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

It's not connecting properly to something.

If you have a non-apple charger, try an actual apple charger.

If it's the keyboard and you've already cleaned the contacts on both surfaces and rebooted, and it's still not working: If it's still i warranty, bring it to the Apple Store. I tried the cleaning/rebooting many times. It worked for a few minutes or hours and the problem recurred. My only solution to my keyboard not connecting was to buy a new keyboard. I suspect planned obsolesence.

Good call simonjng. Just spent a frustrating 45 minutes onto apple-so-called care, spoke to two different people and the answer was to book me in to the genius bar for them to assess the "problem". The first person to whom I spoke assured me that he had never had a call about the issue. Not at all impressed with the service. Just go into the Apple store and hope.

I went to an Apple Store, and my iPad is a month out of warrantee. They told me that some keyboards had a warrantee that lasted longer, but we can't read the serial number on our keyboard (it is imprinted in felt).

It took me almost a month to find out that my keypad was bad - enough time to make the warrantee expire. I found some web articles saying Apple extended the warrantee for those, but Apple's site asked me when I bought it. I was honest and it says the warrantee has expired.

It took a lot of effort, close-up photos, scrutiny under bright lights and about fifteen different wrong tries, but I finally was able to correctly discern the serial number on my affected Apple Smart Keyboard. Only then was I able to contact Apple Support and tell them of my problem with this keyboard that I've only had for about 7 months.

There was a lot of waiting on the phone while the rep talked to others about the issue and I was transferred to a specialist who informed me I was to receive a replacement. I got it the next day and sent my old one back, as instructed. The $7 shipping was the only cost and now I have a keyboard that does not pop up an error about being an unrecognized device every time I open the iPad case.

Hopefully, that one was just part of the legendary "bad batch" and it is not a problem endemic to all these keyboards, which will show up after a few months of use and normal flexion, wear and tear, etc. Either way, I'm making a note of the serial number of this model while it is still readable...

I had this problem for a while before taking my iPad to the apple store. Both my keyboard and iPad are out of warranty, and I didn't purchase AppleCare. It took less that 20 minutes for the Genius Bar rep to order a replacement at no charge. He explained that this is a known problem, I believed he called it a "serialized problem." A week later and I'm using my new keyboard. I don't know if it will be that easy for everyone, but its certainly worth a try.

Way back "in the day," I built and serviced PC's. One big problem we saw, especially when a PC was located in a harsh environment (hot, muggy, etc), was devices suddenly failing. Replacing the offending board would work, but it's expensive. I noticed that removing a card from the motherboard and reinstalling it would fix an issue. Looking at the contacts on the daughter-board, I could see scratches, indicating that a fine layer of something -- dirt? rust? corrosion? had been scratched off, and the board would begin working again. Cleaning the contact with alcohol helped for only a short time. I found that using a soft pencil erasure on the contacts, then cleaning them with alcohol provided a much better long-term solution.

I just did that on the 3 dots on the iPad, and the 3 pins on the keyboard. It immediately began working better. Give that a try!

I use an ink eraser -- more abrasive than a standard #2 pencil eraser. It seems to work better. Take your time, look closely at the contacts. I needed to scrub mine a few times, but it is working better.

I went to apple store in California in March 2017 with TWO keyboards experiencing problems described in this thread. ONE was purchased in Japan and the other in california. Only the california purchased keyboard had become unusable. At the apple store, they denied any issues existed and because I had bought it 13 months prior, that it was out of warranty. Now the Japan purchased keyboard is also malfunctioning. I was about to buy a logitech product and saw that apple has finally recognized an issue and has a 'program' to fix it ( http://appleinsider.com/articles/17/05/08/apple-offers-free-ipad-pro-smart-keybo ard-repairs-in-wake-of-functional-issues ) as long as it is within 3 years. Just 5 minutes ago I got off the phone with "nathan" a "senior manager" on the phone support. He declared that they do NOT currently have a program and that they will only deal with issues if it was within 12 months of purchase (i.e. the warranty). I highlighted the websites and this forum to them and they said that they do not acknowledge any issues. Can you believe it!?!? I'm just one guy... but my family has easily purchased 40k usd of prodcuts over the last decade or so between phones, computers, ipads, nanos, etc.... I highlighted that I'm not sure how I will react but that putting our next decade of business at risk over a 129 dollar keyboard with OBVIOUS problems seems to be a silly decision. SO this ONE guy is going to go thru a lot of inconvenience in the coming years and abandon apple products as much as I possibly can. Anyone have the logitech keyboard?

