Certain power outlets prevent iPhone 5s TouchID sensor from working...

[hackntossh]

So here's one that's been driving me absolutely crazy...

My wife and I live in a condo that we completely renovated in 2012. Everything in the condo was updated. Plumbing, electrical service, circuits, heating system, etc. By all accounts everything, with the exception of the frame of the house, is brand new. I'm telling you this because...

My wife and I bought bought brand new iPhone 5s smartphones. We love them. They work great. The one major issue we're having is that the TouchID sensor on both iPhones will not work when either phone is plugged into a wall outlet and charging. By "not working" I mean the TouchID sensor does not acknowledge that a finger has been placed on it. The TouchID sensor does not "shake" and display the message "Try Again" -- literally nothing happens. We are forced to use the passcode to unlock either phone.

If I take either 5s out of our house and plug it in (using the same chargers), the TouchID sensor begins to work as expected. The TouchID sensor also works fine when the same Apple USB Lighting cord is plugged into the Thunderbolt Display we have in our office.

To comply with the newer building codes, the contractor installed Tamper Resistant outlets throughout the house. These outlets -- not sure what brand they are -- are the issue. I know this because there are three Tamper Resistant GFI outlets located on/around sinks in our house. If I plug the iPhone 5s charger into one of these three outlets and plug the phone in the TouchID sensor works. Unfortunately these outlets, by virtue of being in our bathrooms and kitchen, are not really where we would ideally like to charge our phones.

Is anyone else having this issue? I would love to know why these outlets are causing this behavior as the voltage traversing the wires is just fine (verified with voltage meter).

Frustrated,
Andrew

 

[kch50428]

Try giving the AC cube a 180 degree turn in the outlets and see if it makes a difference... one would think it shouldn't... but...

 

[hackntossh]

Try giving the AC cube a 180 degree turn in the outlets and see if it makes a difference... one would think it shouldn't... but...

Thanks, Keith.

If I continue to flip it around it will, perhaps once, register. After that it pretty much stops working immediately. I'm on the phone with AppleCare now and will update the post if they have anything brilliant to add

 

[hackntossh]

I'm on the phone with AppleCare now and will update the post if they have anything brilliant to add

The best I got from an AppleCare senior advisor was, "It's obviously something with your house. Talk to your contractor." Not exactly what I was hoping for.

 

[hackntossh]

Do those outlets successfully charge the phones? Is it just that TouchId doesn't work when plugged in? Have you tried it with an extension cord or power strip plugged into one of those outlets first?

The outlets charge the phones no problem.

Yes, the only issue is that TouchID does not work when the phones are plugged in.

Yes, I've tried it with an extension cord and it has no effect on the issue.

 

[hackntossh]

I don't have any other ideas, sorry. That's really weird.

Thanks for trying

I'm so puzzled because the voltage at the outlet is correct. I also want to know why/how TouchID is affected by the lightning charger port.

 

[i7guy]

I bought a 300 watt power inverter for a long car trip. Plugging in the iPhone 4 yielded inconsistent results when trying to login. My wife was complaining she couldn't login sporadically when the phone was charging. Unplug the charging cable, no issue; plug the charging cable in; sporadic login issues. The cheap power inverters don't generate a true sine wave A/C; maybe the phone is sensitive to that.

So what I'm thinking, is that there may be an issue with your power at the source, you may want to have an electrician come in and test the lines. You may not have clean power and not know it.

 

[Ricky Ramadhan]

Do you had compared voltage between your home and your office?

Compare the both, you may do investigate

 

[Jaguarr40]

It is a bit weird because i can have my 5S plugged in charging, receive a text and hit the ID Touch to open it and i have no issue it all. I charge my iPad mini with the same charger and have no issue charging at all. Of course I have no ID Touch on the iPad but I just wanted to illustrate a point.

Have you considered since it works fine for me and ask in a direct thread if anyone else has this issue. Based on these responses I would then make an appt to go to your local Apple store and genius bar.

 

[Trees]

Strange issue indeed. From reading the issue and responses is it accurate to state: If iPhone 5S is being charged and receiving a charge that may contain voltage/amperage that does not match expected ranges, then Touch ID does not work.

 

[iEd]

If you haven't tried already try plugging in a power strip into your outlet and then iPhone charger into the power strip and see if there is any change.


