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Level 1

21 points

Apple Bluetooth Keyboard model A1016 does not pair with iPad

The problem is that for some reason with older (model A1016) Apple keyboards the iPad is not coming up with the screen to provide the pairing code to enter on the keyboard. To see what I mean;

First on the iPad turn on bluetooth then cycle the power to the keyboard so that it is discoverable. When it shows up in the list as Apple Wireless Keyboard, click on it to attempt to pair.

It will just sit there forever.... now watch the iPad screen carefully and hit the enter button on the keyboard. You will see a message box pop up that tells you the pairing code that it had expected you to type in.... even though it never poped up. It goes away too fast and you just get an error.

When I hooked up the iPad to Xcode and watched the console information:

Tue Apr 27 10:56:37 XXXX Preferences[3982] <Warning>: BTM: setting pincode 588825 for device 0x17a0b0 Apple Wireless Keyboard 00:0A:95:xx:xx:xx 0xf72b0005

I thought I would be slick and be able to see the debug of the pin in the console BEFORE it errors out. However it only shows the pin AFTER you have already clicked enter and then its too late since it uses a new random pin every time.

iPad, Other OS

Posted on Apr 27, 2010 8:20 AM

40 replies

Jul 5, 2010 5:51 PM in response to iPadHeadache

i as well am not able to get my a1016 to work, and a new apple bluetooth keyboard is +$60? this is robbery, every other apple device in history has worked fine with this keyboard no exceptions, it shouldn't be that hard for them to update it on the ios4 side of things

Dereth

Level 1

0 points

Aug 7, 2010 5:05 AM in response to iPadHeadache

Argh this really suck.

I have the A1016 which I bought with the First Gen Intel Mac mini and thought I could have it worked on my iPad.

Bummer. Now it's just a white elephant packed back into it's box.

This is just sad.

Dale3

Level 1

4 points

Oct 23, 2010 7:46 AM in response to whatheck

Thanks for the link. Last week I talked to an Apple genius and explained that my iPad was not seeing my old iMac keyboard. He then explained that I had to unpair it from my old iMac first. I did that and now it sees the keyboard but will not pair. Your link explains why.

I guess even apple techs don't know about this incompatibility issue. Now I have to drive back to the store to get a new keyboard.

Oct 23, 2010 3:36 PM in response to iPadHeadache

Sorry to hear about your issues, but you have to realize that this isn't the place, or even for that matter a place, to talk to Apple about issues like this. Put most simply, and for reasons often outlined in these fora, they aren't here for that sort of input.

They do, however, maintain a very good and effective Feedback section for the iPad and, for that matter, for everything else which they do. For the iPad, point your browser to http://www.apple.com/feedback/ipad.html

Note they usually won't answer you there, either, but don't let that bother you. Your issue will be heard and, if deserving (as this one seems to be), will be acted upon.

May 25, 2011 5:24 PM in response to iPadHeadache

I am still trying to get an answer to my query. I have a new keyboard which works just fine with my ipad 2; I'm trying to pair it with my iphone 3gsIOS with no luck. Anyone actually know what the deal is. According to the manual and official apple info, my iphone should pair just fine with the keyboard, but it doesn't. If someone knows what is going on I would very much appreciate a response, thanks Frank

Aug 7, 2011 9:04 PM in response to iPadHeadache

Is there changes. Does IOS 5 fix, or it is a A1016 keyboard issue?

Nov 12, 2011 7:00 PM in response to Jeff Smith Mersoft

I am having the same frustration trying to pair iPhone iOS 5.0 with my Apple Wireless Keyboard A1016. I am able to pair the A1016 with my MacBook Pro 17 running Snow Leopard. Yes, I do unpair the keyboard from my MBP before attempting to pair to iPhone. I will let you know if iOS 5.0.1 fixes the problem. Fingers crossed.

Edit. It's a no-go with iOS 5.0.1 update. Still can't pair. MacRumors Forum suggests it is a bug in the older Bluetooth spec of the first generation Apple BT keyboard: http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=891294

Nov 12, 2011 8:43 PM in response to Michael Morgan1

How is this not the place to discuss an issue of a keyboard not pairing with a device? Please know that suggestions towards and actual solution are better appreciated than replies that just seem made for reply points.

