Liquid Detected In Lightning Connector Bug (iPhone Not Wet)
Last updated on June 14th, 2021 at 03:26 pm
iOS 14 Liquid Detected In Lightning Connector bug
Is your iPhone displaying a popup that reads ‘Liquid Detected In Lightning Connector’? Is this happening although your device hasn’t been anywhere near a water source? This Liquid-detection alert has been triggered out of the blue for a series of iPhone owners. All of them are running iOS 14 which makes us conclude that this might be a software related bug.
We’ve got reports of the ‘Liquid Detected In Lightning Connector’ popup showing up on an iPhone 12, iPhone X and iPhone SE 2, without any obvious reasons. None of the readers that reported this bug, couldn’t pinpoint the cause of the liquid ingress protection warning.
To be clear, although the popup asks you to ‘Disconnect to allow the connector to dry. This may take several hours’, in most cases they dialog box is triggered without the user connecting the iPhone to a wired charger.
Fact: Most of the times the liquid in lightning connector warning pops up while the iPhone is in use, for gaming or while interacting with any third-party app.
(Updated June 4)
iPhone Charging Not Available: The Liquid Detected in lightning connector bug persists in the later versions of iOS 14. Recent reports show that the warning popup is triggered when charging an iPhone with an aftermarket, non-genuine Apple charger.
How To Fix Liquid Detected In Lightning Connector
1. Dismiss It
Although the liquid-detection popup is most likely caused by an iOS 14 bug, you should check the charging port of your iPhone for any signs of water. Perhaps liquid reached your device accidentally, without you noticing it.
The pop-up comes with the Dismiss and Emergency Override options. The first one closes the pop-up and skips charging, while the second will force the charging process. Tap it after you finish inspecting your device.
2. Reboot if Emergency Override Doesn’t Work
Last but not least, if the iOS 14 liquid-detection alert is still preventing your iPhone from charging even is you opt for the Emergency Override option, you have to reboot your device and attempt to charge again.
How To: Unplug charger, use the force restart combo and be patient until the iPhone restarts. Plug the charger back in and cross your fingers. Does it work or it claims to detect liquid in the Lightning port?
3. Use Apple Charger
The Liquid Detected in Lightning Connector error is most frequently reported by users that charge their iPhone with aftermarket chargers.
Fact: This could be Apple’s gentle way of forcing users to use only genuine Apple products. Does the liquid-detection alert disappear if you’re using an original Cupertino-designed charger?
4. Use MagSafe Wireless Charging
If the Liquid Detected in Lightning Connector popup is triggered o an iPhone 12 model. You have the option to switch for wireless charging. You do need a MagSafe charger for this though.
Fact: MagSafe charging is also the way to go if water presence is actually confirmed and the warning isn’t just a false alarm. Place your iPhone in a dry environment, with low humidity to allow the Lightning port to dry out before attempting to charge again.
Fix Liquid Detected In Lightning Connector Video Guide
Watch this video tutorial to better understand how to fix the Charging Not Available popup on your iPhone:
Have you also been prompted with the Liquid-detection alert in iOS 14? Was it a false alarm or a justified notification? Did any of the above fixes work? Use the comments section and let us know. If you want to confirm this bug please also mention your iPhone model and the iOS 14.x version that runs on it.
Fact: The iPhone liquid-detection alert has been introduced in 2016, as a new iOS 10 feature.
Related: Other common iOS 14 bugs are:
– Messages notifications bug that randomly prevents notifications for iMessages and regular SMS from getting triggered.
– Excessive battery draining caused by the iOS 14.6 update!
– Face ID not working anymore after updating to iOS 14.x!
I have an iPhone 12. I have the 14.6 software version. I actually took my phone to Apple yesterday and my phone is still saying there is water in the lightning charging port. I dismiss it and it goes away but won’t charge my phone. But I can emergency override it and it will charge it just fine. There’s no water in my phone at all considering the back of my phone was just replaced by Apple .
Shania what type of charger are you using, genuine Apple one? Are you also getting the Liquid Detected error if you attempt to charge wirelessly with MagSafe?
My phone says liquid Detected in charging port but I can’t find any signs of water. My phone is an iPhone 12 pro max and it’s basically brand new.
Thanks for reporting. Can you provide some additional details please. What charger are you using the 20W fast charger or the regular charging brick? The Liquid Detected error is surly not normal in either of the circumstances. We’re just trying to pinpoint the trigger for this bug. In most cases the popup is occurring when using a non-genuine Apple charger.
I got this alert while I was trying to charge my phone today on my iPhone 11, iOS 14.6, while connecting it to my computer.
I’m using a third-party charger to shave off costs, and indeed, this alert only appeared when I tested mine and a family member’s cables (neither of them are original Apple products). When I was using my original cable before it broke off, the alert has not ever popped up.
Thanks for confirming this Olivia.
Hi there,
I started getting this error on my iPhone 11 Pro, using the charger that came with the phone (genuine Apple charger). The phone hasn’t been near any water or high humidity. The only thing that changed recently was doing a software update to 14.6. I noticed that rebooting the phone helps (as well as leaving it for an hour or so), but then the error does sometimes come back while it’s charging overnight (which means waking up to a partially charged phone). The error is occurring daily now.
Thanks for reporting Brandon. Yes, we can confirm an increasing number of reports since the release of iOS 14.6. We’ve submitted feedback to Apple about this. Hopefully, the problem will be addressed in iOS 14.7. Btw, you can try out the iOS 14.7 Public Beta and check if the glitch is fixed.
I just purchased an iPhone 12 Pro which is now running iOS 14.6 and exhibits this bogus warning about there being liquid in the lightening connector. I still have my iPhone 6S which is also running iOS 14.6 but it has never given me the warning message. I am using the same Anker charging cable.