#Naked Tuesday

 

[jhwhiteh]

It's tough to determine the nature of the issue with the info at your disposal to present to us. I do, however, have a recommendation that will fix the issue. Get a cheap UPS or UPS enabled power strip and use that. The UPS will recreate the 60 Hz sine wave signal and provide the correct amperage to the phone as needed. If the circuit cannot provide the same wattage drawn by the charger, it'll provide it by the battery and attempt to keep charging itself. Given the minuscule amount of current draw the phone creates, the UPS will work just fine and remove your circuits from consideration completely. Additionally, it'll give you a definitive way to test.

Another more extreme option is to replace the receptacles you want to use with the ones that have the USB ports built in. Then you can try that to see if the combination of the Apple supplied power converter and your home power disappears by doing so. Good luck!

 

[Not Quite Right]

+1 on the UPS. Not the answer you were looking for, just the solution ...

 

[hackntossh]

Thanks for all the replies. I'm going to do a little more testing and, if worst comes to worst, replace three or four outlets in my house with the GFI plugs that I know work. More than anything, I'm curious as to how the TouchID sensor is linked to the Lightning USB port. You would think with all the "secure enclave" talk Apple did when the feature was introduced that they would function completely independently of each other.

Andrew

 

[iEd]

Thanks for all the replies. I'm going to do a little more testing and, if worst comes to worst, replace three or four outlets in my house with the GFI plugs that I know work. More than anything, I'm curious as to how the TouchID sensor is linked to the Lightning USB port. You would think with all the "secure enclave" talk Apple did when the feature was introduced that they would function completely independently of each other.

Andrew

Sometimes I get inconsistent results with touch ID when using a non Apple certified charger.(Belkin or ifrogz) It seems it does this when the phone batt is low and charging. I believe the touch ID and lighting port are linked in some manner.

Is GFI the same as GFCI? Ground Fault Circuit Interrupters. If so I've seen GFCI power strips on the net. That may be a solution as opposed to changing the outlets.


#Naked Tuesday

 

[hackntossh]

Is GFI the same as GFCI? Ground Fault Circuit Interrupters. If so I've seen GFCI power strips on the net. That may be a solution as opposed to changing the outlets.

Yes. I've been meaning to type GFCI this whole time

I'll give a regulated power supply a go and post back with my results.

Andrew

 

[incamnito]

My guess is that you probably have a grounding problem. That's why a UPS solves the issue, and that's why your GFCI outlets work, as the latter would have had to have been installed correctly to pass your electrical inspection. You can buy a ground tester at a hardware store and see if those plugs are wired correctly. You should call your contractor and/or electrician, because if that's the case, then your TouchID not working is the least of your problems. I had all kinds of weird stuff going on when my older house didn't have proper grounding. Good luck.

 

[kyepinn]

I got this problem too, but it happened when it's unplugged from a power source.
I place my fingers on top, it doesn't sense the presence of my fingers. The "try again" stuff don't appear!
This can be resolved by simply restarting my device, but I don't understand how could this happen?! Can I get a new one? Lol

 

[natasftw]

It is a bit weird because i can have my 5S plugged in charging, receive a text and hit the ID Touch to open it and i have no issue it all. I charge my iPad mini with the same charger and have no issue charging at all. Of course I have no ID Touch on the iPad but I just wanted to illustrate a point.

Have you considered since it works fine for me and ask in a direct thread if anyone else has this issue. Based on these responses I would then make an appt to go to your local Apple store and genius bar.

What point were you trying to illustrate? There isn't a question as to whether or not it'll charge. He's already established both phones he's tried charge. There's zero valid information offered by bringing up the iPad.

Have you considered your device working with your outlets doesn't mean anything to his problem? He's already stated it works on some outlets and not on others. As such, your phone working on an outlet that isn't one of the ones causing problems doesn't offer any additional information. Why would he start making considerations based on that? Here's something YOU should be thinking about. If the problem is the outlets, not the phones, and he takes it to the Apple store, he won't be able to replicate the problem for the "tech." The best solution they would be able to offer is a new phone. As the problem is more likely the outlets, he'll take the new phone home to find the problem remains.

A better troubleshooting step would be to ask friends with the phone to try using the outlets and see if their results are the same. If they are, I'd definitely want to check those outlets rather than find a shortcut that'll allow TouchID to work. The problem has the potential to be far worse than the TouchID.

 

[i7guy]

Yes. I've been meaning to type GFCI this whole time

I'll give a regulated power supply a go and post back with my results.

Andrew

If you have a grounding problem, a regulated power supply will not work properly, because it still can't be grounded. If the iphone works when charging in some power outlets but not in other ones, it's almost a for certain those outlets don't have clean power. Of course this is a big 'if' as this first has to be diagnosed.