Thanks, I took your advice and was able to get a new keyboard at no costs to me. Unfortunately, Apple is running low on replacement keyboards since the iPad Pro 9.5 is replaced with the newer model. When I went into the store they didn't hesitate to bring me a refurbished keyboard which has been working since I picked it up. However, if this one goes out, I doubt if they'll have a lot of keyboards laying around. The next option when this keyboard goes out is to purchase another brand.

The magnet trick worked for me. I disconnected the Smart Keyboard from my iPad Pro. I took a magnet and rubbed it on the rounded area (tongue) that fits in the groove on the keyboard. The area that lost its magnetic charge was over keys 1 and 2 are. Best of luck.

I imagine that most iPad Pro users will have this problem at some point, where, even though the keyboard is attached properly, you get the virtual keyboard instead, and ‘accessory not supported’ is indicated. Most people, after suffering with this for some time, just get a replacement keyboard - whether another Apple one (where it will probably happen again) or a 3rd party keyboard. While suffering with this with my iPad Pro, I’ve found out a number of things. Connecting the ipad to the keyboard initially, via the 3 tiny pins/magnets, is actually not the problem.

The problem arises when you attempt to ‘snap’ the affixed keyboard to the groove, just above the typing keys. I found this out by having the accessory not supported box indicated when the keyboard was first attached, but being able to remove it (and have the keyboard work) by shifting the keyboard around in that long groove, and or ‘resnapping’ it on to that groove a few times, which caused the keyboard to work again. A workaround is to have that groove just above the keys cleaned REALLY well...which I did and the keyboard actually worked for a number of days with no issues. I have had to continually do this. Sadly, there is no Apple store near me so, all patience aside, I’ve finally ordered a 3rd party keyboard, and will use the Smart (or not so Smart) keyboard as a spare......

Seeing question (and issues continuing now into 2018) at least makes me feel better that I’m not alone.

Not happy ... but a little less lonely and stupid.😁

FWIW ... to resolve I end up doing a soft reset (home button plus power button) but it a pain; especially since I have keyboard attached as screen protector and continually get error message.

👿

I had this issue. I just talked to Apple Support. They advised Reset Network Settings (this does remove wifi, bluetooth, etc: Have to set it up again), under General->Reset

This has fixed my issue so far. May help some of the people with this issue (expect others are connected to hardware).

Have been having this problem with the 12" smart keyboard for about six months, at first intermittently, then lately, totally unresponsive. Wasn't even getting the "doesn't support the device" message. Called Apple. The rep was quite nice, and offered to replace it. But the serial number is mostly unreadable. So that ended that conversation. I also have the 9.7" and tried that on my 12.5" Pro, and it worked. So I tried the 12" keyboard on the 9.7" Pro, and it worked! Yes, both keyboards worked on both machines, regardless of size. So that eliminated an iPad software problem. But the next day, the 12" keyboard was unresponsive again. I tried the switching again, and it worked while switched, but not when I put it back on the right iPad. So, I tried your magnet idea, and it appears to have worked...at least for tonight. When I let the keyboard snap into the gutter for use, the iPad recognized it immediately. I have a few hooks with magnetic base for hanging things under my metal overhead file cabinets. Don't know what brand of magnet. But they're fairly strong little things. They looked a bit like the neodymium magnet you have...just with hooks on them. First few rubs above the 1 & 2 keys did nothing. It took a minute or so of just passing/rubbing the magnet over the entire gutter strip, and recognition finally did jump start the thing again. Turned the iPad off and restarted with the keyboard in place, and it recognized it on boot up so I could I type in the passcode with the keyboard. So it's cool. For now. I'll know tomorrow if the repair sticks. Thanks for the tip. Excellent troubleshooting.