iPad Pro Smart Keyboard not working

Sooo. I have tried to get my keyboard replaced under the Apple programme. They are refusing as the keyboard has delaminated slightly on the side. They claim it is a tear and not normal wear and tear! It has split where plastic meets the felt part. I was disgruntled that it was ANOTHER failure on Apples part! At the shop they even told me what good condition the keyboard was in!

I have escalated this to customer services who have fobbed me off and are now ignoring all my further emails...!

I‘m typing this on the touch screen with my index fingers so pardon me if you have too read this as slow as I am typing very slowly.

I‘m considering a conspiracy theory right now. Could it be possible that Apple wants us to get use to using the iPad without the attacher keyboard? After all, that has been their modus operandi... for example...

• The end of life of Final Cut 7.
• The lack of optical drives.
• No headphone out of iPhone... to name a few.

I think this is their way of telling us that we need to use the iPad as a tablet and get use to the idea that is is not a laptop.

Could this be a harbenger of things to come?

WHY HAS THERE BEEN NO OFFICAL ATTEMPT TO CORRECT THIS ANNOYING PROBLEM?

I WILL NOT PURCHASE ANOTHER IPad Pro UNLESS THIS PROBLEM IS FIXED ASAP.

I was considering ordering an iPad lab pac of 32 stations for my media classes, but that idea is on hold.

Windows and Android are looking better every day!

Only recently have I been having the following issues with my iPad Pro and Logitech keyboard when the iPad is on battery power, i.e., not charging:

• The Home key (rectangle with rounded corners) will work initially, but eventually it will be ignored. I can press it once to wake up the device, but subsequent key presses will be ignored.
• This also happens with the LOCK key—it works initially but then is ignored after waking up the device
• Around this time I will usually find that I can not CMD+TAB to switch apps as well.
• The workaround I have to use is to disconnect my iPad from the keyboard momentarily. When I reconnect them the keyboard will fully function again—but it won’t be too long before I run into the above situation again. It’s as if the iPad loses connectivity to these particular keys, although I can still use the keyboard to type regularly. It’s just these “special” keys that are ignored.

Note that none of this happens when the iPad is plugged in and charging. It seems there is some sort of power-saving mode the iPad enters when unplugged that results in various keys being ignored after some interval.

Thanks for the comments @Cominhandy. At peak I had 13 Apple devices across my network at home. I have disliked MS since before i moved.

I love my iPad Pro and use it almost daily. I don't create much however so mark up documents and take notes at meetings. I get a lot of documents and I work paperless. The Apple pencil is excellent. Very smooth and precise. This is the real use case for a touch screen in business. Paperless operation. And it works really well!

I also have a Macbook Pro with a magic keyboard, mouse and two large screens in my home office.

Point points are:

1. I am disappointed that the cover/key board has failed. It was not cheap and this is not good enough. It was sold as a cover, i.e. protection.
2. The new iPad Pro is over powered and over priced for what is its, a tablet. It can not possibly replace a full OS device. See my WFH use case above. But it is priced like one. To me it is vanity and a stubborn refusal to see the true value and use of a touch screen technology.
3. When I need to trade on I will have to buy a new iPad Pro and a laptop. This will cost twice the price of a generic well speced and branded laptop. Twice the price of a well speed Apple laptop. Maybe I could make do with an Air and smaller iPad. However the smaller screen would be suboptimal for large documents and presentations and it would still be expensive with a keyboard added for working on planes. So I will either be gouged by Apple for an extra 100% cost to get two devices or have to migrate back to the dark side. Not a happy choice. I am a fan. Not to mention carrying two devices and power packs when I am on leave or longer serious trip.

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:

Hi Tas.quliter.

This trick may help you.

The last best shot at being able to read your serial number will take some tries, but it's worked for me.

Use the video feature of the iPhone to more clearly see your serial number that is faintly buried in that velvet material.

Set your iPhone to 4K, start recording video and activate the flash to blast the serial number area with light. Do a focus lock if you need too so that focus remains consistent.

