Growing Number of iPad Pro Owners Complain of Screen Stuttering Issues

[SkippyThorson]

I thought I was losing my freaking mind. The A key for me is the most problematic. I thought I was just getting terrible at typing. My 2015 doesn’t exhibit this issue. The 2017 does. I have to wonder if it’s an issue in the software that the keyboard trying to learn how I type and interpreting my not-perfect press of a key is just f’ing it up. Maybe due to a restore from an earlier device? Truly weird. I chalked it up to nothing - but for the first time in a long while, count me in as one of the “small number of people”! Also hoping it’s not a flaw in the 120 refresh screens or a memory leak causing stutter. Sigh.

 

[JustinM80]

Just want to add mine to the list. This has been occurring on my 2018 12.9 LTE since day one. Typing with the onscreen keyboard and it will randomly miss displaying the letters I know I have typed.

Stop trying to gain sympathy. Your iPad is perfectly fine.
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I haven’t had this issue with my 12.9 3rd gen pro, however I am noticing a few dead pixels on my screen! Is anyone else who got one on launch day have this issues?

Same here. The bad screens seems to be isolated to only LTE models.
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I thought I was losing my freaking mind. The A key for me is the most problematic. I thought I was just getting terrible at typing. My 2015 doesn’t exhibit this issue. The 2017 does. I have to wonder if it’s an issue in the software that the keyboard trying to learn how I type and interpreting my not-perfect press of a key is just f’ing it up. Maybe due to a restore from an earlier device? Truly weird. I chalked it up to nothing - but for the first time in a long while, count me in as one of the “small number of people”! Also hoping it’s not a flaw in the 120 refresh screens or a memory leak causing stutter. Sigh.

It’s a screen connection issue and also the stuttering is caused by Bluetooth being on. When I turn off Bluetooth, all problems go away.
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I've spent hours with my iPad and hours on the forums, seen many times in other threads that 11.X or 12.X "would magically solve it"...they never did. When you install updates or switch ProMotion on/off or do a hard reset or an update, or touch Accessibility settings or switch Bluetooth, Pencil, whatever on/off... it does look like it has been solved maybe for an hour or a day but the problem always comes back. It usually comes back when you stop carefully testing if it went away and start doing your daily tasks.

when I turn Bluetooth off, the keyboard crap and the stuttering goes away and doesn’t come back.
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Don't blame John it's Tim Cook who is in charge blame him, when he took over all this BS started to happen. That guy is not Steve Jobs he won't tell off an employe for **** job hence why engineers / dev slacking off and hence why Tim is doing a **** job as CEO

Don’t blame Tim. It’s not his fault. It’s the FoxConn employees fault.

 

[GarySan]

To thread OP/MacRumour:

Please please please this issue is not only on the 2018 IPad, my 2017 IPad Pro 12.9 inch (bought November 2017) has been plagued with this issue for a very long time. I have had 3 replacements since first purchase due to this unresponsive touch, and my 4th is also beginning to exhibit similar symptoms. Initially it will start off perfect, but as time goes the stutter will last for 1 to 2 seconds in random intervals, then it will worsen to become 30 seconds - 1 mins+ unresponsiveness all the way to the point where it is virtually unusable with fingers (Pencil will still work). Some people say an Update fixed the issue or turning off Bluetooth works, but it doesn’t, it will come back after a while, hence leading me to believe this is a hardware related problem. Ive seen someone who suffered similar issue mention it’s likely because there is a slight bend on the IPad Pros which is causing this. Don’t stay quiet people, this issue is up there with “butterfly keyboard” and it needs to be addressed!

Here is a thread about this fro, Ifixit:

https://www.ifixit.com/Answers/View...touchscreen+is+unresponsive+from+time+to+time

It has close to 130000 views, so it is clearly a widespread problem.

*also I don’t use screen protectors

 

[jimac]

I've had this "Screen Stuttering" problem infrequently on my 2017 2nd gen 12.9-inch iPad Pro, and the only times it has really bothered me was when I was playing a game called Wordscapes, in which you select letters by dragging your finger across a circle to spell a word. Sometimes it just stops linking the letters and only the last letter or two are selected. The problem might persist for a minute or more. In fact, Wordscapes, which otherwise is a fun and addictive game, may be the ONLY application I've used that is affected by this problem! (Well, perhaps the problem simply doesn't affect those other games as much due to differing gameplay.) Anyway, I haven't had this problem since the latest iOS 12.2 update. My iPad Pro is now working perfectly. I've never had a problem using the virtual keyboard, and I've been alternating between several different language keyboards on my iPad.

