iPad Pro Keyboard "This accessory is not supported by this device"

Update 2 - I write this update on my new iPad Pro Smart Keyboard having had it replaced at the Apple Store. Took the replacement out of the box and connected it and instantly worked. To me, this suggests the issue is with the Smart Keyboard.

If there is any change here, I will update.

I also had this problem, and tried all the solutions that others tried with no success. I understand that no company is infallible and occasionally an Apple product has a particular problem that merits a 'Quality program' fix. It may take some time after enough people have the same problem for Apple to become aware of it. So be patient and I've found that Apple is good about backing their products. In the case of my Smart keyboard problem, I took it in to the Apple store and found that they are aware of the problem and are replacing these keyboards FREE. Mine was 180 days out of warranty. Here also are links discussing this problem and others that might give you replacement devices for free. I also had the iPhone plus camera problem and they replaced my phone with no argument. https://9to5mac.com/2017/05/08/apple-smart-keyboard-ipad-pro-repair-program-stic king-keys-functional-issues/

Exchange + Repair Extension Programs - Apple Support

http://appleinsider.com/articles/15/10/17/apple-activates-quality-program-for-re tina-macbook-coatings

iPodge - you are an Apple Keyboard hero. I’ve been fiddling around with this thing trying to get something to work for a while now. After reading your post I took a magnet I would consider to be fairly strong and ran it along the “gutter” accross the top of the keyboard. It would “stick” in certain spots, one being atop the number 1 and number 2 keys. Anyway, I left my magnet stuck to the gutter in each place it would “stick” for about 10 seconds each. NOW, my keyboard works every single time I place the iPad in the gutter to stand it up. Who knew? It was my flux(capacitor)! This is the only method I’ve tried over the past 2 months that seems to have actually fixed this issue. Every time I would get it to work the next time I wanted to use the keyboard I would go through the same connect/disconnect/push/pinch/wiggle/slap/etc. the keyboard together. It finally just stopped working. No matter what I did I could not get the keyboard to work. It has worked flawlessly the past several times I have disconnected and reconnected it. Thanks for teaching us about magnetic flux.

I know this has been reported before, but for the sake of those scrolling through the thread. Here is one of the numerous articles reporting the warranty extension.

Apple will fix busted iPad Pro Smart Keyboards for up to three years | Ars Technica

As I said, I have had 30 replaced for no charge at our local Apple Store in Palo Alto, CA. I have three or four more to bring in for repair. If upgrading to 11.2 does not work, make an appointment at the Genius Bar and have them swap it out.

We have had some students with a dirty Smart Connector. A quick cleaning did the trick, but most issues for us are a faulty keyboard.

Sometimes a hard restart fixed the issue for a while, but it then came back worse. Sometimes a few weeks, sometimes a month. Could be unrelated and the keyboard physically failed in that time, but the behavior was pretty consistent to plot out when a student came in with a problem.

At the end of the day, I think it is probably shoddy workmanship or poor design. I lean towards some factories using substandard parts, but who knows.

I am on my 3rd Apple keyboard... keyboard’s # 1&2 both developed the “this accessory not supported” problem that got worse with time until they would not communicate with my iPad Pro at all. I had to buy #2 because #1 was just out of warranty when it failed. Apple has recognized the issue and now all Apple keyboards have a 3 yr warranty!! Apple phone support did not seem to know about the enhanced warranty, But the genius I dealt with in the Apple store last week confirmed the three-year term and indicated that if I had keyboard #1 I could bring it in and exchange it for a new one. Unfortunately I tossed it…

My recommendation to all with keyboard problems is to get to the Apple sutore and just make the exchange!

I visited the Genius Bar again with this issue - it appears that Apple have formally internally acknowledged that iPad Pro 12.9" Smart Keyboard has a recurring hardware issue. They appear willing to replace the keyboard each time you bring it in with this pathology - I think I am now on my 4th keyboard in a little over 2 years. Having spoken to others the speed with which the keyboard starts to have this issue is likely related to how heavily you are using your iPad fully unfolded in keyboard mode. I use the keyboard very heavily. (If you are primarily using it without the keyboard then issue may not manifest itself.)

Same issue. I just came back from the Apple store they gave a new keyboard even is mine was out of warranty. Apple extended the warranty for 3 years because of the recognized issue.

So go to Apple store and get a new one!

