Magic Keyboard passthrough charging doesn’t charge iPad Pro when Magic Keyboard is closed

CXI wrote:

Thanks. I have verified the states of my smart plugs and they are as they should be when set to charge. The same thing happens when not plugged into smart plugs. I disable Accessories along with most features when in lock mode for security reasons.

To be clear, your iPad cannot connect to accessory devices, or power, if more than one hour has elapsed since the iPad was locked. As such, the iPad will not necessarily charge if external power is applied while the iPad is locked. Your USB-C Power Adapter is an active device - that must be able to communicate with the iPad to negotiate a Power Profile; while locked, the USB PD handshake may be inhibited.

In addition to Auto-Lock settings, the Lock function is activated when the keyboard or case cover is closed; the Lock function is triggered by a hall-effect (magnetic) switch. This behaviour can itself be disabled from iPad settings:

Settings > Display & Brightness > Lock/Unlock - set to ON or OFF as required.

Your iPad is designed with security in mind. Inhibiting the USB-C (or Lightning) port of an iPad (or iPhone) prevents certain exploits from being attempted against a device that is locked and/or unattended.

This behaviour may be expected with recent versions of iOS/iPadOS.

By design, for enhanced security, iOS/iPadOS will disable the Lightning/USB-C port while the iPad is sleeping and is not connected to external power. In this state, when connecting power to the iPad, the iPad will not begin charging until the iPad is unlocked with its Passcode. While not documented, charging from the Magic Keyboard via the iPad’s Smart Connector may be similarly interrupted.

While not recommended, you may be able to disable this security feature from iPad settings:

Settings > FaceID | TouchID & Passcode > [Allow Access When Locked] Accessories - set to ON

(Shown here in the default/secure state)

Your description clearly indicates that your Automation Shortcuts may have switched-off your smart AC-power outlets. As such, with the iPad locked and sleeping (i.e., the Magic keyboard is closed), the USB-C port (and charging) will be disabled until the iPad is next unlocked.

Interesting. Your title suggests that you have already verified that the Automation Shortcuts are actually firing and that the smart outlets are actually turning on and off, so that the problem must be in passing the power in through the passthrough USB-C port in the Magic Keyboard. Is that an accurate description of your situation?

If so, that does not match my experience. When I plug power into the Magic Keyboard while it is closed, it does charge my iPad Pro 12.9” 5th Gen.

If you have not separately verified that the shortcuts are firing and turning the outlets on and off while the keyboard is closed, I suggest that should be your next step.

Do you mind sharing the name of the smart outlets you’re using? That along with good device practices and the 80% charge limit should boost our battery capacity for those of us planning for the long run. Ever since Apple has stated battery aging is the reason our devises slow down over time (apparently), I’ve been trying to be good to my devices.

I stumbled across your post here because I’m having a similar issue with my Magic Keyboard’s passthrough not charging my 13” iPad. But if you plug that exact same charger into the iPad’s USB-C port it works no problem.

The only solution to this that I’ve found is if I swap the 20 watt wall power brick to a MacBook Pro’s USB-C charger brick. I assume the higher wattage allows it to passthrough the Magic Keyboard to the iPad. Maybe give that a go.

If that doesn’t work I hope it’s just a quick fix for you in the next update.

Thanks for the smart outlet recommendations. I’m going to give your automation set up a go.

If you’re still experiencing the pass though issue, try a 60W GaN charger or higher. Also, changing your accessory lock out setting like the other person mentioned should do the trick. If not, you’ll likely need to contact Apple’s support.

Did this behavior perhaps start with 16.5.1? Maybe they just now added the Magic Keyboard passthrough power-only path to the list of covered accessories.