My 1st gen Apple Pencil won’t pair with my iPad Air 3
I’ve plugged the pencil into the side, but the button doesn’t pop up. I also went into Bluetooth to try and pair it but it doesn’t pop up in the “My devices” section.
iPad Air, iPadOS 13
Question marked as
If you have not already done so, you must update your iPad to iPadOS 13.6.1.
A known issue with iPadOS 13.5.x interferes with pairing and operation of Apple Pencil with iPad Air3. The update to iPadOS 13.6 or later resolves the issue.
Once updated to iPadOS 13.6.1, if the issue is not resolved, consider the following troubleshooting...
Assuming that you do not have any other iPad charging issues - and that the Lightning Port of your iPad is free from debris - whilst the Pencil is plugged-in to the Lightning Port of your iPad, verify that the Pencil is recognised:
Settings > General > About
Scroll to the bottom of the page - and you should find two identical entries for the Pencil (one each for the physical and Bluetooth connections). If both entries are present, the Pencil electronics are good.
Whilst connected to your iPad, verify the Pencil charging status from the Battery Widget - this being accessed from your first Home Screen. Your Pencil should show that it is charging - with an increasing battery charge percentage. Allow to charge to 100%.
Whilst monitoring the Battery Widget, disconnect the Pencil from the iPad. If the battery level drops significantly, or disappears completely within a few seconds, the Pencil battery has failed.
The tiny internal Li-ion battery is susceptible to permanent/irreversible damage through being left discharged for long periods. Even some “new” pencils can exhibit signs of failure out-of-the-box if they are “old stock”.
It is essential that if you have an Apple Pencil that you charge it regularly - whether used or not - so as to protect the battery from deep-discharge. Do not allow a pencil to remain in low-charge state for any period of time - as the internal battery will fail, rendering the Pencil useless.
If the Pencil Battery has failed, the only remedy is to replace the Pencil. Being new (?) you should look to having it replaced. If within the Pencil’s one year warranty, if otherwise undamaged, Apple will usually replace the Pencil without quible.
I hope this information proves to be helpful in both diagnosing and resolving the problem.