Apple pencil won't pair with iPad Air 3

This appears to be a bug affecting some users. Another contributor, ApplesAreUs, reports having found a workaround solution.

“... can confirm the issue is iOS 13.5. The only way to pair your 1st Gen Apple Pencil to your iPad Air 3 is to quickly connect and then disconnect power to your iPad then plug the Pencil into the Lighting port. This will fix the issue and will pair successfully”

It’s like the quick jab of power to the iPad ‘wakes’ some part of the software into action. I can confirm I’ve tried this on 2 different iPad Airs with same result.

This discussion details the workaround:

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/251382715

See if this Apple document will help.

Use Apple Pencil with your iPad or iPad Pro

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT205236

Thank you. It’s solved.

I’m delighted to learn that the workaround solved the problem.

Thanks, solved it for me

Another happy customer 🙂