My iPad Pro not charging after updating

Same issue. Forced reset did not help. The USB connector works (I connect it to a monitor, and the display works fine, but iPad is not charging. Same setup with my MacBook works fine - charging as well as monitor). A couple of times when the power level went down low (around 10%) I was able to get it to charge back up to 100%, but after disconnecting charger, and reconnecting, it again will not charge the battery. No telling how long this approach will continue to work. I use the iPad every day and depend on it, so this is not a satisfactory solution.

Check out my reply from July 27, 2024.

The issue is it won't charge when the iPad is locked. Here is what worked for me and why.

The solution is to go to settings, go to Face ID & Passcode. In the section ALLOW ACCESS WHEN LOCKED, SCROLL TO THE LAST SELECTION ACCESSORIES AND SELECT THAT TO BE ON. The reason for this, as mentioned above, your charger is now considered an accessory and will not work when your iPad is "locked" (like when you go to bed and plug in your iPad overnight).

It's been charging just fine since I figured this out.

i have been stuck at 28% for over a day. It was on the charger all night and never went up. I’m using an iPad Pro 11” from 2020. I’ve done a hard reset and tried three different cables and chargers.

Resets, restarts and setting “Accessories” on did not solve my iPad Mini 6 failure to charge after iPadOS update.

what did: switching from my high-wattage fast charger (that works just fine, as long as the iPad does not “sleep,”) to a charger that only puts out 2 Amps max allowed the iPad to fully charge, even when it auto-locked.

OK... for the past day I noticed my iPad 17.5.1 was not charging in spite of the many quick chargings I have experienced in the past. I did a forced reset several times and continued to have the problem. I contacted Apple support via chat and they did a diagnostic on my battery and said it was good (though they did not know the parameters of what "good" meant). I also noticed that when I did a forced reset it automatically went into an automatic start up. Thinking that perhaps this was a software problem I did not want the iPad to start up but rather wanted to see if it would charge without being in an active mode. I went to the settings page and found the "shut down" selection and did that. It started up automatically. :( All throughout my shut downs I notice I was getting a message asking me to enter my ID number to allow access to my "accessories". As far as I knew I didn't have any "accessories" so I found that to be annoying and skipped doing that (most of the time)... THAT IS THE KEY TO THE PROBLEM!!! The charger is now an "accessory". The solution is to go to settings, go to Face ID & Passcode. In the section ALLOW ACCESS WHEN LOCKED, SCROLL TO THE LAST SELECTION ACCESSORIES AND SELECT THAT TO BE ON. The reason for this, as mentioned above, your charger is now considered an accessory and will not work when your iPad is "locked" (like when you go to bed and plug in your iPad overnight). I hope this helps... so far, it is locked and charging for me, so I'm pretty sure this is the problem.

The charger is now considered an "accessory" and you have to allow the iPad access to this "accessory" when it is "locked". To do that, go to settings, Face ID & Passcode... scroll to the bottom of the list and click on Accessories (make it a positive, i.e. green selection).

Same issue.. iPad 10.5 pro running iPad OS 17.5.1.. Shows as charging but continues to drop level no matter which Apple charger and cable I use.

I did the forced reset twice before it started charging with my Apple fast charger but it seems slow to change.

Constant WIFI connection issues as well even after forgetting network and resetting network settings..

iOS 17 has been an utter nightmare and I’d love to know if I can go back to iOS 16 and not have any issues in device communication between the iPad and my iPhone 14 Pro Max? Frustrating

Begin with a forced-restart of your iPad - as this will often clear an isolated software issue:

Force restart iPad (models with Face ID or with Touch ID in the top button)

If your iPad doesn’t have the Home button, do the following:

1. Press and quickly release the volume button nearest to the top button.
2. Press and quickly release the volume button farthest from the top button.
3. Press and hold the top button.
4. When the Apple logo appears, release the top button.

Force restart iPad (models with the Home button)

Press and hold the top button and the Home button at the same time. When the Apple logo appears, release both buttons.

Otherwise, these support pages should help with troubleshooting battery and charging issues:

Charge and monitor the iPad battery - Apple Support

If your iPad won't charge – Apple Support

Troubleshooting generally requires substitution of the Power Adapter and cable for another known-good item. Most models of iPad require a Power Adapter rated at 12W (i.e., 2.4A @5V) or greater to reliably charge. 5W Power Adapters (1.0A @5V) intended for older models of iPhone are inadequate to charge an iPad; if the iPad charges at all, charging will be very slow. Recent models of iPad are supplied with a 20W USB-C Power Adapter.

Some third-party USB-C power adapters (and portable PowerBanks) may not support USB PD (Power Delivery). Power Delivery mutually negotiates the charging voltage; the source, load and cable are all elements involved in the negotiation protocol. Unless the Power Adapter explicitly supports USB PD, it will almost certainly fail to charge the iPad; proprietary charging standards, such as QC (Quick Charge), are not supported.

