iPad Pro won’t charge with USB-C to USB-C cable

I saw this posted elsewhere, but the post was old and there were no real fixes offered.


My iPad Pro 11 inch has been a trooper for as long as I’ve owned it. A while ago it stopped charging if I was using a USB-C to USB-C cable. It wil charge with a USB-A to USB-C cable, although sometimes I have to flip the USB-C connector over in order for it to begin charging.


it is not the cable or the adapter, as I am able to use the USB-C to USB-C cables on other devices just fine. There is someone in the OS that is detecting what kind of cable is being used and and says “Nope.”


Has anyone had any luck with Apple figuring out a way to have it accept a USB-C to USB-C for charging? This is really annoying, as I know it isn’t the cable, power adapter, nor the connector hardware on the iPad itself.

iPad Pro, iPadOS 16

Posted on Jun 1, 2023 5:58 AM

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28 replies

Oct 9, 2023 1:17 AM in response to redsalmon25

I had a similar problem but it was entirely my fault. I had left my ipad pro 11 outside and it received a quarter of an inch of rain.... The result was that the usb-c port was totally dead and so i now use the smart connectors to recharge my ipad and this works perfectly. Apple were going to charge me close to 700 euro for a repair and never suggested this route to salvage my ipad. Why not? Any all happy now...

Oct 12, 2023 6:22 PM in response to LotusPilot

It appears that the usb-c connector that apple solders to its motherboards is not reliable. It probably costs Apple a few pennies for this connector but when they solder it to the motherboard the connector cannot be replaced according to the genius at the genius bar. The "genius" also told me that perhaps my wife didn't plug it in correctly. So apple's solution is to toss the ipad in the trash.

However there is a workaround for just powering/charging the ipad (air in my case) and Lotuspilot nailed it. Buy the magic keyboard and never buy an apple product again until the connector, which is poorly designed, is replaced with a repairable AND reliable part.

As an apple investor and mechanical engineer I was angered and frustrated by the design/engineering choices they made. If you need to blame the customer for inserting a USB-C connector incorrectly then it failed basic poka yoke and likely customer retention.

Oct 21, 2023 9:33 AM in response to redsalmon25

I have the same issue where my ipad wont charge with a USB-C to USB-C charger, brand new or not. Ive tried different cables, different chargers and different power outlets in different homes. The weird thing is that a USB- C to USB-A works fine. No issues. This just happened within the last month. Not sure if an update caused the problem.

Oct 22, 2023 4:06 PM in response to drevilb

My wife has also had the same issue with her iPad mini 6, which is just over 2 years old, it has worked fine until a couple of months ago the it stopped charging, found if you just reboot the iPad then it will start charging again, contacted Apple support as the iPad is covered by Apple Care +, she is now on her 3rd replacement iPad, as the other replacements also stopped charging after 2-3 weeks, and today that has started to misbehave and stopped charging, rebooting the iPad has allowed us to charge it ok, will be monitoring it closely to see how long it actually works for. Apple support have recommended resting the iPad, after backing it up, and try a new virgin apple account to see if that helps, Have yet to try this. The iPad mini 6 is running iPad os 17.0.3 and still exhibiting this charging issue.

Oct 25, 2023 12:32 PM in response to jrecto

This is exactly my issue. My iPad suddenly stopped charging and so did my brand new iPhone 15 on USB-C. If I use USB-A to USB-C it works on both devices. If I connect my devices to my Mac, it doesn’t recognize them either, unless I use the USB-A cable. I have tried multiple cables and multiple chargers, all Apple products too, so it’s not a third-party issue. I rolled back to iOS 17.01 and it did not fix the problem. I’m not sure if this was related to the new iOS but it definitely started happening within the past month.

Oct 25, 2023 1:03 PM in response to redsalmon25

Hi, My wife iPad mini failed to charge again on the 23 and 24th Oct 23, again reboots cured the problem, before I rebooted it on the 24th Oct, I plugged into the USB C port a SD Card reader with my DSLR camera card in it, the iPad mini would not recognise the SD card, following the reboot the SD card was there and I could see the images on it. So this proves to me the USB C port is completely unresponsive to the system, The issue stared to show itself around June/July 23 so next time it fails to charge I will roll back the firmware to 16.5 which was released in May 23. I will update this thread on my results.

Oct 28, 2023 8:59 AM in response to redsalmon25

My 3rd gen iPad Pro 12.9 with iOS 16.7.2 has a similar charging problem. Everything worked fine until 1 week ago. 70% of the time that you plug in the charging cable, nothing happens. 20% of the time, it starts charging, but then 15 seconds later it stops. 10% of the time, it will actually charge the iPad. I also tried every combination of swapping out charging bricks, USB-C cables, reversing the cables, etc. and no change to the behavior. All of these charging bricks and cables charge other devices no problem.


I found an Apple support article with simple device soft reset instructions if your iPad won’t charge. Fix issues with charging - Apple Support. I followed the instructions, but it didn’t fix the problem.


I took my iPad into the Apple Store and the guy at the Genius Bar was able to replicate the problem. He then ran diagnostics on it and found zero problems with the hardware, but had no explanation for why this was happening. My iPad was out of warranty so he said it would cost $650 to swap it with an identical refurbished model (I have 512GB storage and the cellular model). He said Apple does not disassemble the iPad Pro 12.9 to attempt any repairs. The only option at the Apple Store was to replace it.


Interestingly, he said because the iPad passed the hardware diagnostics (in spite of the battery charging problem), it would qualify for a trade in credit of $300 if I wanted to buy a new iPad.

Nov 12, 2023 11:15 AM in response to redsalmon25

I'm having a similar problem. Just got my new iPad pro 11 and I'm having to reset my iPad every two days to fix the problem. For some reason it wont detect the charge after plugin it in, my mac wont detect the ipad either. If i reset the ipad, then it will start to work only for a day or 2 and then the problem repeats. Only by resetting the ipad does it detect the charge. I try resetting all settings and even doing a clean software update. But nothing. If problem persists, I might have to send it to apple. This is a brand new iPad. This issue came right out of the box. Might this be a problem with ipados 17?? anyone having this same issues? I haven't checked to see if charging from usb-a to c fixes the problem.

Nov 12, 2023 11:28 AM in response to alexgalactic

USB-A to USB-C works every time. I bought a cable from Amazon to at least have something to charge my iPad. Since I charge my iPhone wirelessly it’s not as big an issue on that device. Something is clearly not right on iOS 17 and iPadOS 17 with the USB-C charging. I haven’t seen anything with regards to a fix coming either. Apple keeps telling me to just replace the device but it’s clearly not the device.

iPad Pro won’t charge with USB-C to USB-C cable

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