Record video of the serial number location.

You may need to do several passes, where you can rub your fingers across the serial number location in various directions, in order to more clearly reveal the numbers.

If you area patient and do it just right, you will eventually be able to make out the numbers.

Since the resolution is very high, it will yield in my opinion a bette image than if done with a still photo. See image below:

Zooming in on the still is not useful. Don't waster your time.

Shooting video offers far superior results. So while playing the video back you can pause and pinch to zoom on the area, giving you a better chance to decipher that lost text.

Write it down, several times, several version of what you think you might see, even if you are not certain. You are bound to get that number right.

See the attached still pulled from a video file. :

This is from the last iPad Pro smart keyboard I had to replaces. I have replaced this keyboard three times. This latest version I can tell they made a minor design adjustment and so far, all good. The Serial Number issue has been resolved, features darker text, and the 3 pin contact ribbon no longer feels like its in the middle were the flexible magnetic strip is, where I think the problem started. After a year or less of flexing, that cable breaks.

I had the same issue in the end. They wouldn't replace the keyboards without a serial. I don't think it's fair to punish apple customers because of their bad design. Heck I didn't even know about this replacement program until I stumbled upon it on a forum thread.

By the way, do yourself a favor and get a screen cover for your iPad Pro, something made of Ballistics glass. I don't care what they tell you at that Apple Store, those screens can and will scratch over time. I returned two of these iPads early on because the Apple Pencil was doing just that. You won't loose anything in the visual quality.

All the best!

MJ from Bmore

Apple refuses to fix mine or even give me a date for tech support, and it’s obvious it’s a design failure from Apple and it didn’t last 2 years before failing with such messages, and now it’s completely useless, iPad Pro 12.9” 2nd Gen.

Contacts are in perfect state as it has always been in write position over my desk, folding just once in a month or so.

This post is constructive as it shows the other users what happened to me.

Ok, I see Apple you don’t agree with me in Class-action Lawsuit. Post deleted/moderated. Ok. Forget about the Class-action Lawsuit. I was not the first user to use that statement.

My ipad showed "Accessory not supported" I was on holiday in Adelaide, from NZ and called into the Apple Store. They looked at the issue and concluded after trying each part with other shop parts that there was a significant issue with both the ipad and the kepboard. Without hesitation Apple replaced both the ipad and the keyboard. The service was exceptional and I cannot thank Apple enough. Incidentally whilst waiting to get my issue sorted another customer had an issue with his iphone, which they sorted well above the client's expectations. Well done Apple Adelaide, your service is exceptional and thank you

Yup. Same thing. It's very intermittent, but it is clearly only happening when the keyboard/cover is connected and the ipad becomes active because the cover has been opened. Sometimes will go away, sometimes have to do a forced reboot - something I really very rarely have to do on an apple product. :/

I had this problem as well - including the device not supported message.

In my case deleting a keyboard extension then restarting (hold down power and home buttons) the iPad resolved the problem.

In my case I had the Stylus keyboard installed - to allow me to use the Apple pencil to enter text in any application.

I don't know if it was the Stylus extension specifically or a generic iOS problem that will appear when any third-party extension is installed.

I have a busy day so I haven't taken it any further - trying other extensions, reinstalling Stylus to see if it was transitory, etc.

There also seem to be others on this thread with hardware problems (working after a clean, on an incline, on a flat surface etc...) so this fix may not work for everyone.

But if you are having the problem I think it is worth deleting any keyboard extensions and doing a hard restart before worrying about the keyboard itself.

I've tried most of the suggested solutions. It works maybe 5% of the time (disconnecting, reboot, reconnect). Rest of the time it doesn't. This is VERY annoying as I do all my work on my iPad pro. It used to work, but now it doesn't.

I Need a fix to this problem. I dont want to carry my wireless apple keyboard around as it hinders my work.

