iPad Pro Smart Keyboard not working

I removed the keyboard and noticed that the connecting edge was not straight, and the portion with the pins was slightly lower than the lower than the rest of the edge. Just flexed it a smidge to raise the pins and problem is solved!

Hey there Bob Burns,

If your Smart Keyboard is from a gen 1 iPad Pro, chances are good that it's not the iOS but what I'm 99% certain is a design flaw.

I've gone through 2 of these keyboards and I've noticed a difference in the third one which makes me believe made a slight design change on this version before moving on to the new design found in the lates iPad Pro version.

In Get one, there is the 3 gold pin contacts that meet with the spine of the iPad and magnetically connects to the 3 gold contacts on the device.

If you take the flexible spine of the Smart Keyboard you can almost feel and if you look hard enough almost see what I believe is an electronic ribbon, much like you'd see on old spinning internal hard drives or ribbons that connect tiny logic boards to LCD's.

After enough flexing, they break making the contacts on the keyboard useless.

In this lates version for iPad Pro Gen 1, I can't feel that ribbon or see the impression anymore, which makes me think something changed here.

Moving to the new iPad Pro you will notice the connector are no longer on the spine of the device but on the back of the device and the connectors on the Smart Keyboard seem to be in a more stable place.

I stumbled across news that  had a program available for you to exchange your troubled keyboard, even out of warranty, with a valid serial number, which can be impossible to see if you don't take pics right out of the box. It gets lost in the material over time. See my other posting on this matter or a workaround for identifying a hard to read serial number on a velvet backing.

I would see about exchange it asap, as this program may not be offered much longer, it at all anymore.

All the best!

MJW

Greetings,

I have had the issue with the Smart Keyboard not responding and iOS saying that the accessory was not recognized. I have tried all of the recommended steps. Nothing worked, until today. All I had to do was throw a little money at the problem!

I've had my Smart Keyboard sitting on a shelf for a few months and decided to plug it in. Again - not recognized. I unplugged it, then cleaned the connectors (the three shiny pads on the side) on the iPad and the connectors (three pins) on the Smart Keyboard with a dollar bill.

You read that correctly: I rubbed a US $1 bill a few times against the pads and against the pins. Note, neither the pins nor the pads looked corroded prior to doing this.

The Smart Keyboard works fine now.

I have found a foolproof way to remedy this problem. As someone has suggested in another forum, it appears to be an issue of the magnetic switch that tells the iPad that it has a keyboard connected. If the problem arises, I lift the iPad slightly off the keyboard and run a small refrigerator magnet on the iPad around where the 2 and 3 of the keyboard reside. Once the on screen keyboard disappears, put the iPad back on the keyboard and it works perfectly. I have also found that this fix keeps working for some time to come and only occasionally do I need to go back and retoggle the magnetic switch. It’s been a pretty painless fix for me.

I just figured out that if i change the angle to be more vertical it has no issues. I think overall this is an issue with the design of the case. After time it stretches or the joints become too flexible and don't hold the iPad at the proper angle for the connections to line up.

It seems Apple finally has recognized this is a problem, and has added two years onto the standard warranty for a total of 3 years. I contacted Apple yesterday, and sure enough, they have replaced my keyboard. The new one is working perfectly.

I would say that using the keyboard on your lap could certainly warp it enough to cause the Smart Connectors to lose connection. Apple has increased the warranty on these smart keyboards to three years. Schedule an appointment at your Apple Store Genius Bar and if it isn't working consistently and Apple sees that, they'll likely replace it.

Either way, I would recommend using the smart keyboard on a laptop desk of some sort. One really great option and I use with my Brydge Pro Keyboard (which is all aluminum and doesn't use the smart connectors) is from Grifiti, who sells them on Amazon in various sizes. Here's a 13" option: https://www.amazon.com/Grifiti-MacBook-Notebooks-Keyboards-Writing/dp/B004SOMAWA/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=grifiti+laptop+desk&qid=1561345766&s=gateway&sr=8-3

Here is how my iPad Pro 11 in the Brydge keyboard looks on the Grifiti:

Warranty valid or not. There is a program where they will replace the keyboard.

As well they should. The original iPad Pro keyboard had a bad design flaw. I have gone through two and am on my third one.

I can easily see where they made the changes and they took it even further on the latest gen iPad Pro Smart Keyboard.

It's an expensive part. Warranty or not, they owe it to you as a loyal customer and need to make it right.

When you get a replacement, make sure to copy the serial number down. You'll need that to get a replacement for the future, just in case. Sadly they chose to put it on the velvet side of the Smart Keyboard in tiny print almost becomes unreadable, but if you shoot video of the serial number with your iPhone instead of a picture you can get a clearer image. Trust me, the way they printed this, you'll need all the resolution you can get to read it.

Good luck!

MJW

I called apple last night and the support assistant asked me to do just one thing: while keeping the iPad docked to the keyboard, hold down power +home bottom until you see the apple logo. I did and when it rebooted, the keyboard was recognized. It’s still working.

Same problem, keyboard occasionally working and then not again. Tried a Settings reset but no luck. Apple Store actually suggested I buy a new keyboard. Then I tried a complete iPad reset and restore and hey presto, the keyboard is now working again. So clearly an Apple software issue!

I had this problem too for a couple of weeks. It was very annoying. I read a few of the posts in this thread and tried some of the suggestions and they didn’t work. So I took my buck knife and carefully, lightly scraped the 3 connectors on both the iPad and keyboard then I wiped them with an alcohol wipe. Let dry and reconnected the keyboard to the iPad and problem solved. No more issues. Maybe connectors oxidized over time. Happy all is working fine again. Hope this helps.

It seems that a lot of users are helped by ensuring good connection between the connectors on the magnetic strip on the keyboard and the bottom of the IPad, by bending the magnetic strip carefully so that the connectors in the middle of the magnetic strip is pressed upwards. Another trick that have helped people is to look for any metal spots in the magnetic strip which is caused by wear. To me, there were two such spots just above the "1" key, and they had resulted in clear wearings on the bottom of the IPad. Maybe they are crausing some short circuit problems, because several have reported that covering the metal spots with tape will fix the problem. It solved it to me :)

My keyboard stopped working intermittently after 3 years.

I took it back to the apple shop. They checked the serial number and told me it was from a batch with a known error. There was no replacement cost (even after 3 years).

Step one - I’d check its not from a faulty batch.

I have found that if i clean the contacts, my keyboard starts working. So it might just be dirty.

I have also been struggling with this problem for some time, it’s very frustrating!

However, I watched a YouTube video tonight which seems to have come up with a simple solution that has sorted it for me.

Even when the keyboard isn’t working the “Command” button seems to still work. Press it a couple of times then use “Command + Tab” to cycle through the open Apps and, low and behold, it works.

This is the first time for months that my keyboard has worked ... don’t know how long that will last though!

Give it a try and report back and let us all know if it works as well for you as it seems to have for me.