Keep your phone in your pocket or backpack and dust and dirt will definitely enter your phone’s most vulnerable entry point: the charging port. Once there’s enough lint, you’ll have trouble inserting the charging cable properly and will have to rely on wireless charging.
Dirt transferred from your pocket or bag to the charging port is simply inevitable, right? After too many trips to the Apple Store, I decided to plug this port with a small plug. There are several on Amazon, but I use the Limvory Dust Cap Covers, pictured below, which come in a pack of four with a handy little cleaning brush.
Amazon
You can purchase USB-C dust covers for iPhone 15 and 16 or dust covers for Lightning ports (iPhone 14 and earlier). You’ll probably lose a few so buying in bulk isn’t a crazy idea.
Amazon
I mostly charge wirelessly using a MagSafe charger or magnetic power bank, so I don’t need to access the charging port most of the time. If I want to use a wire, I can remove the cap and plug in the cable. (Most wireless charging is pegged at 7.5W or 15W, while wired charging can go up to 30W, so there are times when you’ll want to plug in a cable.)
A low-tech port plug is a simple solution that will keep dirt out of the port but won’t stop you from quickly charging your iPhone with a cable. Using a port plug is the best way to prevent this from happening.
And if you need a cable, check out our roundup of the best USB-C charging cables for iPhone and the best Lightning cables.
