using the keyboard and mouse at MacBook Air on iPad Pro

Abrxg wrote:

yes, I can use a keyboard and mouse or trackpad across your Mac and iPad with Universal Control. That's wonderful. but I can not use Mac keyboard to type like !@#$%^&*()_+ in iPad Pro . it's only types 1234567890-=. So I do not know why. and if I hit F1 key, the screen display brightness will dim before. but now I must hit Fn+F1 to do it. and all F keys is the same problem.

Regarding the F1 key issue: go to System Preferences->Keyboard->Keyboard and make sure that "Use F1, F2 etc as standard function keys" is NOT checked. (The wording may be slightly different, but it should be obvious which checkbox this is; I have a mac with touch bar, hence I don't have the same checkbox here)

Hello Abrxg,

Just to clarify,  are you using a keyboard and mouse or trackpad across your Mac and iPad with Universal Control?

With Universal Control, you can use the keyboard and mouse or trackpad connected to your Mac to work across your Mac and iPad when they’re near each other. For example, you can open and use apps, enter text, and drag items across devices. If an external keyboard and mouse or trackpad are connected to your iPad, you can use them to work across both devices too.

You can find more information about the Universal Control feature and how to use it with your devices here: Use a keyboard and mouse or trackpad across your Mac and iPad with Universal Control

If you are using the above steps to use Universal Control with your Mac and iPad, and need further assistance, please contact Apple Support. You might be able to contact them here: Get Support

Thanks!

No connectors are involved.

This is about Universal Control, whereby you can use your mac keyboard and trackpad and move the cursor "magically" over to the iPad sitting next to it, all done over the air, using Wifi and (I presume) Bluetooth. Then move the cursor back and continue using your mac, pretty much seamlessly.

I have done this - though I don't have much use for it myself, and it worked well, but I used it just enough to see if it worked,

I will test more, with several apps on the iPad, and see if I get any issues.

As of Monday 5/16/2022, iPadOS 15.5 and MacOS 12.4 have been released and with those, Universal Control is no longer Beta.

You might want to upgrade your MacBook Air and iPad Pro, and try Universal Control again, seeing if you can type those punctuation characters (numbers, but with the shift key on the keyboard depressed) onto your iPad Pro.

This would appear, to me, as a Hardware issue with the Keyboard that only a Genius Bar visit could help to determine

There maybe some defect in the Physical Keyboard

Does the same issue present when restarting in Safe Mode. This will perform a Disk Repair, clear cache files and only load Apple Software, extensions and fonts. The boot up will be slow and can take some time - Normal.

Sometimes a Safe Boot followed by a Normal Boot will just put things right.

Updating may help, and it is certainly worth a try.

However, since this problem is not felt by most users, it suggests something peculiar with the OP system, and not an overall bug.

I, for one, have no trouble typing anything in my mac keyboard when using Universal Control (and I have not yet updated).

At least on my MacBook Pro (MacOS12.4) using an Apple Magic Keyboard with Universal Control over to my 7th gen iPad (iPadOS 15.5), no function key presses appear on the iPad regardless of whether (on the Mac) System -> Keyboard "Use F1, F2 ... as standard function keys" is checked or not.

I don't know if those key presses would extend over to another Mac with Universal Control or not.

bob32 wrote:

At least on my MacBook Pro (MacOS12.4) using an Apple Magic Keyboard with Universal Control over to my 7th gen iPad (iPadOS 15.5), no function key presses appear on the iPad regardless of whether (on the Mac) System -> Keyboard "Use F1, F2 ... as standard function keys" is checked or not.

This seems reasonable, as there are no function keys in the iPad virtual keyboard, nor on the iPad "Magic Keyboard"; it suggests to me that these keys may well have no effect in iPadOS.

don't know if those key presses would extend over to another Mac with Universal Control or not.

I don't have two macs where I can test (only one mac in my household is capable of running Monterey, the others are too old), but I'd be surprised and disappointed if these keys did not work on another mac.

I don't think it is a hardware problem.

The OP says the keys work correctly on the mac, but some of them do not work when using Universal Control to type on the iPad Pro.

Could be right.

So the connectors on the iPad may come into question ?

Then the visit to Genius Bar may or may not still be required

EDITED - only on first Expresso of the day

All very good points and Thank you.

Gave up on iPads year ago so really out of my league on this one.