Your apple pencil does not work with you new ios 17 software.

Hi friends,

iPad 12.9 (6th Gen) here, running iOS 16.7.2, and My Apple Pencil was working all morning when suddenly mid-use it started acting funny.

By “funny” I mean: it would hover and be recognized by the iPad but no tap feature worked. Apps swell when I hover over them, but will not open if I tap them.

• I unpaired
• hard reset

…no dice!

• updated to iOS 17.1.2
• unpaired again
• hard reset again

…still nothing!

However I did try the pencil on another device running 16.5.1 - and it works (so it’s not the pencil)

Is this just a bug in the iOS that needs to be fixed? (I find it weird that it happened randomly before the update even occurred.)

Thanks for reading!

I’ve been having a similar issue since iOS 17. Mine is an iPad Pro 12” (4th Gen) and I have a 2nd Gen Apple Pencil. I’m continually running into issues where the Apple Pencil interacts with the iPad incorrectly. Things like brush strokes in art programs cutting off randomly, pressure sensitivity not working at all or working incorrectly and inconsistently, tilt sensitivity also behaving incorrectly, and the Apple Pencil randomly disconnecting and refusing to reconnect.

I've done the forget device, re-pair, hard reset, reattach/ re-place the nib shtick several times, and while sometimes it works after a few attempts, recently it’s been working less and less. So much so that now, after hard reseting, forgetting and attempting to re-pair the apple pencil to the iPad, it simply will not connect. The little “Apple Pencil” bubble still pops up when I attach the pencil to the magnetic connecter, but it will not appear in the bluetooth menu.

I've not had any of these issues before iOS 17. I even bought an artist glove suspecting that my hand on the screen might have been the problem, but no luck. Buying a new Apple Pencil isn't really on the table for me right now, and to be honest I’m not entirely sure that would solve the issue. Since after reading lot of other comments it seems like the new update is the cause, not the Apple Pencil itself.

Besides, I shouldn't have to bear the burden of buying a new $100 Apple Pencil just because the software devs didn't do enough bug tests to catch something as catastrophic as an issue making the software being completely incompatible with one of their best selling accessories.

Go on your IPad:

General> Transfer or Reset iPad> Reset> Reset Network Settings> (type in your passcode and reset).

The Apple logo will come up.

When it’s reset, go to Settings> Wi-Fi> (re enter your Wi-Fi passcode) then turn Bluetooth off, then on again.

Then place Apple Pencil on the magnetic strip (for 2nd) or plug in Apple Pencil in (1st gen) and wait.

It should connect after this.

I hope it will work for you as it did for me!

[Edited by Moderator]

Same problem here. iPad 12,9 Pro 3rd gen, Apple Pencil 2nd gen, iOS 17.0.3. I had high hopes the new update would fix this. Reconnecting the pencil works only temporary, just as a reboot of the iPad. I had no problems with my pencil before 17.0.2.

I just had this issue. I restarted my iPad Air, backed up, reset, and erased everything, but nothing happened. An Apple Support person told me to remove all my connected Bluetooth devices on the iPad and turn off all the Bluetooth devices that are open nearby. Apparently, that was the main issue. My Apple Pencil connected right away when I did all those steps, then I just paired everything back and turned on other devices. My pencil is working fine now just like before. I'm so thankful for that Support person, Likith. :)

Reboots, soft or hard, and disconnecting pencil and reconnecting don’t work.

My pencil worked fine with the old iPad OS 16 and even 17.0 and 17.0.1.

Can we go backward to an iPad OS that worked. An Apple Pencil is a **** of an expensive paperweight.

Sadly I’ve done all of the above (before calling Apple support) then I called Apple support and they told me to try what I’ve already tried.

It really is quite strange. It just feels like the connection is half way there.

On my email, you replied with. “This seems like the battery is depleted or the batter may have failed,” WRONG! Whoever is answering these questions do not know anything. I did some other things and finally my pencil started working again. Apple doesn’t seem to know what they’re doing with their updates or how to solve problems!

3rd Gen iPad Pro 2021 with the latest iOS 17 software and have had this same problem since iOS 17 was released back in September - I am shocked Apple hasn’t picked up on this yet. So far I’ve been to an Apple Store where they did a diagnostic check which came back all clear With no issues, they checked my pencil gen 2 with another device and that was working fine.

They then advised me to wipe my iPad and start again setting it up as a new iPad but with the latest iOS 17 but this still did not solve the issue - this is clearly an Apple software issue. I will try again with Apple over their telephone support to see if anything can/ will be done.

Hi folks,

I've tried everything that was described here, but it didn't help.

The problem was with the tip of the Apple Pencil. I unscrewed the tip and screwed it back on, and now the pencil works. It was bad connections between the tip and the pencil in my case.

I hope it helps you as well!

valmont74 wrote:

So how can we get this solved if I’m not able to ask who are caused by this issue?

Un-pair, force-restart, re-pair, try again.

If that fails, contact Apple Support.

If contacting Apple Support to report the issue is not an option and for whatever reason, log feedback here: Product Feedback - Apple

For much newer design iPad models, without a Home button, try the new simple hard reset/forced restart procedure for the new 2018-2022 iPad Pros, 2020/21 iPad Air 4 and 5, the 2021 iPad Mini 6 and the new 2022, 10th gen base models,

1. Press and release the volume button closest to the top Power button

2. Then immediately ( and quickly ) press and release the volume button farthest from the top Power button.

3. Then, press and hold the top single sleep/wake/power button You will see the Slide to Power off button, but keep on holding down the power button until you see the Apple logo, then let it go.

Once you have performed all the steps, wait for a few seconds and your 2018-2022 iPad will boot up completely to the iPad’s Lock screen.

Tap, read and follow this Apple support link below.

Force restart iPad - Apple Support

Best of Luck to You!

New iOS 17 update makes using your Apple Pencil 1 obsolete and drawing on older generation tablets impossible. Which means I’ll have to replace a whole tablet and get a new Apple Pencil? This was confirmed to me by geek squad.

By reboot, do you actually mean a forced restart?

A reboot of an Apple mobile device is different from a hard reset/forced restart.

For much newer design iPad models, without a Home button, try the new simple hard reset/forced restart procedure for the new 2018-2022 iPad Pros, 2020/21 iPad Air 4 and 5, the 2021 iPad Mini 6 and the new 2022, 10th gen base models,

1. Press and release the volume button closest to the top Power button

2. Then immediately ( and quickly ) press and release the volume button farthest from the top Power button.

3. Then, press and hold the top single sleep/wake/power button You will see the Slide to Power off button, but keep on holding down the power button until you see the Apple logo, then let it go.

Once you have performed all the steps, wait for a few seconds and your 2018-2022 iPad will boot up completely to the iPad’s Lock screen.

Tap, read and follow this Apple support link below.

Force restart iPad - Apple Support

Best of Luck to You!

Just because they’re selling them doesn’t mean they’ll work. Even if I bought a new Apple Pencil 1 it won’t work on the iPad Pro 10.5 model. They intentionally put software that will make the pencil stop working.