Level 1

31 points

Apple Pencil no longer working after recent software update

I saw this inquiry posted by DeanMacSha from March. I updated my iPad with the new software. Now my iPad is not connecting to my Apple Pencil. When I attempt to connect it just shows the Apple Pencil bubble at the top and will not actually connect for use. This looks to be a known issue and it is now happening to me. I’ve tried the following

forgetting the device and reconnecting
turning on and off blue tooth
leaving Pencil connected and then trying back 30 min later

I have the second generation Pencil and iPad Air 4th gen

my Pencil was working fine and after the 16.6 updated version I immediately started experiencing issues.

Posted on Aug 22, 2023 5:56 PM

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Mr Glyn Williams

Level 1

8 points

Posted on Apr 6, 2024 9:41 AM

Reading through this thread, there are a number of different problems being described - but all are super frustrating. But I think there is one issue which is the main problem.

I bought a replacement 2nd gen pencil, which worked fine until an iPadOS software update bricked it. My older pencil continued to work. My first assumption was this was a software bug in the update. I am now certain this is not the case.

I got a full refund from Apple, because the pencil was new.

What I think is happening (to some of us) is that the new OS attempts to upgrade the firmware in the pencil over Bluetooth. In most cases this happens without incident. But in a tiny percentage of instances, the update fails and the pencil loses its ability to communicate over Bluetooth entirely. This renders the pencil totally broken with no means to reset or reinstall the update.

This will result in:

The pencil wont work or connect.
No battery state is reported for the pencil when it is snapped to the iPad.
Forgetting and re-pairing will time out

If this has happened to you there is no remedy other than returning it to Apple. If the pencil is out of warranty, I would point out that a working pencil was broken by a software update. You might get a sympathetic response.

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41 replies

Joem5636

Level 1

9 points

Nov 10, 2023 1:07 PM in response to krarcd36

It’s not just the pencil — a music reader won’t do annotations using a finger anymore, either.

wendykw

Level 1

24 points

Nov 25, 2023 3:15 AM in response to Raspberryswirl21

I have the same issue. I did all the suggestions. The Apple Pencil was detected when I put on the magnetized place but it won’t work. It was working till I updated the iPad. This is so frustrating

wendykw

Level 1

24 points

Dec 1, 2023 6:10 AM in response to Luis_Valenzuela

It cannot be that suddenly all of our pencils are faulty. Apple should investigate on their updates. No?

Dec 5, 2023 11:28 PM in response to krarcd36

Same issue, it worked 5 minutes before the upgrade and like a previous commenter mentioned it turned into a magnetised paperweight after.

It must be a bug.?

Dec 15, 2023 10:50 AM in response to krarcd36

Same here

Dec 20, 2023 8:46 AM in response to krarcd36

Any other update on this issue other than support trying to gaslight people into thinking it’s something they’ve done to the pencil?

Dec 21, 2023 6:53 PM in response to krarcd36

Same here!

siqi273

Level 1

8 points

Dec 23, 2023 9:05 AM in response to krarcd36

Same!! What did you all do?

Jan 22, 2024 3:53 AM in response to krarcd36

Same problem here after update. Apple pencil stops working on my 7th OS 17 ipad but works well on another iPad 8th OS 16. When i connect pencil to OS 17 screen freezes.

Jan 26, 2024 1:20 AM in response to krarcd36

This has now just happened to me on updating my iPad Pro to 17.3

Still works on my partners 17.2 iPad Pro

There seems to be 3 threads about this issue now.

Oct 18, 2023 7:11 PM in response to ospreyfe55

I’m trying to get help from apple support but this is not a “known issue” despite it being reported here and elsewhere. I think the iPad software thinks the pencil is charged (it shows 100%) and so it is not charging the pencil because it would be programmed not to keep charging if it thinks the pencil is at 100% but it’s really at 0%. The support people were unable to help and referred me to go to the Apple Store.

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Apple Pencil no longer working after recent software update