Somehow the Lightning cable connector tip snapped off inside my girlfriend’s iPad. At first, it seemed impossible to get the broken piece out of the slot since there is nothing to grab onto and the opening is terribly small.
A Google search came up with several possible solutions, some of which suggested super-gluing the broken piece to a cut ziptie or wires. I tried the ziptie+glue, but just couldn’t get a strong enough bond to yank the piece out. (On a side note, I didn’t have the same issue gluing my fingers together! ;-) Of course, you also have to be very careful not to get the glue elsewhere and ruin the connector. I do not recommend using glue. What worked for me involved something much more simple: a baby diaper safety pin.
Diaper pins are long, strong and you can comfortably put some needed pressure on the point. I found a pack of them for a couple bucks at the grocery store in the baby diaper aisle. You’ll probably need more than one as they tend to get dull and bend as you use them.
One of the commenters suggested a seam ripper, which I think would be perfect since they have a nice handle allowing you to put some precise pressure when needed.
I also suggest you get some good tweezers that have a small pinching point. The hole is very small so larger tweezers will be of little help. One of the commenters used nail clippers to grab pieces sticking out. This might work well if you don’t press too hard and clip the piece off.
Before you start, it helps to understand the layout of things. First off, the contacts for the connector on the iPad are flush against one of the long sides of the hole. As such, you want to stay away from the long sides and work in the center of the hole. You don’t want to accidentally mess up the contacts.
The piece you are digging out consists of two main pieces: a metal outer frame and the interior leftover contacts section. Most of the interior is non-metal plastic except for the tiny contacts and wiring. You want to dig out the interior part of the connector first. The metal outer frame is fairly rigid and will just stay in place.
Start with one end and stab it with the pin. Try using the pin as a lever and see if the piece will just pop out. Mine did not do that, but depending on how hard it is lodged in there, this might work. Switch to the other side and try again.
If this doesn’t work, start digging away at the material from one side and alternate between sides. You’ll get bits of plastic and also the metal contacts from the connector. Use the tweezers to remove the debris. Again, be careful not to get too close to the long sides where the iPad’s contact are. Note that this is a somewhat slow process. I would guess it took me 10-15 minutes of digging.
Eventually, I got all of the interior part out and was left with only the outer metal frame. If you look at the picture to the left, you can see a little indentation on the side. There is one on each side of the connector and the iPad has tiny latches that hold the connector in. What you have to do and jam the pin in deep at the very end and pry one side of the U-shaped frame in. It is surprisingly strong and, thus, may take several tries, but it will bend in eventually. You may have to bend the other side before the piece comes out, but the second side will be easier.
Well, that’s it! I was certain the iPad was a lost cause, but fortunately I didn’t give up! Good luck!
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Thank you, Douglas. Very difficult to extract. Your blog encouraged me to persevere, Took me most of the day on and off. In the end, I had to use the sharp, stiff, steel point of my sixty-year-old sturdy and stiff steel school compass. Still bent the steel tip. Tried small screw driver, sewing needle, and safety pin. Four month old, third-party cable (RAVIAD 2m, grey, heavily braided, 3-pack). Looked fine, well made. Lightning plug very tight fit. It just separated into two when I pulled cable out of my iPhone SE 2020 this morning.
I’m glad to have helped Chris. Happy New Year!
A safety pin worked perfectly, and knowing how the metal band was being held it at the edges was the key. Thank you spice3d / Douglas!
Glad to hear John. You’re so welcome
toe nail clippers worked WONDERS
this SAVED ME thank you so much
Using an earring also works, but you’re gonna wanna use the part of a stud earring that goes through your ear, and preferably one you have never worn and aren’t attached too.
Those must be stronger than I thought! :-)
Thinking of the opening as a rectangle, which sides must I be careful to avoid, the long sides or the shorter sides? Thanks for your post, I’m really hoping it works for me. Just came from the Apple Store where they told me they tried but couldn’t get it out; it’s $450 to ship it out and have them fix it!! Yikes…
The longer sides which are circled in blue.
The seam ripper worked perfectly for me. I didn’t even need the tweezers, it just popped out. Thanks so much for the advice – I would almost certainly have tried to attack at the short edges of the charger socket if left to my own devices.
Good work Denise. You’re welcome.
The nail clippers worked straight away for me! Thanks!
My problem is just barely the tip of the charger broke off in it and I can’t seem to get anything to work it’s my cell
You just need to dig it out with something small but long, like a seam ripper.
The whole tip of my charger is stuck inside but it is not Apple brand so I am not sure if there is that indent to hook in. I am scared to use super glue and I have tried to pry it out with safety pins but haven’t had luck yet
I definitely would NOT use the superglue method. You just gotta hold your breath and dig it out. If the safety pin didn’t work, try a sewing seam ripper. Just stay away from the top and bottom sides–that’s where the contacts are.
OMG! I thought I had ruined my iPad for good. The pin didn’t work for me because it was hard to push on the pin hard enough. I used a seam ripper, an eye glasses screw driver and tweezers with a light on it. It took a few minutes, but I got it out. It was basically the housing that goes around the outside of charger tip. Thank you!
Boy, you got all the tools! Glad you got it fixed. It helps knowing what the heck’s going on in there, doesn’t it? :-)
Thank you for the tip. I tried the seam ripper as you suggested and it worked like a charm.