eldien

Q: ipad beeps when plugged in to imac

Hey there - just got my new iMac and wanted to plug my 3rd gen ipad via its usb charger/link, and my ipad starts beeping on and off like its trying to charge/not/charge/not ... iTunes says "could not connect to this iPhone" even...

This happened with two different usb charger/links - both are USB 2 (the iMac is of course USB 3).

Anyway, my iPhone 5s works great with its own usb charger/link cable (the new smaller plug variety) and iTunes recognizes it.

 

Could this be a USB cable issue (2 vs. 3)? Is my iPad the problem?

Any help would be, Oh My God, gratefully appreciated!

Eric

iPad (3rd gen) Wi-Fi

Posted on Jan 10, 2014 8:39 PM

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Q: ipad beeps when plugged in to imac

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  • by Stephen Spark,

    Stephen Spark Stephen Spark Jul 19, 2014 7:41 PM in response to rbrylawski
    Level 4 (2,419 points)
    Jul 19, 2014 7:41 PM in response to rbrylawski
    iPad is not designed to charge via USB.  iPad is designed to charge via the supplied wall charger plugged into an electrical outlet.

    Not sure when it changed or what models can doit, but the latest generation of iMacs do have the power to charge an iPad.

  • by marisee,

    marisee marisee Oct 20, 2014 4:46 PM in response to eldien
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 20, 2014 4:46 PM in response to eldien

    Hello! did you finaly found a solution to sync Ipad to Imac, is it the cable? I am having the same trouble.

    Thanks!

  • by MW4513,

    MW4513 MW4513 Nov 2, 2014 10:47 AM in response to marisee
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 2, 2014 10:47 AM in response to marisee

    I had the exact same problem; plugged an iPad Mini (second generation) into a new iMac, and it beeped repeatedly and moved between charged and uncharged states.

     

    A lot of the advice on this thread is nonsense, including the statement that iPad cannot charge via USB (of course it can).  The problem is the cable, plain and simple. I swapped the cable with another one and it fixed it.

     

    This is a deceptively complex problem because USB/Lightning connections are remarkably twitchy, and some Apple devices are more twitchy than others to slight cable differences.  That same cable that was failing on my new iMac worked perfectly on my older (late 2012) iMac, with that exact same iPad Mini.  So from all indications, the cable was fine.  I have no idea why that cable failed on my second iMac, but whatever, switching to another cable I had lying immediately fixed the problem.

  • by スコットfrom板橋区,

    スコットfrom板橋区 スコットfrom板橋区 Jan 6, 2015 4:48 AM in response to MW4513
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 6, 2015 4:48 AM in response to MW4513

    I had the same problem.  The connection worked yesterday, but today it went crazy.  I fiddled with the USB connector on the iMac end, and it started working again.  Obviously a cable problem. 

  • by PG682,

    PG682 PG682 Mar 7, 2015 12:34 PM in response to eldien
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 7, 2015 12:34 PM in response to eldien

    Uninstall then reinstall iTunes and the problem should stop.

  • by JPCOL,

    JPCOL JPCOL May 10, 2015 3:17 PM in response to eldien
    Level 1 (4 points)
    May 10, 2015 3:17 PM in response to eldien

    I had the same problem and was baffled.  My phone would connect fine on my PC but would beep incessantly on my mac: charging/not charging/changing/not charging.  I tried different cables and many of the other solutions on this post.  I even tried to uninstall / reinstall iTunes, but Mac doesn't allow that.  Finally, I tried using a different USB port and viola, it worked.  One of my Mac USB ports must have problem.  A reboot does not solve the problem for that particular port, but all the other USB ports work fine with my iPhone. 

     

    As with many computer problems, one person's solution may not work for the next person; but, at least this provides one more option.

     

    Good luck to anyone else with the problem.  Hope this helps.

  • by bpedit,

    bpedit bpedit Jun 24, 2015 3:56 PM in response to JPCOL
    Level 1 (20 points)
    Jun 24, 2015 3:56 PM in response to JPCOL

    Ditto for me on the cable being the issue. I had a USB male end in the computer with a USB female end exposed to which I could connect a lightening adaptor cable or use the USB for other connections. Worked fine with 2011 iMac under OS 10.8.6 but not with 2015 iMac under 10.10.3. Using the USB-lightning cable alone works fine.

