iPad Air not connecting to Apple Pencil Pro after iOS 18.6 update

I went to the support app & found instructions that said to plug into the iPad to check and/or charge, I had already unpaired the pencil. It immediately recognized it, said 100% charged, connected via Bluetooth, so I unplugged and now it’s fine. This is after a couple hours of troubleshooting. So easy. Ugh! Hope this helps someone!

If your iPad is not operating as expected with your Apple Pencil, try a forced-restart - 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.

If the problem persists, these support pages may be helpful with pairing and use of the Pencil with your iPad:

Connect Apple Pencil with your iPad - Apple Support

Charge your Apple Pencil and check the battery - Apple Support

If you continue to experience difficulties, here is one of the better troubleshooting guides:

https://appletoolbox.com/apple-pencil-not-working-heres-our-troubleshooting-guide/

Be aware that if your Pencil has been set-aside for an extended period, unused and uncharged, the Pencil battery may have been damaged through deep discharge. In common with all Li-ion batteries, they must always have some level of charge.

The tiny internal Li-ion battery is susceptible to permanent/irreversible damage through being left discharged for long periods. Even some “new” pencils can exhibit signs of failure out-of-the-box if they are “old stock”. 

It is essential that if you have an Apple Pencil that you charge it regularly - whether used or not - so as to protect the battery from deep-discharge. Do not allow a pencil to remain in low-charge state for any period of time - as the internal battery will fail, rendering the Pencil useless. Setting aside an unused Pencil, for extended periods, is a recipe for premature death of the Pencil battery.

If the Pencil Battery has failed, the only remedy is to replace the Pencil. If the battery has failed and your pencil is within its one-year warranty, you should look to having it replaced by your retailer or at an Apple Store.

Gentle warming of the Pencil (such as placing on a hot water radiator), prior to attempting charging of the Pencil, can sometimes resurrect a dead Pencil battery.

Hi. Same thing happened to me twice, using Pencil Pro on ipad mini A17.

SOLVED it each time by doing this :

• unpair / forget device.
• FIND another compatible ipad with the pencil ie ipad B. In my case, i brought the pencil to an Apple Store to do the following steps.
• unpair any pencil associated with ipad B
• then attach your pencil to ipad B, if there is no hardware issue with your pencil, it should detect, pair straight away.
• then attach back your pencil to your ipad. It should be able to be paired as usual after these step.

It happened to me twice, and i did the same thing twice, as long the the resetting ipad B is compatible with the Pencil Pro, should resolve it. Hope it works with you. And whoever does the updates solve this irritating bug.

Didn’t work