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I get a “Mesage Send Failure” notice when I try to send SMS on my iPad

When I try to send a message using my iPad, I get a message On the right saying “Not Delivered!” And on the left a mEssage saying “Message Send Failure”. So what do I do to send a message?

iPad, iPadOS 13

Posted on Aug 25, 2020 1:37 PM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Aug 25, 2020 10:41 PM

An iPad cannot send SMS or MMS messages, as it lacks the necessary hardware to connect to the cellular voice/text system.


If you have an iPhone attached to the same Apple ID, you can use the iPhone to relay those messages. See How to forward SMS/MMS text messages from your iPhone to your iPad, iPod touch or Mac - Apple Support for details.

4 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Aug 25, 2020 10:41 PM in response to Davidjruth

An iPad cannot send SMS or MMS messages, as it lacks the necessary hardware to connect to the cellular voice/text system.


If you have an iPhone attached to the same Apple ID, you can use the iPhone to relay those messages. See How to forward SMS/MMS text messages from your iPhone to your iPad, iPod touch or Mac - Apple Support for details.

Aug 26, 2020 5:33 AM in response to Davidjruth

An iPad, whether a Cellular model or not, is not capable of directly accessing Cellular Voice or Messaging features. An iPad with Cellular connectivity alone can only access IP-data services. An iPad is not, and can never be, a standalone substitute for an iPhone.


However, If paired with an iPhone, the capabilities of iPad significantly broaden to include access to Cellular Voice and Messaging services of the associated iPhone - relayed to the iPad over WiFi using Apple’s continuity features. For the most part, an iPad using Continuity is able to access Cellular calling features, of the iPhone, when both the iPad an iPhone are in close physical proximity and are connected to the same WiFi network - but this is not the end of the story.


More information about Continuity and the relevant Cellular services can be found here:


Continuity

https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT204681


SMS/MMS Messaging

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208386



If you do have an iPhone, you must explicitly enable Text Message Forwarding for your iPad on the iPhone.


On your iPhone:

Settings > Messages > Text Message Forwarding - set to ON - and explicitly enable your iPad from the list of devices.


Also ensure that Messages in iCloud is enabled on both your iPhone and iPad:

Settings > [Your Name / AppleID] > Messages - set to ON


More information:

How to forward SMS/MMS text messages from your iPhone to your iPad, iPod touch or Mac - Apple Support


Fault finding if needed:

If you can't send or receive messages on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch - Apple Support


I hope you find this to helpful in resolving the issue.

I get a “Mesage Send Failure” notice when I try to send SMS on my iPad

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