Well, I suppose that iFixit guide will help somebody. . . .
But frankly the lint and schmutz in my lightning & USB ports would have erupted in raucous laughter at those pathetic solutions. Might get drunk on the alcohol, though.
The only reliable solution I’ve found is a jeweler’s screwdriver (with the phone turned off as in shut down). A bright light and magnifier are very good to have, too. A long ago architectural model maker, I’m comfortable with delicately poking steel in there but YMMV. You could dip the screwdriver in hot wax and let it cool if you’re worried about short circuits and such.
It’s amusing to see this topic is of such interest there have been 40 posts so far. Maybe Apple should produce a $39.95 multi-port cleaning tool in non-reactive powdered sapphire and badger hair. . . .
It really suggests it’s a widespread issue and Apple should look at the design to see if it can be avoided. The genius I spoke to said it was an everyday occurrence to have people present with the problem. Multiply that by the number of genius/days worldwide and they must be wasting massive amounts of time picking lint from ports.
It’s not just the charging port, in my experience. Speaker grills and the ring/silent switch can accumulate surprising amounts of gunk, especially if you carry your iPhone in your pocket.
My $.02 is that the Lightning port attracted more crud, particularly in the corners, but was also easier to clean. The USB-C port doesn’t seem to get as cruddy, but is harder to clean. The problem for both ports is cleaning out the corners, that’s where the crud accumulates to prevent the connector from seating properly.
I keep an old toothbrush in my laptop bag and one in my desk. It’s good for keeping ports clean and getting debris out, without being harsh on ports. I also use the brush on my phone’s port and mic/speaker ports as monthly maintenance.
Given that most of the suggestions in this thread have concerned dental devices, I’m surprised that nobody has suggested the hands-down best cleaner of crud for phone charging sockets: Piksters. These are thin interdental brushes. The central wire is rigid enough to dislodge firmly embedded crud, yet the plastic brushes ensure that you’re not likely to damage sensitive metal contacts in the port. I use size 1 (purple), but only because that’s the right size for my teeth!
The info about the design of the port helped a lot. I scraped along the bottom and the side that is facing the bottom of the phone and lots of indigo fluff’n’stuff came out. I used a scalpel as it was thin and pointy and I turned off the phone before performing this life saving surgery. Long live mini iPhones.
Thanks to all who contributed. Have good weekends.