I may be wrong, but it seems to me that Wordscapes, like several other games that I play, was not written using Apple's Xcode or Swift IDEs and perhaps that may be the underlying cause of this problem. It may just be an artifact of being ported over from another platform.

I hope that this helps Apple identify the problem.

 

[wib]

I have a kind of delayed reaction thing when swiping sometimes on both my Pro 10.5 and 7 plus. Also when charging I sometimes get the fluttery app icons on my phone too.

I just thought it was me and never complained. I'm guessing it's IOS related rather than hardware as it didn't used to happen.

 

[MiniMe77]

I've had this since I got my iPad Pro second generation in 2017 or whenever it was. I was going to take it back but never bothered in the end. It's really annoying when it happens, especially if you're in the middle of a game and suddenly can't scroll or do anything.

In my experience, the display if I remember correctly for the iPad Pro is basically two iPad screens stuck together. On my iPad Pro when a freeze occurs I can ALWAYS scroll on the other side. e.g. if the freeze happens on the right hand side of the display, then scrolling or pressing a button will always work if I do it on the left hand side of the display. And vice versa. So I don't know if that is a hardware or software problem? It certainly never ever happened on any of my previous iPad models.

Knowing it happens in the current generation too has made me want to wait until the next release before upgrading my Pro. Hope they sort it out eventually!

Also, for me it happens regardless of what I am doing. Browsing or playing a game. In my opinion, it's not a recent issue, so if it's software-related well it's been there since 2017 for me.

 

[Kid Red]

This sounds like the issue I've been experiencing since 12.1 I think on my 1st gen 10.5 pro. It was fine before one of the recent iOS updates. What happens in my case is I'll take an action-clicking a link, launching an app, etc and then there's a second or two where nothing happens. Everything else seems normal so it's a case where you keep touching the screen expecting it to continue the action. It's like a system lag where everything just pauses for like 2-3 seconds then continues along.

I believe it's related to one of the last few updates because that's when I started to notice the lag.

 

[solliex]

I just thought that’s the way it was supposed to work but my two iPad pros that very buggy screens from time to time and lock up it’s almost as if it was doing a memory management and when it cleared memory gave me back scrolling ability of the screen certainly want to be on board with this issue it’s real

 

[Khedron]

I just thought that’s the way it was supposed to work but my two iPad pros that very buggy screens from time to time and lock up it’s almost as if it was doing a memory management and when it cleared memory gave me back scrolling ability of the screen certainly want to be on board with this issue it’s real

The famous efficient iOS RAM management

 

[H3LL5P4WN]

I don't seem to have this issue. My only gripe is that I have to charge my cellular 11 every couple of days.

 

[aeshaettr_]

It seems to be an issue related to the hand rest and Apple Pencil input in my case. Did not do it until I updated to the 12.3 beta. Annoying for sure

 

[Labyrintho]

I have had this issue with my 2017 12.9” iPad Pro since day one, seems like, but I have just lived with it. I have found that if I just make sure my other fingers are not even touching the bezel area it reduces or eliminates the problem.

This is a really clumsy “fix”, but the nearest Apple store is 1.5 hours away, and it was never convenient to run there just for this, especially when maybe it was (for all I knew) just poor design rather than what Apple would consider a defect. EDIT: it also was not reproducible on demand. Very common, but not every time.

But if there is eventually a fix for this, that would be FANTASTIC.

 

[Kiimora]

no display issues here, i do just about everything on the iPad with the pencil hence i have not noticed any stutter whatsoever

 

[DragonX]

when I turn Bluetooth off, the keyboard crap and the stuttering goes away and doesn’t come back.

I’m having this issue for almost 1 year and I spent maybe 80 hours total trying to fix or find the cause. There are now YouTube videos, Amazon reviews forums threads on this issue with tons of different suggestions and I tried them all. This included Bluetooth, various connection settings, pencil, Accessibility options, Pro Motion, Factory Reset, Network Reset, restore from backup, cleaning iPad, rotating, putting at different angles. Using different Apple genuine chargers, backside protectors (I don’t have any screen protectors), tweaking almost all Settings on the iPad and removing/installing different applications, using different versions of iOS.

