You can make a difference in the Apple Support Community!

When you sign up with your Apple Account, you can provide valuable feedback to other community members by upvoting helpful replies and User Tips.

Looks like no one’s replied in a while. To start the conversation again, simply ask a new question.

iPad screen flickers black when device is touched

My iPad Air 4 has started flickering and going black when I touch the casing. Mostly when I touch the back of it, such as to pick it up, or the outer edge, such as to steady it when drawing. Sometimes it flickers back on immediately and sometimes it stays black. It also doesn’t seem to like the Home button being touched to wake it, and sometimes it starts blacking out when I’m typing. As you can imagine this makes it almost unusable.


Pressing in the centre back of the iPad stabilises it for a little while, then it starts again. I had this issue before and both times it had been after I’d taken my iPad with me on a long car journey (where it had not left my backpack by my feet the whole time). Everything is up to date and I’ve done all the restarting/charging stuff. It definitely seems to be a hardware issue. Has the motion of the journey jostled something loose? It’s in a protective case and has been since I got it 4 months ago, and there’s no damage to it whatsoever. It can’t possibly be that delicate!


The most frustrating thing is I reported it to Apple who arranged a repair, but as soon as they got it, sent it back because they “couldn’t replicate the fault”. I’d even sent a video of it happening. And now it’s doing it again, essentially whenever I pick it up to move it or touch it to use it.


Someone else must have had this fault and it must be fixable!

iPad Air, 15

Posted on Jul 18, 2022 4:16 PM

Reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Jul 19, 2022 3:58 AM

The behaviour that you describe is symptomatic of an internal connection issue - as illustrated by applying pressure to the back of the iPad. In some circumstances, the fault may be stable and be masked at certain temperatures.


Telephone support is not going to help you isolate the problem. Neither will you be able to fix the problem yourself - as the iPad will require disassembly.


You would be best advised to visit the Genius Bar at your local Apple Store or Apple Authorised Service Provider (AASP) - where you will be able to demonstrate the issue to the technicians, who in turn will be able to test and assess your iPad:

Genius Bar Reservation and Apple Support Options - Apple


While the Genius Bar technicians are very unlikely to have the means by which to disassemble your iPad and trace the fault, if successfully demonstrated, you may be offered an appropriate remedy.


Key to having the issue resolved is successful demonstration of the problem.


Similar questions

2 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Jul 19, 2022 3:58 AM in response to etaknosnhoj

The behaviour that you describe is symptomatic of an internal connection issue - as illustrated by applying pressure to the back of the iPad. In some circumstances, the fault may be stable and be masked at certain temperatures.


Telephone support is not going to help you isolate the problem. Neither will you be able to fix the problem yourself - as the iPad will require disassembly.


You would be best advised to visit the Genius Bar at your local Apple Store or Apple Authorised Service Provider (AASP) - where you will be able to demonstrate the issue to the technicians, who in turn will be able to test and assess your iPad:

Genius Bar Reservation and Apple Support Options - Apple


While the Genius Bar technicians are very unlikely to have the means by which to disassemble your iPad and trace the fault, if successfully demonstrated, you may be offered an appropriate remedy.


Key to having the issue resolved is successful demonstration of the problem.


iPad screen flickers black when device is touched

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple Account.