Is my apple pencil battery dead?

My 1st generation apple pencil is not connecting to my iPad. After a short search here, I saw there were many people didn't use their pencils for a long time just to find out their batteries died and can't be used anymore.


However, I used my pencil not longer than a week ago. Just last Saturday I gave a Zoom lesson and it worked perfectly fine. After that I didn't charge it but can a battery die completely in a mere week or might this be a different problem? If so is there a way to make it work?


I tried resetting the iPad but it didn't work. The pencil has been plugged into the iPad for almost half an hour now but there doesn't seem to be any sign of life. Do I need to buy another pencil? I use my pencil frequently, almost everyday and I am hoping the battery didn't die just because I gave a break for one week and I don't think I can afford to buy a new one right now.

Posted on Apr 23, 2021 8:52 AM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Apr 23, 2021 6:54 PM

Your Pencil battery may have failed and your Pencil is dead.


Sorry.


You cannot store Pencils for any prolonged period of time and NOT keep them charged up to some level.

If your Pencil/s sat around unused or unopened and not kept charged up for more than a few weeks, or so, OR

LONGER, then the battery in your Pencil may have failed and is dead and you will have to purchase another

brand new Pencil or get, if still under warranty, a free replacement Pencil from Apple.


Sorry.


And it looks like some things about the Pencil have NOT changed in the new version 2 model, either.


FYI and something Apple will never, EVER divulge to it potential iPad Pro/Pencil customers/users unless the potential customer/user is smart enough to ask about,


Due to the “always on and active/standby” nature of the Pencil and, also, due to its very tiny rechargeable Li-

ion battery ( smaller than the eraser head on a REAL wooden pencil ), the Pencil needs to be constantly charged up to some significant charge level ALL THE TIME, even when not using the Pencil for prolonged periods of time.


The Pencil needs to be kept charged to a minimum of 5-10% all the time.


If the Pencil battery is allowed to drain down to 0% and allowed to stay in that flat condition for more than a few weeks, or so, OR EVEN LONGER, that very tiny little Li-ion battery is too small to keep at a 0% state for a long period of time and it will fail and the Pencil will be dead and you may have to “pop” for another $99/$129 Pencil, once again!


Apple only has a one-year warranty on any Apple accessory items.


You need to keep your Pencil charged all the time, even if it is only to 10%-15% charge. It must keep some charge level in that tiny Lithium-ion battery at all times!



One last ditch thing you can try is to plug the Pencil's Lightning connector into the iPad.

Then, try a simple hard reset of your iPad by holding down both the Home and sleep/wake buttons simultaneously until your iPad goes to black and restarts with Apple logo, then release the buttons.


See if the Pencil starts charging then, when it reaches a sufficient charge, like over 15%, or so, or more, disconnect the Pencil and reconnect it to see if it Bluetooth pairs.

If it does pair, try using it.


Someone else posted another possible idea/solution that you can try before completely giving up on your Pencil.

Try heating up your Pencil using a hair dryer on its highest setting for 5-15 minutes, or so.

Do not get the hair dryer heat too close to the Pencil.

Or try leaving it near an active home heating register, where you live, for 10-15 minutes, or so.

See if this will revive the Pencil battery, or not.


If still no joy, your Pencil is definitely dead.



Sorry and Best of Luck to You!

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2 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Apr 23, 2021 6:54 PM in response to usernamenotaken

Your Pencil battery may have failed and your Pencil is dead.


Sorry.


You cannot store Pencils for any prolonged period of time and NOT keep them charged up to some level.

If your Pencil/s sat around unused or unopened and not kept charged up for more than a few weeks, or so, OR

LONGER, then the battery in your Pencil may have failed and is dead and you will have to purchase another

brand new Pencil or get, if still under warranty, a free replacement Pencil from Apple.


Sorry.


And it looks like some things about the Pencil have NOT changed in the new version 2 model, either.


FYI and something Apple will never, EVER divulge to it potential iPad Pro/Pencil customers/users unless the potential customer/user is smart enough to ask about,


Due to the “always on and active/standby” nature of the Pencil and, also, due to its very tiny rechargeable Li-

ion battery ( smaller than the eraser head on a REAL wooden pencil ), the Pencil needs to be constantly charged up to some significant charge level ALL THE TIME, even when not using the Pencil for prolonged periods of time.


The Pencil needs to be kept charged to a minimum of 5-10% all the time.


If the Pencil battery is allowed to drain down to 0% and allowed to stay in that flat condition for more than a few weeks, or so, OR EVEN LONGER, that very tiny little Li-ion battery is too small to keep at a 0% state for a long period of time and it will fail and the Pencil will be dead and you may have to “pop” for another $99/$129 Pencil, once again!


Apple only has a one-year warranty on any Apple accessory items.


You need to keep your Pencil charged all the time, even if it is only to 10%-15% charge. It must keep some charge level in that tiny Lithium-ion battery at all times!



One last ditch thing you can try is to plug the Pencil's Lightning connector into the iPad.

Then, try a simple hard reset of your iPad by holding down both the Home and sleep/wake buttons simultaneously until your iPad goes to black and restarts with Apple logo, then release the buttons.


See if the Pencil starts charging then, when it reaches a sufficient charge, like over 15%, or so, or more, disconnect the Pencil and reconnect it to see if it Bluetooth pairs.

If it does pair, try using it.


Someone else posted another possible idea/solution that you can try before completely giving up on your Pencil.

Try heating up your Pencil using a hair dryer on its highest setting for 5-15 minutes, or so.

Do not get the hair dryer heat too close to the Pencil.

Or try leaving it near an active home heating register, where you live, for 10-15 minutes, or so.

See if this will revive the Pencil battery, or not.


If still no joy, your Pencil is definitely dead.



Sorry and Best of Luck to You!

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Is my apple pencil battery dead?

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