  • by phlump,

    phlump phlump Jun 25, 2015 9:11 AM in response to eldien
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jun 25, 2015 9:11 AM in response to eldien

    Ive just had exactly the same issue.  Plugged my iPad mini retina into my (3 week old) iMac and it started constantly bleeping.  Plugged my iPhone5S in using the same cable and it was fine.  Then changed to a different USB port and the iPad connects fine, swapped back to the previous port and it won't connect again.  Finally tried a different cable in original USB port and it won't connect.  FWIW, both cables are genuine apple cables that came with the iPhone and iPad.   Seems my problem is with the USB port, not the cable - looks like I need a trip to the apple store with the iMac in tow!

  • by terrych,

    terrych terrych Jul 17, 2015 5:29 AM in response to skv31
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jul 17, 2015 5:29 AM in response to skv31

    I had exactly the same problem and changing to a different USB3 port on the iMac sorted the issue, NOT changing the cable. I believe there are spec differences on a couple of the ports that only become apparent when you connect certain devices, as these ports work fine with external HD's, printers, audio capture modules and keyboards.

     

    So, the answer appears to be to try different USB ports before you try a different cable.

  • by Jeff Belk,

    Jeff Belk Jeff Belk Jul 26, 2015 5:44 AM in response to eldien
    Level 1 (20 points)
    Jul 26, 2015 5:44 AM in response to eldien

    Had the same problem but a different Lightning Connector solved the problem. I have found the cables are not very long-lived. I have experienced problems with both the old 30-pin and lightning cables that do not always work properly (sometimes they do!).

  • by cheriton,

    cheriton cheriton Jul 30, 2015 4:46 AM in response to Stephen Spark
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jul 30, 2015 4:46 AM in response to Stephen Spark

    Have experienced a similar problem.  Cleaning out the connector docks on both iPad and USB finally resolved the issue.

  • by cards2626,

    cards2626 cards2626 Oct 10, 2015 12:43 PM in response to eldien
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 10, 2015 12:43 PM in response to eldien

    OK, I'm glad I read through all of the comments before doing anything.   When I changed to a different port, that solved it.   Even though there's no more pinging, do I need to have anything fixed on the iMac?   the Imac and the iPad mini are brand new.

  • by johnfromflynn,

    johnfromflynn johnfromflynn Oct 26, 2015 6:13 PM in response to eldien
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 26, 2015 6:13 PM in response to eldien

    I just had this problem too. MacBook Pro and iPad air (with lightning connection).

     

    The official Apple cable caused the problem but a VERY SHORT third party cable worked perfectly first time. So the answer for me was the cable - and the official Apple cable was the problem.

  • by heper71,

    heper71 heper71 Nov 30, 2015 4:06 AM in response to johnfromflynn
    Level 1 (0 points)
    iPhone
    Nov 30, 2015 4:06 AM in response to johnfromflynn

    Have experienced same problem with 3rd gen iPad and iMac.

    Sometimes, it is not beeping and connected well  when I am first connecting another device.

    But, I could not find a reliable solution for this issue.

  • by Marnixvw,

    Marnixvw Marnixvw Dec 9, 2015 2:50 AM in response to eldien
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 9, 2015 2:50 AM in response to eldien

    I have the same problem. I must say that the apple charger-products are in a totally different league then their other products, and not in a good way. I wish they would make some solid cables instead of having to replace the power-cords of all my apple products. When you have a laptop with a great lifespan you want a cable with the same performance. The cables Apple provides right now are poor quality and  a especially when you look at the prices.

    But back on topic. I got the same problem, strange thing though, the beeping sound occurs when i plug it to my macbook (mid 2015 pro) but not when i connect it to the mac-pro desktop (2013). And even stranger. When i use an usb-hub in between the ipad and my macbook it does work. So maybe that can be a quick-fix for some of you who tried multiple cables and still got problems.

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