Nothing helped After a while, on the next day or immediately the issue returns back no matter what. I think it’s a hardware issue that you can’t fix by yourself and it develops with time on all models of the IPad 2015-2018. Usually it starts within a year on a new iPad and within 3-4 months on replacement/refurbished.

 

[Just sayin...]

Wow - this article almost exactly describes what I’ve been experiencing on my 2018 Gen 2 12.9” iPad Pro WiFi. Glad others are experiencing/reporting these issues so it’ll likely be raised on Apple’s priority list.

 

[rouxeny]

Huge issue for me. Exactly as described. Screen stalls, and fails to respond to swipes. Also, the touch keyboard is horribly inaccurate. I have to watch the screen to check to see if every key push got registered. Sometimes, the key on the keyboard looks like it registers, but the letter doesn’t show up.

My work around has been to use the Smart Keyboard extensively, however this is difficult when using the iPad lying down.

Will try the Apple Pencil hack.

 

[Val-kyrie]

I have a lot of questions:

Is this is related to support for the Apple Pencil 2?

Is the touch screen technology on the iPad Pro different than the iPad Air or iPad Mini 5? Is it different than the iPhone Xr/Xs/XsMax?

Are any previous gen iPad Pros with Apple Pencil 1 support experiencing this issue?

I am curious if this issue has affected any iOS devices with support for Apple’s Gen 1 Pencil.

 

[JustinM80]

I have a lot of questions:

Is this is related to support for the Apple Pencil 2?

Is the touch screen technology on the iPad Pro different than the iPad Air or iPad Mini 5? Is it different than the iPhone Xr/Xs/XsMax?

Are any previous gen iPad Pros with Apple Pencil 1 support experiencing this issue?

I am curious if this issue has affected any iOS devices with support for Apple’s Gen 1 Pencil.

It mainly affects LTE models only. They were produced at a different site at Foxconn.

 

[mrex]

I am curious if this issue has affected any iOS devices with support for Apple’s Gen 1 Pencil.

yes. use the search.

 

[Val-kyrie]

yes. use the search.

I apologize. I have limited vision now after being rear-ended in an MVA. It is easier for me to ask than search. Still learning to use accessibility features.
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Also not mentioned is that tempered glass screen protectors cause huge difficulties with the 11” iPad Pro screen, a real negative for people who like to keep their screens in good condition. Apple hasn’t responded to those issues either.

To be fair, when they add features which apply to the display and you put something on top of that "stock" display glass, then that's your problem as a consumer for adding something additional. I know it may seem minute, but you're still applying another surface on top of the touch interface/glass that the pad was not technically designed to be used with.

I don’t know if it is the screen protectors per se. I have a glass screen protector on my SE and I have not had this issue.

This leads me back to thinking this has something to do with Pencil support.

 

[THE ONE!!]

My iPad Pro 2017 has this issue. Apple refused to listen or test properly. Now it sits on a self unused.

Are we saying that a) it doesn't just work and b) the extra cash you pay to go towards world class leading customer services actually isnt all that?

 

[mi7chy]

All the symptoms sound like touch IC related. If it was just touch IC firmware they could just release an iOS update so the fact that they're replacing devices could point to a hardware issue. Perhaps it's a repeat of iPhone 6 touch disease issue that starts out fine when device is new but develops issues with bending over time. Hit up independent repairers like Louis Rossmann, Jessa Jones, etc. to see what their take is since they have better visibility into these issues.

 

[Tapiture]

I apologize. I have limited vision now after being rear-ended in an MVA. It is easier for me to ask than search. Still learning to use accessibility features.
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I don’t know if it is the screen protectors per se. I have a glass screen protector on my SE and I have not had this issue.

This leads me back to thinking this has something to do with Pencil support.

I’m using the pencil fine with a screen protector on my 9.7” Pro. I’ve heard that if the 11” lays flat it works fine with a screen protector, or even if you hold your finger over the pencil charger. Something weird and glitchy is going on with the magnetism or something (I’m not an engineer).

 

[Nanotyrns]

My apologies if this question has already been asked -- lot's o' pages of comments --

But --
Has anyone that had their device exchanged because of this issue been contacted by any of Apple's engineers?

I exchanged my Apple Pencil 2 the first day because I thought the battery was bad (there's a whole thread on this) but it turned out to be a firmware issue that was corrected within a couple days. About a month later however I was contacted by an engineer at Apple that had more questions about my issue.

Just curious if anyone has heard from an engineer.

 

[augustya]

is this issue happening only on the 12.9" or on the 11" also ?