Found this solution elsewhere:

Sometimes the magnetic area of the keyboard will become slightly bent. So slightly that you won't notice it off-hand. As a result, the three metal contacts in the middle will not be completely connected to the connectors on your iPad even though the magnets make it seem that everything is connected properly.

I merely bent the entire magnetic area a little bit to straighten it and immediately my keyboard started working again and with no issues.

This really was such a simple solution. Occam's Razor FTW!

I hope this helps others and saves people a trip to the Apple Store.

Best,

Michael

They are already doing exchanges at no cost. I called first. Got a case#. They didn't need to escalate it. All they needed was the serial number. Once they had that, they exchanged it for me at the Apple Store, no questions asked. The keyboard was not quite two years old. It was quick and easy. No hassle. They would have actually mailed me one, but I couldn't read the serial number. So I had to take it to the store.

I have had this issue for about 3 months and now it does not work at all. I was all for getting a new ipad pro but I gave one more thing a go.

I simply backed up in iTunes. Erased all data and refreshed to factory. When prompted I restored from backup and hey presto it is working perfectly.

I hope this works for you, you have nothing to lose. Took me less than an hour.

The shorting problem was the source of my problem. This became clear to me when I looked at my iPad and noticed that there were 2 additional “wear” points on the contact edge showing unexpected metal contacts between the keyboard and iPad. I fixed it by using scotch tape strips on the on the keyboard connector.

Hi everyone. I had this problem for a couple of months and thought it would go away with the next up date but it did not.

Coming to this forum I saw someone wrote that the channel and contacts got dirty and when they cleaned it, it helped.

So I cleaned mine and nothing. So then thought it’s over 2 years old what do I have to lose trying something and Eureka!

I’m a musician and have a lot of equipment so I always keep a spray called DeoxIt D5 for cleaning internal parts. It can be gotten from BestBuy or any audio service store. Don’t know if you ever heard about it but this spray works wonders for cleaning electrical contacts and things. Long story shorter I sprayed some on the 3 keyboard contacts not the iPad Pro, blotted the excess spray just to exlpediate drying time, got a call that lasted 3mins and when I got off the call I had my keyboard back as good as new. So the first thing I typed was this info. If you find any typo’s, it not that the DeoxIT D5 didn’t work, I’m a good musician but terrible typist lol. The fix was very quick and easy. The gentleman is right “ Dirty Contacts” but I found no magnets needed just this spray. My iPad Pro is over 2 years old and this worked wonders for me If Apple isn’t going to help and the keyboard is out of warranty, we have nothing to lose by trying this and this spray is not harmful for electronics. I’ve used it on things costing thousands of dollars honestly. I hope it works just as easy for you. Ask the people at BestBuy about this spray. The spray is not very expensive just so great to have for theses kinds of problems. Keep some around. Good luck with your fix.

I am the Director of Technology for a private school. We have 54 iPad Pro 12.9" iPads with Smart Keyboards deployed. We gave them out in February of 2016. By the end of the school year (May 2016), we had 4 or 5 students who were getting the "This accessory is not supported by this device" message. Sometimes a hard restart did the trick. Often times, it did not.

We did find that swapping keyboards, many times, would work. What I mean is, two students would come in with the message. We would swap the two keyboards and the message would go away on both iPads.

Sometimes, that did not work and we had to swap them a brand new keyboard.

Fast forward to this school year we have had 12 smart keyboard issues. We found that many of the keyboards that were giving the "This accessory is not supported by this device" message finally stopped working on ay iPad. I currently have 7 smart keyboards that no longer work. I had another student come in this afternoon with the "This accessory is not supported by this device" message.

I really do not think it is software related. I think it is hardware related, probably related to the Smart Connector.

I am in the midst of contacting Apple to see how to deal with the issue.

Bill

This worked for me! A small addition for those who have the same problem and happen to own an Apple Watch: you can use the Watch charging cable magnet for this. Worked perfectly, I rubbed it from left to right on both sides of the keyboard. My iPad Pro 12.9 (2018) instantly recognizes my Smart Keyboard Folio again.

The problem has to be hardware-related. If I keep the keyboard on my 9.7" pro folded back after a month or two I get the same error. Swapped the keyboard and the problem disappeared.

Apple clearly either didn't intent for the keyboard to nearly always be kept folded behind the iPad or didn't do enough testing.