iPad Pro not fast charging on 29W USB-C to Lightning charger

I have different scenario, but might be applicable to your situation. I have a brand new iPad Pro 10.5, and it come with a 12W charger and a 2 meter lightning cable. For unknown reason, I found the brand new 2 meter cable charging the slowest among my other cables. (for my old iPhone, and non-MFI certified ones). I tested with USB powere meter, and unexpectedly found that the new 2 meter cable limited the charging current to 1 amp. It is really strange, and I have test it with 10W charger, me give similar result.

Hi i2be. The current is actually determined by the charging regulator inside the iPad. Just because the power supply is 12 watt (2.4 A) doesn't mean the device will charge at that rate. So maybe 1 A was the appropriate current at the time of your test. Typically, the current is reduced as the charge builds up. It is also reduced as the battery heats up, to prevent overheating.

I've just picked up a new iPad Pro 12.9, along with 2 x 29W USB-C chargers and both the 1m and 2m USB-C to Lightning cables.

I've had the same issue with my iPad Pro. It will not fast-charge (or seemingly, even charge at all) with the 29W unit, and I've swapped both 29W power adapters, and tried both cables.

Using Battery Health (iOS app), it shows a charging rate of 2400 maH, and 12W of power (same as for the normal adapter).

Even with my iPad Pro in Airplane mode, it loses charge while plugged into the 29W USB-C adapter.

It's very frustrating.

Patrick

Maybe Apple did something to later large screen iPad Pro models to limit the charge rate.

I noticed quite awhile ago, that Apple stopped promoting the use of the 29W charger/USB-C cable charging of the large iPad Pro.

The 29W charger is not even listed any longer as a 12.9 inch screen iPad Pro accessory any longer.

Maybe this faster charging has been eliminated in the large screen iPad Pro by Apple and Apple never made it this change publicly known. Apple is good for that. Making feature changes/additions/omissions without documenting the fact.

Things like introducing a new 9.7 inch iPad 4 model only t months after the introduction of the iPad 3.

They did this with remote device streaming of purchased iTunes movie/TV content, removed the Delete All function in iOS Mail, did away with Apple iCards app, introduced a less than stellar new TV App that replaces the long standing Videos App without any notice that the new TV App was going to a replacement the "old' Videos app.

So, I wouldn't put a undocumented change to the larger iPad Pro's charging rate/status past Apple to do without anyone else's knowledge.

Now that I think about it, maybe Apple replaced the old Videos App with the new TV App because the old Videos app was only a 32 bit app and Apple replaced it with a new 64 bit TV app.

Anyhoo. maybe later large screen iPad Pro models do NOT fast charge any longer.

The only way to know is if someone who purchased the earlier larger screen iPad Pro in Nov. 2015 and early 2016 and have the fast charging setup and works on those early larger iPad Pro models (before Apple had a proce change for,the larger iPad Pros and offered the 256 Gbs storage models).

That would be my rationale for the fact this doesn't seem to be working with newer larger screen iPad Pro models.

Maybe the larger screen iPad Pros were heating up too much and maybe the units becomimg warped from extra, excessive heat?

It maybe no longer possible to faster charge a 12.9 inch screen iPad Pro.

A theory.

I am also experiencing this issue and I already took the charger to Apple store, they don't understand what I'm talking about, and give me a new 29w charger, the new have the same problem.

But for me I just need to unplug the USB-C or take the charger from outlet and it starts to charge, it's annoying I know but what else can I do? I was 100% sure that was a faulty charger, Apple give a new one and same problem.

I had a 32gb 2015 ipad Pro and a 256gb 2016 ipad pro, both wifi-only 12.9''and now I have a 256gb 2017 12.9 wifi and LTE, the three have the same problem.

I was going to take it to the Apple Store as well, but my issue seems to have resolved itself. After two hours of not even charging my 2017 12.9" iPad Pro 2 (512GB Cellular), the charger finally started to charge. I'm not sure if there's a software communication layer between the charger and the iPad hardware, but whatever it was it finally gave the signal that it's okay to charge the device. If it helps others as a benchmark, I ran a timer from completely dead (black screen) to 100% with the following fast charging results:

05% in 6m

10% in 11m

15% in 16m

20% in 22m

25% in 27m

33% in 37m

50% in 59m

80% in 1hr 35m

100% in 2hr 43m

Screen brightness at lowest, airplane mode on, device set to not lock/sleep.

Hope these results help you gauge whether fast charging is actually working for you or not.

The "fast charge" rate is between 3-4 hours versus the normal 5-6 hours.

How long does it take your iPad Pro to charge.

And Yes, the iPad Pro won't charge as fast if you are continually using it while it is connected to its charging transformer block and charging up.

You need to leave it alone while it charges.

You only going to save 1-1/2 to 2 hours of charge time with the 29W charger and USB-C cable.

Wasn't worth it to me for nearly $100.

I have better places to spend $100 than to spend $100 to save two hours of charging time of my iPad Pro.

No way to justify that cost, IMSO.

I did the same thing and it was working but this past week it stopped and now I'm losing the fast charge again. Loses charge while plugged in with the 29W charger. Frustrating!

My initial charge time with the 29w went up to almost 80% in an hour on my Pro while using. Not now however, it loses while plugged in. Might have a faulty 29w power brick or cable.

I am not sure.

There maybe sometimg wrong with the charger, however, I read or saw something from Apple about charging the large iPad (even for the standard, in box charger) that charging from 0-80% takes a shorter amount of time. Getting the large iPad Pro to "top off" to the last 20% to reach the 100% charge cycle takes appreciably longer.

I have seen this behaviour with my own iPad Pro.

It takes my iPad Pro about 2-1/2 hours to reach close to the 80% mark only for charging to take another 2 1/2 hours or so to charge my iPad Pro to the remaining 20%.

The fast charger is probably charging your iPad in a similar fashion.

If its not doing that now, try unplugging and plugging in the 29W charger and try the shorter cable, instead.

Good Luck!

I am also experiencing this issue.

Thanks for your observation Mikel. I will try to see how long it will take to start charge for it self and the battery level when starts.