Nov 12, 2011 9:28 PM in response to Israel Melendez

It would be really sad if not a single Apple employee monitors, not even informally (e.g. from an iPhone or iPad in a coffee shop, apartment flat or disco at night, or at an advanced base camp on Mt. Shishapanga at dawn), these discussions hosted on Apple's own web site. This discussion forum is a rich repository of troubleshooting by Apple product users. I prefer to believe that the wails and petitions of Mac OS and iOS users trickle up to Apple techs and product managers.

So, deleting com.apple.Bluetooth.plist and rebooting allowed me to rename my A1016 Apple Wireless Keyboard. At least I can use this gem from 2003 with my MacBook Pro 17" with Snow Leopard.

deggie

Level 10

167,177 points

Nov 12, 2011 11:21 PM in response to Richard Schletty

You can use it with any Mac running Lion also, I'm typing on one right now.

There are occasions where Apple employees will participate here but they are few and far between. Some Apple techs will monitor long threads about a particular problems, such as battery life on the iPhone 4s, and they might contact someone and ask them to run a profile for testing. Again, not very often.

But they certainly are not going to read a thread about an 8 year old keyboard that has been discontinued for at least 3 years not being compatibile with an iPad. And the firmware on the keyboard is not upgradeable.

@Isreal Melendez: This is not the place because Apple does not montitor this Forum, there is not suggestion or solution, but Michael was nice enough to include the link to officially send feedback to Apple in his post. What in your post was benefical to anyone?

Nov 12, 2011 11:50 PM in response to deggie

deggie said: "And the firmware on the keyboard is not upgradeable."

OK. That is what we need to know. No more hoping for a white wireless keyboard firmware update. No more barking up the Apple tree. Thanks.

But the fact that the A1016 Apple Wireless Keyboard (2003) does work with newer Macs running Snow Leopard and Lion suggests that more effort went into Bluetooth backward compatibility with Mac OS X than with iOS.

The fact of the matter is that the iPhone ALMOST pairs up with the A1016. As others have noted here and at other sites, the code entry request, while in discovery mode on the iPhone, does not appear unless you hit Enter key. It flashes the random 4-digit number for a half-second, then disappears. A warning that the keyboard could not be paired follows. Now, if some brave Apple engineer could figure out how to make that code entry request pop up correctly, he or she would satisfy the many viewers of this thread. 14246 views as of 11/13/2011.

deggie

Level 10

167,177 points

Nov 12, 2011 11:55 PM in response to Richard Schletty

Macs running OS X can have the luxury of running more code and backward compatiblity and they have no real worries with the BT chip sucking down the battery. Not so on iDevices. I'm guessing you could by parts and rebuild the A1016 and make it work but the cost most likely would not be worth it.

Any Apple engineer who posted such information would not be an Apple engineer moments after they posted it, but I don't think there is such a way to do so anyway.

Feb 18, 2013 9:42 AM in response to iPadHeadache

Thanks for your attempts. DId you ever get it working?

I too find it strange that the pin dialog is dispalyed after the keypress.

I see in you original post that you had a 6 character pin in the error response text. My iPad PIN is only 4 characters in lenght (before the dialog changes the text to error text), which is doubly odd becaues when I pair the keyboard to the my MAC Air the PIN is 8 characters. All followed by enter.

I suspect that if I were able to press the correct 4 - 8 pin numbers then enter that the keyboard would connect, so far I have been unsucessfull in 20 attempts.

I wonder how many lines of code it would take to fix this? Perhaps as simple as bringing the dialog box to the front? Did they disable the keyboard because of the "help" key 🙂.

In any case, there is an article stating that it's not suported in iOS (in the line ABOVE the heading for the 2003 bluetooth keyboard). http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4112

Roger J

Level 1

9 points

Jan 30, 2014 6:58 AM in response to iPadHeadache

Add me to the list. Same problem.

Jan 13, 2015 4:57 PM in response to deggie

Hi there.

I have a model A1016 wireless keyboard and running Mountain Lion on a MacBook Pro. Can you tell me how you were able to pair it please?

Apple Bluetooth Keyboard model A1016 does not pair with iPad