iPad 10.5” iPad Pro screen unresponsive after updating from iOS 13.3 to 13.5

[JohnSmithy]

Hi there. I have an iPad Pro 10.5” that I got a little over a year ago. I recently updated from iOS 13.3 to 13.5. I immediately noticed that the screen became randomly unresponsive to touch and gestures. For example, scrolling in Safari or YouTube the iPad will randomly not register any touches, and sometimes it’s 3-5 seconds (or multiple touches) before it works again, sometimes it’s instant, and works again on the next touch. It seems really sporadic, but it seems to occur very regularly. This definitely started happening right after I updated to 13.5, there’s no question about that. I never had this issue previously when running 13.3.



Searching around I see that this is not an unusual or uncommon issue. It seems as if people are almost split between whether or not this is a software or hardware issue. In my instance it seems almost certain that it’s software?



I’ve tried fiddling with the accessibility settings, as some have suggested, but it doesn’t seem to make a difference.



Perhaps I’m just another data point here, but nonetheless I was wondering if anyone has any suggestions. Thanks in advance!

 

[BugeyeSTI]

Did you try to update to 13.5.1? It's the latest version and might help.

 

[Zanaty]

Same issues here but with an iPhone 8, scrolling is dead but touching the screen still works and my phone is unusable !
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Btw this happened after updating to 13.5.1

 

[JohnSmithy]

Did you try to update to 13.5.1? It's the latest version and might help.

Thanks for the suggestion. I updated to 1.3.5.1 and it’s just as bad as before

 

[Tygernoot]

I have this exact same problem on my iPad Air (10.5). Ever since the 13.5 update it randomly doesn't recognise touches for a few seconds. It's very annoying

 

[BarrySumpter]

Wow! I thought it was me and my screen protector. grrrrr

 

[JohnSmithy]

I have this exact same problem on my iPad Air (10.5). Ever since the 13.5 update it randomly doesn't recognise touches for a few seconds. It's very annoying

Wow! I thought it was me and my screen protector. grrrrr

You can try turning on accessibility > touch > touch accommodations > turn on “touch accommodations“ but leave the other settings off. This is something I’ve seen suggested elsewhere. I’ve tried it off and on... hard to tell sometimes if it makes a difference but worth a shot. I think it helps somewhat..? Or it’s just my imagination. Either way, I really hope Apple fixes this soon.

 

[GBstoic]

Yep, same here. After leaving 13.4 my 10.5 Pro stalls regularly for a few seconds. 13.5.1 dI’d not help so I reverted to 13.5. Not tried 13.6 beta yet on my 10.5. 13.6 is great on my iPhone SE (original) but then my assorted iPhones have never shown this problem.

 

[JohnSmithy]

Yep, same here. After leaving 13.4 my 10.5 Pro stalls regularly for a few seconds. 13.5.1 dI’d not help so I reverted to 13.5. Not tried 13.6 beta yet on my 10.5. 13.6 is great on my iPhone SE (original) but then my assorted iPhones have never shown this problem.

Same, I haven’t tried 13.6 beta either on my iPad, though my iPhone 11 Pro is on 13.5 and has no issues at all.

The issues on my iPad were both present on 13.5 and 13.5.1. Since I updated from 13.3, I don’t know if I would have had the same issues with 13.4 as well.

 

[GBstoic]

Last night I told Bluetooth to “forget” my Apple Pencil. Since then I have not had one freeze in 6 hours of on-screen time.

At some point I will reconnect the pencil but I’m in no hurry at the moment.

This was one of several potential “solutions” posted on ifix and other sites. I am still not convinced the fix is real but I suppose it may be a Bluetooth glitch. Maybe ”forgetting” my headphones would have the same effect.

 

[GBstoic]

Last night I told Bluetooth to “forget” my Apple Pencil. Since then I have not had one freeze in 6 hours of on-screen time.

At some point I will reconnect the pencil but I’m in no hurry at the moment.

This was one of several potential “solutions” posted on ifix and other sites. I am still not convinced the fix is real but I suppose it may be a Bluetooth glitch. Maybe ”forgetting” my headphones would have the same effect.