Speaking as an engineer with decades of experience in electromechanical product design and development, I don’t know if Apple’s manufacturing process is having problems board cleanliness (excessive no-clean flux residue) or a software issue where the threshold for problematic leakage current levels is set too low.
What I’m suspecting is that the circuit board manufacturing for the newer model iPhones is leaving more residue than was on the older models. So much so that normal levels of ambient humidity are enough to trigger leakage currents similar to what liquid water would cause older models.
I just wish that I knew how correct the problem. I like to charge my phone overnight so that I have unrestricted use of it during the day. With the current problem, I turn off my phone, plug in the cable and think that it is charging. But cause I’ve set do not disturb to kick in a couple of hours before I actually shut down for the evening, I am not aware of the problem until I wake up the next morning. Frustrated iPhone fan.
Ed, this issue is very annoying indeed.
We have reports of users owning iPhone 11, XS, SE models. I’m tempted to think that the issue is software related and not hardware.
In most cases the problem seems to be caused when device is charged with non-Apple chargers. However, we’ve seen it flare up as in your case when the original charging brick is used.
At the moment, I can’t replicate it anymore on my own device. It would be interesting to see if the issue is still occurring when running the iOS 15 Beta.
Argh both my husband and I just got the message Right now using different phones, different chargers and different electrical outlets. Thankfully that helped us determine that it had to be a bug/glitch within Apple’s IOS, Then I found this article which helped to confirm . thanks!
Thanks for reporting. Did you manage to charge your devices using Emergency Override or after force restarting?
Just had the same issue on my iPhone 12 SE. Have managed to get it to charge by hitting Emergency Override. Hopefully this will continue to work until IOS update fixes the problem. Really annoying. .
Thanks for confirming Frank. Yes, hopping for a fix soon.
I have the same annoying issue with my 6 mo old iPhone 12 pro. I had always changed with magsafe, but recently got a car with wired (grrrrrr) carplay. After 15-20 min I get the ‘liquid detected’ message. I do not always get the option to dismiss and charge anyway. My wife’s iPhone 12 is not exhibiting this (so far). I’ve been to the genius bar and they had me reset my phone and reinstall iOS 14.6. After restoring it, drove the car yesterday and its doing the same thing. I have another appt this afternoon at the apple store to see what else they can come up with . I’m pushing for a replacement phone, but no luck yet. This is exceptionally annoying.
Thanks for sharing your feedback Scott. That’s interesting. Keep us updated please. Let us know what else they will suggest after the iOS 14.6 reinstall tip did not work.
1 month older and is the same for me! They even change the phone device and it still appears who can be responsable of this !!
Omg I’m super upset with that pop up and I’ve been through a lot! I went to Apple like 5 times and then today they change me the phone for a new one and guess what? The message just came again and it is not wet! They check my Last phone, they agree it was not wet they took it for a couple of days to fix and change the software and it is still there that message in the new phone they gave me! The guy before leaving the store told me that the if the message appears again would be related to an error in my account and iCloud. ¿? No idea now I have to call back tomorrow or just giving up on this and living with that message always or following some of your advices. I’m just glad to know that I am not the only one and that apple is not the God we all think it is. iPhone 12 IOS 14.6
Ah! And the the guy told me that would be another solution creating a new account 😤 what about all what I have in my cloud ? Espero desparezca
Thanks for reporting. Changing iCloud account would be a crazy fix indeed. Can you confirm that you’re charging your iPhone with an original Apple charger?
If you have the time and want to try out it would be interesting if you could update your device to iOS 15 Public Beta and see if the problem persists with the new iOS. Do backup iPhone before trying. This way you will be able to quickly downgrade back to iOS 14.6 if you’re not satisfied with the beta.
Am facing the same problem i just woke up and trying to use my iPhone 12 pro max it shows there is liquid detected in the lightening meanwhile i was in the room the whole day without getting closer to water and this got me thinking that my iPhone charging system is damaged and i was like no because the charging system can’t spoil so easily like that so i might try with my brother charger and it shows the same as for now am typing am on my computer because the phone only left 1% and i shut it down ,………..And am shocked that everyone is more complaining about the iPhone 12, 12 pro and 12 pro max please Apple company should do something about this because it’s really annoying……………….
Thanks for reporting Seth. Have you tried to use Emergency Override, to force charging and bypass the liquid detected warning?
Typical Apple BS. They do not play well with anybody including themselves.
Will the apple 14.7 upgrade fix this issue. It just appeared on my apple 12 and I am updating to 14.7
Not sure. I couldn’t replicate it lately on our devices. Can you follow up and confirm if it still happens for you in iOS 14.7?
My teenager has an IPhone 11 and got water on it. We got the water detection alert and did in-fact use an aftermarket charger. We let it dry for 1 hour, rebooted the phone and used a genuine apple charger and we didn’t see the water detection alert again.
Thanks for sharing your feedback. If the phone was in contact with water it means that the alert was genuine and the phone just needed a bit of time to dry out.
There are many of us getting this alert without the device being anywhere near a water source. Only in these cases when you’re sure that your iPhone is dry, you should use the Emergency Override option, to bypass the alert!
My phone was barely wet when the emergency override popped up. I was unable to charge my phone as the emergency override would not work. My phone would not charge regardless, now my phone is dead and the issue is harder to resolve. Who’s bright idea was this at Apple HQ to not include the emergency override within general settings? What if I needed to make an emergency phone call?
If your iPhone was wet, using Emergency Override was a big gamble, because you can end up with a bricked device.
my iPhone 11 might have barely been in contact with water when the liquid detected alert popped up. How long should I let it dry before trying to plug it in with an apple charger? Is 1 hour enough?
You can put it in rice if you want to be extra cautious. Rice will absorb moisture fast.