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MacBook Pro M1 max can only connect to iPad Pro M1 with original Apple Cable

Got my MacBook today and a cable issue drove me nuts.

The iPad Pro M1 (2021) will only connect to the MacBook Pro M1 max with an original Apple USB-C cable. Any other quality (Anker, CalDigit) USB-C or ThunderBolt 3 or 4 cable will not work. This problem did not exist with my previous MacBook Pro 2019. This problem also does not exist with a 2020 iPad Pro, which connects to the new MacBook with any cable.

Any solution except dumping all non Apple cables?

Posted on Nov 15, 2021 8:00 AM

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39 replies

Feb 7, 2022 9:12 AM in response to Vmax28

Interesting update, I purchased a thunderbolt four hub from Mac sales.com (OWC) and it is recognized As a thunderbolt for hub in the new 16 inch pro max. I then connect the M1 iPad Pro to the hub and it is recognized and Connects at a speed of 10 Gb per second using the Apple branded thunderbolt three cable as well as other thunderbolt cables and USB-C 3.1 cables as well. Still not the thunderbolt three or four speed of 40 Gb per second but this is as good as it has connected with any Mac which has thunderbolt ports. Again, Apple needs to solve this problem to be able to directly connect the M1 iPad Pro to the pro max MacBook Pro directly with a fast connection and not the USB 2.0 standard as it now connects with the supplied power/data transfer cable .

Feb 11, 2022 2:32 AM in response to Vmax28

I have the same problem with my M1 Max MacBook Pro and M1 iPad Pro. I have a Belkin TB3 cable and a new Apple TB3 cable. I have a selection of 10Gb/s USB 3.1 Gen2 cables - all of which allow charging (or sometimes the charging flaps), but does not allow data to flow (no iPad in finder or System Information - and Photos App is in a loop of trying to connect and failing).

Any low speed cable with work at USB2 speeds. And I can achieve 10Gb/s via a USB 3.1 Gen2 Hub.

The iPad connected fine on my previous Intel MacBook Pro Touchbar.


It could be the two Apple devices fail to negotiate a connection on a firmware level, because sometimes I get intermittent charging when I have turned on my Macbook, but not entered my user password to FileVault decrypt the drive.

Feb 12, 2022 5:38 AM in response to umangp

Ive taken my MacBook and iPad to the Apple store to run diagnostics on both devices and test the cables. All are fine.

then connected a store display M1 iPad to a store display M1 Pro MacBook using their own TB3 cable and the same problem occurred.

A ticket has been raised with Apple senior support as a bug.

Feb 13, 2022 9:55 AM in response to Vmax28

Ten minutes of your time please.

Can I ask for help once again. If someone has an MacBook Pro / iPad Pro setup which will not connect would they please connect them and when they do not connect just leave the whole setup undisturbed for at least 10 minutes. When I did this the two connected after sitting there for six minutes. I want to see if this was a problem unique to me or more general.

Many thanks.

Feb 13, 2022 3:23 PM in response to Tyke999

M1 iPad Pro to MacBook Pro 13 inch M1 connected at 10 Gb per second. Immediate connection. Using apple thunderbolt 3 cable.

M1 iPad Pro to M1 MacBook Air connected at 10Gb per second. Immediate connection. Using Apple to h miner bolt 3 cable.

M1iPad Pro to MacBook Pro 14 and 16 Apple silicon models only connect via supplied cables at 480Mb per second. No connection using apple thunderbolt 3 cable or any other branded thunderbolt 3 cable or usb 3.0, or 3.1 or 3.2 cables even waiting 10 minutes.

As I have stated in previous posts to this topic, the same problem existed in connecting iPad Pro M1 to the iMac Pro.

tickets open 4 months ago without resolution as to a fix. My apple store worked with me for resolution with iMac Pro but no solution with MacBook Pro Max other than connecting thunderbolt 4 hub then M1 iPad Pro to hub with apple thunderbolt 3 cable which connects at 10 Gb per sec to MacBook Pro Max.

Feb 13, 2022 7:38 PM in response to Vmax28

final resolution at the moment


I went to the Apple Store as well and was told that there is no solution (I've never heard of such a symptom nor has it been reported).

However, I verified the thunderbolt hub through the LG display in the store as described by the community here, and I got a thunderbolt connection with the M1pro macbook and a 10Gb/s connection with the iPad Pro (5th).

Also, the thunderbolt connection between the M1macbook Air and the iPad Pro(5th) was not confirmed, but it worked as USB.

Given the small number of reported cases of this problem, it will likely take quite some time for it to be resolved.

Until then, operating at 10GB/s through a hub or at 480MB/s on usb2.0 is the confirmed solution.

I warn you, there is no need to buy another genuine Apple cable by mistake. Third party cables will work as they should. This is because the problem is caused by the OS, not the cable origin.

Feb 14, 2022 5:33 AM in response to shoma_M

You should know that none of the connections are via the thunderbolt bus rather are listed as the USB 3.1 bus connection. The LG display is listed as a thunderbolt bus connection as is my thunderbolt 4 hub listed in the thunderbolt bus connection in system information. However when you connect the iPad Pro M1, it's connection is listed through the USB bus not the thunderbolt bus. Now to be clear the USB 3.1 10 Gb per second connection is 21 times faster than the USB 2.0 480 Mb per second connection. Actual throughput and backing up is more along the lines of the 5 Gb per second in my testing. Even that is much faster than the USB 2.0 standard. I am wondering if the advertised thunderbolt port on the iPad and M1 is compatible with display only and not thunderbolt bus compatible for data transfer such as backing up to your computer or transferring files. Apple indeed advertises it as thunderbolt compatible yet it's not working out that way. We should also remember that thunderbolt four is backwards compatible with thunderbolt three and all USB standards so if a piece of hardware is connected to it which is only compatible with USB 2.0, that will be the speed at which it connects and it will be listed as USB 2.0. The problem to me obviously cannot be limited to operating system alone as this problem has existed across three operating systems but with different hardware configurations. If it were solely in operating system problem, it should have existed across all hardware platforms. I am wondering if it is hardware alone or a possibility of a combination of the two that spans the MacBook Pro and promax and the iMac Pro lines. Regardless, it is not a sporadic problem but I think those who iPhone the MacBook Pro and Pro Max 14 and 16 inch models who also on the M1 iPad Pro model are a small percentage of people and many of those do not notice connection speeds as listed in system information so it may be a problem that has not been reported simply because of those numbers. The benefit of the pro max stretches way beyond a single connection problem with the iPad Pro and one model. My question is, if this is a problem with Apple hardware which should communicate via the thunderbolt bus add up to 40 Gb per second, what about other manufacturer hardware in the future that will come down the line? Will it possibly suffer from the same problem? Concerning indeed and again Apple needs to solve.

MacBook Pro M1 max can only connect to iPad Pro M1 with original Apple Cable

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