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

I wrote up a blog post about my experience trying to get this problem fixed. I'm about to receive my fourth iPad Pro. It has what I hope is a great ending but maybe some of this can help you figure out a strategy to get yours fixed:

Why I’m Getting a FOURTH 12.9″ iPad Pro – Podfeet Podcasts

Yes, I have a Smart Keyboard. Now that I think about it, I may have just been assuming it was the pencil too, because it seemed to only occur when I was using the pencil. They keyboard was attached, but folded back behind, so should have been off. Perhaps I was wrong. Come to think of it, the keyboard intermittently does not work. I just bought the new version of the 12.9" iPad Pro, so I will be testing the keyboard with that.

That's the value of shared experiences, right? It's a weird problem, because it starts with the odd message that's easily dismissed, then the keyboard starts to fail so you notice it, and eventually it fails consistently.

Glad we can chat and maybe help each other figure this out. Definitely take it back to Apple.

iPodge's magnet worked for me too -- (Apr 2017) post. Not sure how he figured that out but took one off the fridge and ran it along for a minute. Error instantly went away. Keyboard was "found" in app. When I started typing I thought I was going to be out of luck again, but after about a minute it started responding like it was new.

Have not seen the Device Not Supported in the days since.

I had same problem since late 2016 - finally got round to visiting Apple Store today and walked out with a new keyboard after 20 mins. Mine was well out of warranty but Genius told me it was part of a batch that were "recalled" (of course, they weren't as I had to go in before they alerted me despite having the serial number and my email on the original sales invoice... but that's a minor detail!).

They didn't give details of the 'bad' batch but I bought mine shortly after release (in fact, I recall getting the last keyboard in the Covent Garden, London store) so I assume it was an early run.

Simon

The Genius mis-described the situation. Apple did not recall the keyboards. They did extend the warranty out to 3 years to cover these kinds of problems. That's the difference between writing to you and telling you to bring it in, and waiting to see if your's fails. Make more sense now, Simon?

It depends whether you mean make more "Apple sense" or actual sense...

It makes Apple sense as Apple never recall anything ("You're holding it wrong", for example) - but it doesn't make actual sense as the Genius needed to see the serial # of my keyboard to confirm it was once of the 'identified batch'. Given that there *is* an 'identified batch' (otherwise why would she need to spend 10 mins trying to read the serial # printed on the felt underside of the unit?) then extending the warranty by any length of time to wait to see if a product that has already been identified as faulty fails seems somewhat disingenuous. That just suggests that it *should* have been recalled, but wasn't.

But, like I say, that makes complete "Apple sense".

It's a moot point as the message was to suggest to anyone else suffering the issues I did - as they seem to be doing in this thread - simple take the iPad and keyboard to an Apple store, let the genius figure out if it's a faulty one and simply swap it out rather than going through the mandatory reboot, soft reset, hard reset, clean the contacts, spin around three times, do a rain dance, pass magnets in a Raki-like manner over the devices and say "there's no place like home!" to see if that solves the problem.

IPad Pro 9.7, 10.3.2

After switching to the Logitech keyboard (for its backlight, somewhat nicer key travel and feel, andbetter ipad protection in comparison to apple's keyboard), I find:

1. KB repeatedly goes in and out of contact with the ipad so that there are frequently dropped characters if I pause much during typing.

2. Backlighting comes on only after I start typing (may be a feature to save battery and not a bug but would prefer a facility to keep it lit continuously while in a darker setting.

3. Getting repeated messages to update this accessory's firmware. I have replied yes a number of times but it seems to affect nothing as the same message arrives the next day.

How is your Logitech keyboard performing now? Getting these messages a lot, too?

iPad pro 9.7, ios 10.3.2.

I didn't get this error message with the Apple keyboard but get it repeatedly with a Logitech keyboard I changed to. Only get it when the keyboard is attached, usually when I have shifted the position of the iPad in the case so that there may be an element of a contact issue with the contacts on the iPad's lower edge.

I have this problem too since few months back. In fact right now I have the keyboard attached but not able to use. Reboot is not the solution. What I will do, sound silly but removing and reconnecting it TILL IT WORKS. It is super irritating but It does work.

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.

My 8 month-old keyboard is now doing this all the time and the "this device blah blah" comes up when I just want to attach and use it as a protective cover or stand, but I still have to keep dismissing the annoying notice that it is not a supported device over and over!

Unfortunately, there is no Apple Store within a hundred miles of me. Where am I supposed to take this thing? I can't even make out the serial number that is so tiny and haphazardly-printed on the fleece-like material, to give someone online. Is there a way to get the keyboard serial from the connected iPad, like you can with peripherals attached to an iMac with the Apple Profiler?

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.