Why does my phone not charge with a cord

Hi Abby,

The wireless charging uses a different connection to the motherboard than the lightning connector has. So the charging mechanism is different for wireless vs. wired charging.

The fact that it charges wirelessly tells you that your battery and charging circuits on the motherboard are all good. So replacing the part of the phone that connects the lightning connector to the motherboard should fix the problem for you. That's called the lightning, or charging flex assembly. Unfortunately iFixit doesn't have a guide showing you how to replace that part on your phone, but there's a French site called SOSav that does.

Charging connector iPhone 12 repair - Free guide - SOSav

The 12 and 12 Pro use the same assembly, and you can buy it right here on iFixit or find it on the major sites selling phone parts such as Amazon, eBay and AliExpress. Here's one of the first ones that came up on my cursory search.

Amazon.com: MMOBIEL Dock Connector Compatible with iPhone 12/12 Pro - Charging Port Flex Cable - Headphone Port/Microphone/Antenna Replacement - Incl. Screwdrivers - Black : Electronics

That should be all you need to get your phone working again, Abby. Good luck with your repair and feel free to ask questions. Let us know how it goes; success stories are always appreciated and even when it doesn't go right we can learn from it.

Billy brings up an excellent point, that you'll want to have eliminated all of the possibilities external to the phone before you tear it apart and replace things. First thing is to make sure your charger is working, either by trying a different one or making sure it works on a different device. Next you want to check the charging cord the same way, which it sounds like you've already done.

Finally, you need to check the charging port itself. Take a flashlight and look inside, checking for any kind of dirt, dust, pocket lint or anything else built up inside. Take some 90% or higher concentration isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol and maybe a toothpick and eyeglass cleaning cloth and clean out the port, wiping down the pins on the connector and making sure it's clean.

Assuming you've done all that and it's still not working, then it's time to replace the lightning connector assembly.

Do you have dirt In the charging port?