iPad Magic Keyboard backlight not turning off. Draining battery when iPad is not being used.

Wow. I can certainly understand why you ONLY have 9 points :-) I can't fix this as I suspect no other user here can fix this. But I did ask if anyone who is experiencing this has a full screen protector on their iPad, which could block the sensors. That is something which could effect this.

Exactly what have you offered as a possibility?

I've come to this forum, as a customer suffering from this bug, to offer the possibility that this is a bug in software. Possibly hardware has some play, but after having received 2 new keyboards that do the same, I am convinced it is primarily a software issue. I am a customer coming to Apple forums to express my concern and my customer experience. It is Apple's job to investigate, debug and fix. If you had read through the whole thread, perhaps you would have seen my previous feedback here.

I simply found it pointless to come here and say "it works for me". It's already been long established (if you read the thread) that it does not repro 100%.

That's why I thought a comment like "I use both browsers and the back lights go off as they should in all cases." doesn't exactly add to the discussion. Which, when I saw your points level, struck me as humorous.

Make sense?

Sure, I hear you re: Apple forums. Already contacted Apple multiple times (including the 2 times spent on the phone with tech support which led to the 2 keyboard replacements). We have done nothing to our iPads (i.e. no screen protectors), so they either have a serious hardware defect problem they're failing to acknowledge, or there is clearly some software-related bug. We are not using any unusual third party apps... we're only using Apple apps and/or Top 10-level third party apps (kindle app, Notability).

And, again, I would suggest: Apple should acknowledge/explain this bug, even if they're convinced it's caused by certain apps not handling keyboard/lighting properly (i.e. software bugs).

Apple's response has been non-existent, other than sending these keyboards and us being told "there's no official report/response to this issue" whenever we've spoken with Apple tech support.

Which is why there are so many frustrated Apple customers saying "WTH Apple?!" Very disappointing.

And in answer to your last question: SOMETIMES the lights go out when you lock. And then sometimes they stay on. When they stay on, any adjustment of the keyboard light level slider has no effect. A clear indicator that it's once again gotten "stuck" in that buggy mode. The only solution is to disconnect and re-connect the keyboard. Which is a nuisance at best. But when the lights decide to go on while it's already closed and you're not around to see it, thats when it really drains your battery and you return to a dead ipad.

If Apple didn't make people jump thru hoops every time they called about it, I could deal with Apple not wanting to admit fault to a wide audience until they have a fix. But we had to call multiple times, go thru some (obviously) misguided suggestions, and demand to talk to managers before we finally got new keyboards shipped out. And the Apple tech support people also have no clue, so it's a brand new conversation every time you call them (even if they have notes from previous calls). If Apple would at least have a prepared customer support reply (acknowledging the issue, and admitting they're actively working on it), it would make the experience less crummy for customers.

Frankly, our best "temp fix" is to disconnect the keyboard at night so it doesn't drain. We use our ipads regularly/daily, so shutting down is a bigger pain in butt.

I hear you and again understand your frustration, but as another user, I have no ability to do anything other than make suggestions. Like restoring your iPad from backup using your computer with iTunes.

I too have this issue with my 11” 1st gen iPad.

I eventually resorted to restoring my iPad in a bid to fit it and I believed it had resolved the problem. But it was short lived and the problem persists.

I have no screen protector on my iPad, nor is it jailbroken.

The problem has existed over multiple OS, including iOS 14 beta’s 1 & 2.

For a shockingly expensive piece of hardware, I would expect Apple to have found a solution by now.

So it’s July 16th. Just upgraded to iPad OS 13.6. Nothing mentioned about a fix for this problem. Once I updated, I kept an eye on issues that concern me regarding the Magic Keyboard. The light sensor appears to be working and adjusting as I would expect. The keyboard dims if I don’t type for a period of time, and then immediately comes on as I touch the keyboard. The cursor functions properly and does not disappear. When I close the iPad against the MK it takes a few seconds, but both the iPad and the keyboard backlight turns off. I used the iPad all day for emails and texting - as well as some basic writing and work on spreadsheets. Power is down to about 50% so it seems that things have improved 🤞 I will report back to see if overnight it drains to 0 power.

How this helps folks to review their own results. Please post how your MK reacts if you update.

Follow Up; iPadOS 14 Public Beta 1 doesn't fix the keyboard backlight issue still. I literally opened my 2020 IPP for two minutes to adjust a system setting, closed it, and the light stayed on. I contacted Apple and there will most likely be a 4th replacement in my future but I honestly don't think there's a point anymore. What a piece of junk.

I got to experience the issue first hand last night. Vs walking in and finding the light on.

I was watching YouTube via the app. Keyboard light was off.

All of a sudden the controls appeared over true video, as though I’d hovered over the screen, but I hadn’t. The keyboard light come on and stayed on.

This makes me think it’s related to the trackpad.

my keyboard worked fine for about 2 weeks till today the lights are on again and i have not a f..... clue why thx apple (again) i’ll get rid of the mKB as soon as possible as a matter of fact i’ll get rid of all my apple stuff it’s bout time for me, the last 5 years the apple portfolio of hardware got worse every year and i’m tired of it bye bye and good luck for all of you especially to the people having problems, the rest seems to need no luck cause everything is fine for some lucky customers see ya

I‘m on my 12.9“ iPad with iPadOS 13.6. Still the same problem. It‘s easy to see it in the darkness, but not during daylight. Disconnecting the iPad from the keyboard helps, but this cannot be a solution.

Hello,

Try updating to iPadOS 13.5 to see if it resolves your problem.

Settings > General > Software Update

13.5 does not fix the issue.

I have it installed and was poking around to see if I could find out if this is a widespread issue.