I've noticed that my keyboard has begun to wear at the junction of the keyboard and the rest of the backing panels, exposing what look like conductive wires. My keyboard didn't have any trouble until recently, and I've used it daily since around when the iPad Pro came out. My keyboard often fails now, especially when the ipad wakes. Seems to be a big problem with Safari searches.

Okay, 12.9" iPad Pro user here, with Smart Keyboard. I've had this problem for a few weeks now. And it seems only to be when I use my keyboard on my iPad—I tried my keyboard on someone's 9.7" Pro, and it worked. I also tried the 9.7" keyboard on my 12.9" and it worked too, no problems. But issues would arise when I tried pairing my 12.9" Smart Keyboard with my 12.9" Pro.

At one point, it stopped working completely after I downloaded the cool sketching app Linea. I followed Apple Support advice and it still wouldn't work, so finally I tried to delete Linea and restart. Then my keyboard started working again. I thought I'd never be able to use Linea again, so I asked for a refund and messaged the developers about the issue.

Smart Keyboard function was intermittent after that, but it would easily be resolved by restart-disconnect-reconnect. This would happen almost daily, but I never completely lost function. At one point, the "This is accessory is not supported" alert popped up when I used the Smart Keyboard and Pencil at the same time—I unpaired and then re-paired the Pencil, and everything worked perfectly fine again.

Until last night, when my Smart Keyboard completely stopped working again. I would get the "This accessory is not supported" alert, no matter how many times I tried to restart, disconnect, network settings reset, etc. So I guess it truly wasn't Linea's fault. (I will message the developers and eventually purchase the app again, don't worry.)

I was afraid I'd have to have my iPad or Keyboard replaced, and that process takes a long time here. (I'm based in the Philippines—no Apple Stores or Genius Bars here. Replacements usually ship from Singapore and take about a month.) I planned to wipe and restore my iPad just to rule out all possible software glitches before taking it to an Authorized Apple Service Center—I don't want to part with my iPad as I use it for work.

So this morning, I take out my iPad to start the restore process, and, lo and behold, THE KEYBOARD WORKS AGAIN.

I'm a little relieved, but I'm also annoyed. It seems to be a weird software issue. At this point I'm not sure what to do. Apple, please help us out!

Hey there BobBurns or anyone out there with this issue.

I am now on my third  iPad Pro 12.9" Smart Keyboard. I'm convinced that this is probably a design flaw.

For me, after about 5+ month of use, the symptoms start out as the keyboard not working when connected to the docking pins, then when it does work there is some intermittent functionality. Then after removing it, re-seating the iPad Pro, or restarting the device all together, it gets progressively worse, then barely working, allowing you to type a few keys, then it stops completely.

I also noticed that the "does not support this device" flag will start appearing for no reason. My guess this is a sign that the iPad is rejecting the Smart Keyboard.

Another tell tale sign of the failing Smart Keyboard is that the Virtual Keyboard will insist on being present on the screen when your device is still seated in the keyboard dock of the Smart Keyboard.

If I had to guess the flat ribbon cable in the spine that connects the keyboard to the 3 metal contacts just wears down after use, bending back and forth, over and over again, until it breaks the circuit.

Anyway, after discussing this with online apple tech support, I had to go to the local Apple Store and thankfully they were able to replace my 2nd Smart Keyboard. They ran a diagnostic on the IPad and then tested this on one of their iPads to be certain.

These are just my opinions and guesses on the issue, and then what followed. I have no other evidence other than my personal experience with it thus far.

These issues aside, I love this keyboard and really want this Smart Keyboard to be the only one used with the iPad Pro. I hope Apple gets to the bottom of this and the next gen Smart Keyboards are more robust.

I hope this helps!

Best,

MJ

I just got my IPP and smart keyboard. Keyboard worked great the first week, then I noticed it not wanting to work and giving me the "device not supported" error. Have found when my IPP is plugged in the keyboard works. Did a test on it this morning and that was the case. When I unplug the IPP the keyboard stops working.