iMac has stopped recognizing my iPad

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Level 1

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iMac has stopped recognizing my iPad

After many years of backing up my iPad to my M1 iMac (and previous iMacs), in the last week the iMac no longer recognizes my iPad Pro (4th Gen). It sees the connection (USB-C to USB-C), because it starts charging the iPad immediately, but it never appears in the Locations menu. I've shut down and rebooted both devices. iMac is running 14.6.1 (23G93), iPad Pro is running 17.6.1 (21G93). The iMac DOES still recognize and back up my iPhone Pro 11, also 17.6.1 (21G93).

iMac 24″, macOS 14.6

Posted on Oct 5, 2024 5:14 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

Servant of Cats

Level 8

37,187 points

Oct 5, 2024 11:47 PM in response to richardk32

Make sure that you are using a USB-C to USB-C cable that supports data transfer.

Some "charging only" cables do not have the pins for transferring data connected. Although you could use them to charge a device off 5V power, the Mac would not be able to see any data from the device (or vice versa) and things would be the same as if the devices were not connected (except for the power drain).

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Answer 2

richardk32 Author

Level 1

5 points

Oct 8, 2024 9:02 AM in response to richardk32

Problem resolved, but I'm not sure how.

At Apple support's direction I did update my iPad Pro to iPadOS 16.7 from 16.6.8.

Also at their direction, I ran Disk utility on every partition, container, and root drive, a process that took nearly two days, including two overnights.

Then completely shut down both devices, walked away for a while, and then restarted, and walked away for a while again.

Then I plugged the iPad into one of the two Thunderbolt/USB4 ports, and walked away again. This time, finally, the iMac recognized the iPad, though it took at least 2 minutes to do so, and I was able to back it up.

HOWEVER - this morning we were back to ground zero, but with a new, literal, twist. I plugged the USB-C cable in, and nothing happened. On a hunch, I unplugged the cable, rotated the cable, and plugged it back in. Connected immediately. Asked for a password on the iPad. Backed up.

This new behavior is repeating consistently. Plug in one way and it charges but is not recognized as a device by the iMac. Unplug, rotate the connector, and replug, and everything works. Two different cables, same behavior. Both cable behave normally when plugging the same iPad Pro into a 2015 MacBook Pro with USB-C ports.

Go figure.

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Answer 3

Axel Foley

Level 10

151,248 points

Oct 5, 2024 11:40 PM in response to richardk32

Follow the instructions in this guide published by Apple 👉 If your computer doesn't recognize your iPhone or iPad. This guide has some very good information and troubleshooting steps to address the issue that you are facing.

Axel F.

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Answer 4

LotusPilot

Level 10

303,728 points

Oct 6, 2024 4:42 PM in response to richardk32

richardk32 wrote:

A reasonable suggestion, but I forgot to mention that I've been using the same cable for sometime, and that I swapped out cables with another known good cable early on. Of course, the fact that there are such a variety of USB-C cables does beg the question - why do they call them standards when there are so many of them? <grin>

The USB-C standard defines the physical characteristics of the USB-C connector alone.

A USB-C port/connection may support many different services (each with their own wiring standards) - such as:

USB PD (Power Delivery)
USB 2.x
USB 3.x
USB 4
Thunderbolt
USB Alt Mode (e.g., HDMI or DispayPort)

The above is not an exhaustive list.

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Answer 5

richardk32 Author

Level 1

5 points

Oct 6, 2024 8:28 AM in response to Servant of Cats

A reasonable suggestion, but I forgot to mention that I've been using the same cable for sometime, and that I swapped out cables with another known good cable early on. Of course, the fact that there are such a variety of USB-C cables does beg the question - why do they call them standards when there are so many of them? <grin>

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Answer 6

Oct 6, 2024 9:29 AM in response to richardk32

richardk32 wrote:

Of course, the fact that there are such a variety of USB-C cables does beg the question - why do they call them standards when there are so many of them? <grin>

This seems apropos: XKCD – How Standards Proliferate

Maybe this, too:

One port to rule them all, one port to find them,

One port to bring them all, and in confusion bind them;

In the C (Sea) of USB where the standards lie

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iMac has stopped recognizing my iPad

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