Magic keyboard not lighting up

The keyboard suddenly stopped working recently, after a year of having to adjust it only once (Settings> General> Keyboard>Hardware Keyboard), but now it wont work. The keys and the track pad are fine, its just the backlight wont come on.

Try losing the ipad off the aging keyboard. Then close the keyboard. Then open the keyboard restart the ipad and connect it to magic keyboard.

Not so in my case. Even in totally dark environment (or covering the light sensor next to the portrait camera) the screen brightness dims as expected but the magic keyboard stays dark (keys are working). If the keyboard hardware did not break (which I doubt) then there seems to be a problem with the latest iOS version (14.7.1). Restarting the iPad (2020) does not help.

I figured out the issue with my white magic keyboard, just use it in a very dark room and it automatically turns the backlight on. You can’t control it anymore in lighter conditions.

Did anyone here find a fix to this? 2021 iPad Pro 12.9 with white magic keyboard here, no backlight on the keyboard, option is Greyed out. Please let me know if someone found a fix. Thanks.

Same stupid crap here. just called Apple on this and they won't back the warranty, want me to pay 350 bucks for another. I told apple to suck it. Apple does these things most people wouldn't notice to get away with a half baked products. Personally I'm not buying anymore garbage from Apple until TIM COOK steps down as CEO.

I’m having this exact issue. No one in apple knows how to fix it. I got everything new and the only reason i got this keyboard was for the ease, and for the fact that it lights up. It’s not like its cheap, I would’ve rather had bought a Mac book if i new this would be the issue. Ive tried everything apple told me too, the lady at the store in my mall told me to return the keyboard and get a new one. I did that and the new one is still having this issue. Apple please just tell me what to do!

I have the same issue. 2020 IPAD Pro 12.9, plus the new 2021 white magic keyboard. When i bought the keyboard the trackpad would not work. I then updated the software to June 2021 which sorted the trackpad issue. However, now the keyboard backlight does not work…. And Assistive Touch is off.

In addition to my last comment: The backlight is not always off. Currently it works again, but I cannot see any method behind working and not working. Undocking and docking the keyboard does not help. Switching between apps apparently suddenly worked. It definitely looks like a software flaw.

I had the same question. However, after reading the specs on the magic keyboard -- for my iPad Air it's based on the light conditions around you. So, I went into a dark room and it automatically turned on. From there, you can go in the settings and adjust the lighting. There's no way to turn the backlit on and off manually for me. Hope that helps.

"Like an iPad, the brightness of the Magic Keyboard automatically adjusts based on the light conditions around you. If you want to manually adjust the brightness of the keys on your Magic Keyboard, go to Settings > General > Keyboard > Hardware Keyboard."

Hi Nebula24,

Thanks for reaching out to us here in Apple Support Communities! We understand that your Magic Keyboard isn't working as you'd expect, and we're here to help.

If you haven't done so already, let's check the Settings app > Accessibility > Touch > Assistive Touch and see if it's turned on. If it is, please try turning this setting off and let us know if you can increase the backlight on the keyboard.

All the best!

Ditto!!!

I am having the same problem. The keyboard backlight does not come on and the manual adjustment is greyed out.

Because it doesn’t have it, the white one isn’t backlit

You could not be more wrong.