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.

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.

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.

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.

Yep. Apple agreed to exchange it, no problem. However, I couldn’t read the serial number, which you’ll need. So, I got a case number from the phone support folks, then took it into the store. They told me that the felt makes the S/N very difficult to read, in addition to the teeny tiny type. But the folks at the store just put scotch tape over it, and then could read it just fine. The bad news is that the store said they didn’t have it in stock, so I’m waiting two days now for the exchange to come in. They said it could take weeks. Guess it’s because of the sudden demand. But since I’ve already had this problem for many months on and off, I can handle the wait. For anyone interested, if you’ve got another apple Smart Keyboard as I do, just a different size, either size keyboard works on either size iPad Pro. Most of the time. I think.

Same here, I am having the same issue. :(

EDIT;

I have managed to fix it by cleaning the Smart Connector that is below the iPad and using the "magnets" to restore the flex of the switch of the iPad Pro so that it reconnects back properly as shown in this guide here: How to Fix iPad Pro Smart Keyboard Says "This accessory is not supported by this device" - Saint

Hope it helps!

I tried all of the suggestions here and none worked. Then, I just bent the strip on the keyboard that connects to the iPad such that the middle of the strip was bent out just a little toward the three connection points and made a little better connection, and the keyboard started working.

Before springing for a new (non-Apple) keyboard, I made an appointment at the local Apple store and brought the iPad and keyboard in. This was pre-lockdown, of course; I just thought I'd post the resolution I got here.

They replaced the keyboard for free. It was not still under warranty, but it had not been out for all that long either. If/when this one goes, I'll probably switch to logitech.

Typing this on my Smart Keyboard. Finally. I have an iPad Pro 12.9” (2nd Generation) and I only discovered the keyboard stopped working yesterday. I spent lot’s of time reading and watching videos until finally stumbling across the post from iPodge. Unbelievable.

I have this working but WITHOUT magnets. I should qualify by saying the magnetic switch is undoubtedly the underlying cause.

I didn’t have a magnet to hand so played about hovering the iPad above the guttering, just shy of actually being fully seated. To my amazement it detected the Smart Keyboard and it started working. I found it promptly disconnected once I let go and allowed it to fully “snap” into the guttering.

So, I grabbed an old plastic points card you get from supermarkets and once I got it to recognise the keyboard doing my hover trick, I shoved the plastic card beneath (above keys 6-9) and let go. It still works!!! Not sure why 😂

Happy this is working. I’ll get a magnet soon but hope this helps. I am appalled at how this has screwed up having paid a small fortune for this Apple accessory. It’s had little usage in the past 3/4 years so it certainly hasn’t worn out. I was fearing having to buy another keyboard case, but my iPad Pro is now considered old so many “alternatives” don’t support it. So that spurred me on to get this fixed.

Thank you iPodge!