24 hours later the fault has returned.

 

[kazmac]

Unfortunately, this has been going on with all iPad models since 2017, both hardware and software. Take it from someone who has been dealing with it since then.

I generally have to quit the app, or worse, restart the iDevice.

I occasionally have touch issues in 13.4 on my new SE, my 2020 iPP and my 2019 iPad. I have to upgrade the phone as my job insists, but I am leaving both iPads alone.

 

[JohnSmithy]

Last night I told Bluetooth to “forget” my Apple Pencil. Since then I have not had one freeze in 6 hours of on-screen time.

At some point I will reconnect the pencil but I’m in no hurry at the moment.

This was one of several potential “solutions” posted on ifix and other sites. I am still not convinced the fix is real but I suppose it may be a Bluetooth glitch. Maybe ”forgetting” my headphones would have the same effect.

Interesting -- thanks for the suggestion. I don't have an Apple Pencil (and have never had one), though I tried disabling Bluetooth altogether. That, along with Touch accommodations enabled, the issue seems to be better, but again I'm not sure if it's coincidence or not.

Unfortunately, this has been going on with all iPad models since 2017, both hardware and software. Take it from someone who has been dealing with it since then.

I generally have to quit the app, or worse, restart the iDevice.

I occasionally have touch issues in 13.4 on my new SE, my 2020 iPP and my 2019 iPad. I have to upgrade the phone as my job insists, but I am leaving both iPads alone.

Ugh, that's rough to hear. Sorry you've been dealing with it for so long. Looking around online it sure seems to be the case, though.

In my instance, unless it's some sort of crazy coincidence, the issue starting happening immediately after updating from 13.3 to 13.5. So I'm left to assume it's software related. It seems to be worse in things such as Safari or the YouTube app. I had a harder time reproducing it the Settings app, for example. Really bizarre, but super frustrating nonetheless. Rebooting the iPad doesn't even seem to be a temporary fix for me.

Given the fact that the issue has been around since 2017, it doesn't give me much hope of a fix coming any time soon. Since the same touch issue seems to arise from both hardware or software issues, I can see how that could make troubleshooting really difficult.

 

[anodibu]

Ugh, that's rough to hear. Sorry you've been dealing with it for so long. Looking around online it sure seems to be the case, though.

In my instance, unless it's some sort of crazy coincidence, the issue starting happening immediately after updating from 13.3 to 13.5. So I'm left to assume it's software related. It seems to be worse in things such as Safari or the YouTube app. I had a harder time reproducing it the Settings app, for example. Really bizarre, but super frustrating nonetheless. Rebooting the iPad doesn't even seem to be a temporary fix for me.

Given the fact that the issue has been around since 2017, it doesn't give me much hope of a fix coming any time soon. Since the same touch issue seems to arise from both hardware or software issues, I can see how that could make troubleshooting really difficult.

It seems to me that there are two issues. One is that the entire screen becomes unresponsive, this one already exists for some time and possibly is hardware. When I get it, I have to tilt the iPad a bit different and it returns normal.
The other has started to happen to me since 13.5 (I also went from 13.3). But here it is only one tab from safari which becomes unresponsive, I can switch to other tabs or apps fine but the tab remains unresponsive and has to be closed. This must be software related.

 

[JohnSmithy]

It seems to me that there are two issues. One is that the entire screen becomes unresponsive, this one already exists for some time and possibly is hardware. When I get it, I have to tilt the iPad a bit different and it returns normal.
The other has started to happen to me since 13.5 (I also went from 13.3). But here it is only one tab from safari which becomes unresponsive, I can switch to other tabs or apps fine but the tab remains unresponsive and has to be closed. This must be software related.

Interesting... thanks for adding this additional info. Well, it definitely doesn't seem like I'm the only one with this issue. Now that you mention it, I think the Safari tab issue you mention is similar to what I've encountered as well.

Really hoping this gets fixed in iOS 13.6, or at the very least iOS 14.