Thanks, you guys just fixed my iPhone 12. Which previously required me to awkwardly move the cable to get it to charge

With a plastic toothpick I scraped the inside corners. At first nothing came out, but after a few scrapes multiple dust balls emerged. Honestly a surprising amount

I plugged it in, "that snap feeling again..." charging sound

Yup. Think apple stores use paint brushes for this. They helped me with this once before.

The lightning ports were so bad for this, but they were so easy to clean. Not sure how easy USB C will be to clean

In my experience they aren't too bad. I typically use an exacto knife and just scrape around the bottom of the port for a while until I stop pulling lint out.

I use a sewing needle to pull out lint. Using an exacto knife would scare me, but I'm glad to hear that it works - the ports are more durable than I assumed.

Isopropyl alcohol and an old toothbrush.

+1 to this. A "pick pick blow repeat" technique with a flosser pick typically gets everything out for me. Surprisingly, it most often ends up being jeans pocket lint.

>Surprisingly, it most often ends up being jeans pocket lint.

Why is that surprising? Don’t you keep your phone in your pocket?