exactly right. I think a lot of people are missing the point that once it dies, for whatever reason and there are legitimate ones especially when traveling, it apparently cannot be revived at all via usb-c, only via MagSafe.

That could be a real problem if it is a widespread issue.
 
Will it be one of those 'Wired Accessories' logic under privacy & security gone wrong? It shut down the USB-C port after ran out of battery.
 
Adam5SS said:
I just don’t get it. It’s 2026. Our phones run our lives they do everything from make a call, play music, open doors, start cars, blah blah blah. It turns yellow to prompt you to plug it in and then red saying no seriously plug me the F in! Who lets the battery die!!!!? I’ll never get it. PERIOD
Click to expand...
People who don't have access to a charger at all times. Busy. In a forest. Etc etc
 
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