We’re trying to keep my spouse’s old iPad Pro 10.5-inch limping along until we can afford to properly replace it, and it’s been having charging issues lately. The charging port feels loose with the Anker cables that we use for just about everything here, and we assumed that this would be an issue with any cables.
However, I decided to connect it directly to my MBP to do a full backup, in case we had to temporarily switch her to my old iPad Mini (the Pro was down to 4% and refusing to charge). The cables I use to connect directly to my laptop are original Apple cables (mainly because they’re the only short cables we have—I don’t usually buy cables shorter than 3m). When I plugged the iPad in, it started charging right up, and the plug is definitely not loose in the port, like it was with the Anker cable.
We tested the Anker cable with other devices, and it works fine. We tested the iPad with other Anker cables, and got the same problem. It only wants to charge with the Apple cable, and all the Anker cables feel loose in the port.
As I understand it, MFi-certified cables such as Anker’s should fit as precisely as Apple’s own cables. But there is a noticeable difference in the fit here. Are MFi-certified cables from reputable sources (like Anker) not actually made to the same specs and tolerances?
If that iPad uses lightning, is there any chance there is dust or material in the lightning port? Try cleaning it out with a small wooden or plastic toothpick.
Of course, the other solution is to switch to the cable that works.
…or on the cable itself? Not long ago, I was having trouble charging my iPhone, and I noticed that there was a tiny amount of crud stuck across a few of the contacts on the cable. I cleaned it off with some alcohol (letting it dry, of course), and the cable has been working normally since then.
If the iPad port does turn out to be flaky you could try using a USBc to USB-A adapter and power the iPad with a USB-c cable. It would be a little inconvenient but you could leave the adapter on the iPad (eg tape it on) to avoid further deterioration of the port.
The port and the plug both seem to be clean. The cable gives zero issues with other devices (both of our phones are old enough to still have Lightning rather than USB-C). The iPad has identical issues with all three of the Anker Lightning cables currently in that part of the room (normally used for charging her iPad, her iPhone, and my iPhone; my iPad Air has USB-C).
Once the iPad was charged up to full, I took an extremely close look at the two plugs. There appears to be a very small difference in the distance from the end of the plug to the edge of the casing (the edge that rests against the device when plugged in). I don’t have the tools to accurately measure the difference, but by eye (with a magnifier) it appears to be less than 0.5 mm difference, possibly as small as 0.2 mm, with the Anker cable having the greater distance. It would seem that this small difference is just enough to keep the Apple cable firmly against the case while allowing the Anker cable to shift enough to keep the contacts from consistently connecting properly.
I compared both cables’ “wiggliness” on my iPhone 12 Pro Max, and there is a difference between the two cables there as well, but the Anker cable feels wigglier on the iPad than on my iPhone, and the Apple cable feels more firmly seated on the iPad than on my iPhone. (For clarity: from most wiggle to least, it’s iPad + Anker cable, iPhone + Anker, iPhone + Apple, iPad + Apple.) So the port on the iPad might actually be shifted a little inside the case.
I’m going to check all my still-functional Lightning cables to see how much wiggle they have on the iPad’s port, in the hopes of finding one that will charge consistently. It’s not convenient to routinely use the Apple cable to charge the iPad, because it’s only a 1m cable (I normally use that cable to sync music to my iPhone, because it’s much faster than copying several GB of files wirelessly). I doubt that, given the age of this iPad (it’s old enough that it maxes out on iPadOS 17), that it’s worth spending any money at all on fixing/replacing the charging port; I can get a newer iPad used/refurb with the same storage and a slightly larger screen for ~$300–400.
Suggestion re charging the iPad: use the cable that works, extend it to the necessary length using a USB-A socket to USB-A plug extension cable. USB 2.0 should be adequate here, I think. Eg this 1m extension cable (not a recommendation - just showing the type of cable I mean).