Many computer USB ports also cannot source sufficient power to charge an iPad. Unless explicitly designed for charging connected devices, computer USB ports are typically limited to 0.5-1A @5V (i.e., 2.5-5.0W).

If you continue to experience difficulties when using an appropriate Power Adapter of 12W or greater, you might be best advised to seek assistance directly from from Apple Support. You can contact the Support Team using the Support link at top-right or bottom-left of this page. Alternatively, you can initiate and manage your support cases from Apple devices using the excellent Apple Support App. If not already installed, the App can be downloaded from the App Store:

https://apps.apple.com/app/apple-support/id1130498044

You might also visit the Genius Bar at your local Apple Store or Apple Authorised Service Provider (AASP) - where the technicians will be able to test and assess your iPad, Power Adapter and cable(s):

Genius Bar Reservation and Apple Support Options - Apple

since installing 18.3.1, I cannot charge my iPad. Took it to Apple support at Best Buy and they said it would cost $800 to fix or I should just buy a new one. This is insane. This update did some kind of damage . Apple needs to fix this fast. Seems like lots of people are having the same issue.

I’m in New Zealand. I started having this problem this week (since I updated to the latest version of iOs 18.)

I’m using an ipad pro and ios 18.

I was using the same charger and charging cable since I got it. There is nothing wrong with the charger connection on the ipad. The ipad itself works fine (bar the problem of the continuously drainng battery, even when plugged in, and not in use.)

I thought maybe the charger had failed. So I tried a different 20W charger. No joy even after the ipad was plugged in overnight. The power kept going down.

Today I tried a different cable. That made no difference.

I tried reboot/powering off. No joy.

Then I read the tip (thanks folks) to go to Face ID and turn on the option (under when the ipad is locked) to turn on accessories when locked. That initially didn’t work. I added the other advice to 👉🏼reboot twice after changing tge setting). Now it seems to be charging normally.

Its too early to tell if this is a sustained fix.

But I have some observations:

1. Apple should not bury something as functionally important as settings that will determine whether a device will charge when not in use, under some other obscure setting. (I know there are experts here who say this does not happen, but the fact there are so many people complaining means it is happening)
2. It’s fine for Apple to give options to turn on / off accessories when the item is not in use. (Who wants the extra drain on their battery if its unnecessary? Though artists might want to charge their pencil.)
3. BUT it is mad to regard the things necessary to charge the ipad as accessories, even if to Apple they are accessories, and bury this option under Face ID - which not everyone uses or is willing to use.

Thanks to @karenfrombrookeville. Turning “allow access when locked” for “accessories” to “on” permitted my iPad Mini 6 to attain full charge, after iPadOS 17.5.1 had otherwise borked my device.

Ah... I see now you were replying to me... sorry it didn't work for you. :(

I went through all that forced reset stuff - didn't work for me either. But since allowing the accessories to be ON when the iPad is locked it has been charging like it did before iOS 17.5.1.

No it’s at 3% and can’t do anything with it. Didn’t notice an issue until it died and wouldn’t charge.

Did you contact Apple support? I can’t even get in there to roll back any updates or to try a soft reset. We let it charge overnight to see if that did anything. I haven’t checked it yet…I’m afraid to.

iPad pro will not charge after update. And the prior fix about allowing access when locked doesn’t work either. I’m tired of updates changing settings and all of these problems with updates.

I updated my iPad Pro 12.9 (4th gen) to 17.5.1 a couple of weeks ago and it completely stopped working whenever not plugged in…. It seemed to still be on 100% battery and said was charging - so as was usable on mains power I planned on continuing to use it plugged in until whatever issue this is got patched…

Turn for the worst today however, as when I went to use it … it now has decided it’s 100% flat.. I can only presume it was left unplugged doing its chain boot up restart thing and has drained itself fully…

it now won’t even power on even when connected to a mains charger.. all PD compliant… 20+Volt fast chargers (multiple plugs and cables tried)

the most I get is it turns on, beeps to say it’s charging and immediately reboots 🤦‍♂️ this my options to get any power back into it seem zero as it uses more power in this loop than it charges.. and try as I may I can’t get it to stay turned off to charge up

my whole life is on that iPad, and I need to get it off, kinda hesitant to take a trip to the Genius Bar, as you can guarantee that whatever they do, a factory reset will be included 😬

… annoyingly I’ve had a new 12.9 6th gen in the wardrobe too… but never got round to migrating the contents 🙄

(and no … didn’t back it up in forever - I’m an IT professional - we don’t practice what we preach) 🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️

(Clip of issue uploaded to YouTube acc)

All previous steps already tried out multiple times to no avail .. 🥵

Smf412 wrote:

Thank you for a helpful intelligent response! It does seem to have cured the problem tho the iPad still seems to be draining very quickly so I think it’s on its way out anyway. Yesterday it just completely freaked out and refused to even accept the brand new charger cable and then I found yr message. At least it is charging again.

I've always had Settings>Face ID & Passcode>Accessories set to off but never have charging or battery drain issues.

I suspect this may not be the end of your issues, unfortunately.