Can you spot the Apple Lightning Connector Broken off inside this iPad mini?
Have you wondered how well the new Apple Lightning connector might hold up over time? I’ll admit not giving too much thought to it, because I chose to focus on the fact that I could plug the Apple Lightning Connector in from either side — a welcome new convenience from the old 30-pin.
So far, I haven’t had any issues with my iPad mini or my iPhone 5, but when I came home from Mobile World Congress, I got a shock. Kev’s youngest daughter had plugged the Lightning connector into her iPad mini, and the tip of the charger had broken off in the port. The port space is too small for even my tiniest-tipped tweezers to fit inside; even if they could fit, there is not enough of the broken tip sticking out to grab!
That meant an online chat with Apple support …
Customer [4:40 p.m.]:
Hi, I have an iPad mini, and the Lightning connector has broken off IN the port! =/
Advisor [4:41 p.m.]:
Oh no! That’s crazy, so when did this happen?
Customer [4:42 p.m.]:
This week. I was at MWC, came home to find out that it had happened while I was gone! (this is our house iPad, my main iPad was with me ?? thankfully!)
Advisor [4:43 p.m.]:
Alright, well I knew the thing was flimsy but this is officially the first time I’ve ever heard of it breaking off in the device! So give me one moment to see what we can do for you, Judie
Customer [4:44 p.m.]:
Please. Thank you =(
Could we possibly be the first? Surely not. But if so, then what a dubious honor. We don’t have an Apple Store nearby, so we will be bringing the iPad on vacation with us when we are in Hawaii. Apple support wasn’t sure if this would be a repair or replacement situation, so that will remain to be seen.
If you have one of the new devices that use it, how is your experience with the Lightning connector going? Anything wonky happening? Or is it working well for you? Do tell!
Something doesn’t look right here …