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iPad Pro IPad Pro won’t recognise any cable plugged into it

M

mrochester

macrumors 601
Original poster
Feb 8, 2009
4,851
2,782
Hi.

just yesterday my 2018 11“ ipad Pro stopped recognising any cable plugged into it. It won’t charge and it isnt recognised by any computer it is connected too. All the cables definitely work as I have checked and confirmed that.

I’ve tried restore mode but still no cable is recognised.

cables feel like they plug in normally and I have shone a light into the port and can’t see anything lodged inside.

has anyone got any idea what the problem might be?

many thanks.

m.
 
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Likely an issue with the port, potentially a small piece of debris inside it or some other failure that stops the connecting.
 
ericwn said:
Likely an issue with the port, potentially a small piece of debris inside it or some other failure that stops the connecting.
Click to expand...
Might be wooden toothpick time! I’ve looked inside the port very closely and can’t see anything though.
 
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Best success, make sure you’re very careful, these ports look like they’re easy to break.
 
ericwn said:
Best success, make sure you’re very careful, these ports look like they’re easy to break.
Click to expand...
Sadly it has made no difference. Absolutely no debris has come out of the port after running the wooden toothpick around them.
 
The female USB C port is much more fragile than either lightning or USB A, because of the way it's built (however the male is much stronger than lightning). Often pressure on the cable can break some pins inside the port and the port can either partiually work (e.g. not take power delivery anymore but still take 5volt charging, which use different pins, or take charge but not video out, again different pins) or stop working altogether...
I don't know about Apple, but Samsung actualls refused to repair my port under warranty because it's considered accidental damage and not a defect (and they even charge you just to check and then say it's gonna cost half the price of the device if you want to go on with the repair)
The issue happened because I was using the device in my hands while plugged in, which should not be done with a USB C device...
 
The mystery definitely continues.

I have let the iPad battery run down completely until it switched off. The damn thing is now happily charging up again!

So no cable was detected when the device had power, but as soon as it was completely flat, cable detected.

Very weird.
 
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So the issue is the USBC port stops working when the iPad is in DFU mode. So it cannot be restored to release iPadOS from the beta. The new owner will just have to live with beta 16.1 until it is released in a few weeks.
 
mrochester said:
So the issue is the USBC port stops working when the iPad is in DFU mode. So it cannot be restored to release iPadOS from the beta. The new owner will just have to live with beta 16.1 until it is released in a few weeks.
Click to expand...
What cable are you using when the device is in DFU mode?
 
I found this post as I was about to make my own....I have a M1 12.9in iPad pro that will not recognize any cables to charge it. I've tried the OEM cord and Apple USB-C charger brick that came with it and nothing, I've tried various Anker and other USB C cords with different power bricks and still nothing. I was running iPadOS 16 and have now downloaded and am running the public beta iPadOS 16.1 in hopes that a fix would be in that update...still nothing. Anyone have any ideas? I'm att roughly 60% battery left but I have no way to charge it.

Edit: I also have tried a full erase and reset of the iPad but I did do a iCloud restore. I'm willing to do that again and set it up as new if anyone thinks that would work.
 
pilotkid said:
I found this post as I was about to make my own....I have a M1 12.9in iPad pro that will not recognize any cables to charge it. I've tried the OEM cord and Apple USB-C charger brick that came with it and nothing, I've tried various Anker and other USB C cords with different power bricks and still nothing. I was running iPadOS 16 and have now downloaded and am running the public beta iPadOS 16.1 in hopes that a fix would be in that update...still nothing. Anyone have any ideas? I'm att roughly 60% battery left but I have no way to charge it.

Edit: I also have tried a full erase and reset of the iPad but I did do a iCloud restore. I'm willing to do that again and set it up as new if anyone thinks that would work.
Click to expand...
What I found with mine was that after being in DFU restore the iPad would not recognise any cable until the battery was depleted (even if I rebooted back into ipados).
 
mrochester said:
What I found with mine was that after being in DFU restore the iPad would not recognise any cable until the battery was depleted (even if I rebooted back into ipados).
Click to expand...
Ok. So are you saying I should let the battery fully drain and then it may fix itself and recognize that I am trying to charge it?

Edit: I just re-read your post above....sounds like letting the battery drain completely will allow it to fix itself.

I wonder if this is a software issue? Or hardware? I do have AppleCare+ on it...If it fixes it self and this isn't a reoccurring problem I won't mess with going to the Apple Store. But if it is a reoccurring problem then I'll make the trip to the store.
 
Interesting so I'm having a similar issue with my iPad Pro. Fine charging on whatever cable and charger I want for days and then it won't charge at all. No matter what cable or charger I use. A reboot and it's back to normal for 5 or 6 days. Happens over and over. Is it worth taking this back? It's only 6 months or so old.
 
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mrochester said:
Hi.

just yesterday my 2018 11“ ipad Pro stopped recognising any cable plugged into it. It won’t charge and it isnt recognised by any computer it is connected too. All the cables definitely work as I have checked and confirmed that.

I’ve tried restore mode but still no cable is recognised.

cables feel like they plug in normally and I have shone a light into the port and can’t see anything lodged inside.

has anyone got any idea what the problem might be?

many thanks.

m.
Click to expand...
Same thing happened to me of my 2018 11” iPad Pro. If you have the Apple keyboard case it can and will charge Via the Keyboard case Smart Connector on the back. Take it any Apple store and let them show you how just prentend you are gonna buy a Keyboard case. Also this happened to me like in 2020 during the Pandemic and manager was nice enough to give me a new iPad Replacement
 
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TheRealAlex said:
Same thing happened to me of my 2018 11” iPad Pro. If you have the Apple keyboard case it can and will charge Via the Keyboard case Smart Connector on the back. Take it any Apple store and let them show you how just prentend you are gonna buy a Keyboard case. Also this happened to me like in 2020 during the Pandemic and manager was nice enough to give me a new iPad Replacement
Click to expand...
My M1 12.9 is currently dead in the water. I am about to make an appointment to take it into the local apple store. I can't get any combination of chargers/charger cords to work with it. Now it seems to be so dead that it doesn't even display the battery sign when I press the power button.
 
Turns out the USB-C port somehow got fried when charging. My replacement (at a $49 cost with AppleCare+) iPad Pro comes on Monday. I will fully admit that I am not good about using the provided Apple charger that came with my iPad, I usually just use whatever USB-C charger is around me at the time(ie: computer charger, 3rd party chargers that aren't the same wattage as the Apple provided one, etc.) but I was also under the impression that the iPad would self regulate the amount of wattage it would accept from whatever charger I throw at it. I guess I'll have to me more careful now. I never buy the "cheap' 3rd party cords or chargers. Actually most, if not all of my 3rd party chargers/cords are from either Anker or RavPower. Just a heads up for anyone else that reads this....and like I mentioned above, Apple did end up charging me a $49 replacement fee. Which I am not complaining about(or maybe I am at the slightest) its better than having to purchase a whole new M1 12.9in iPad Pro!
 
the port on my iPad Pro which i had between May 2021 and yesterday was starting to have issues. When i plugged in my USB C cable to charge it stopped charging then started again. It felt very loose and if i moved my iPad it stopped charging. Only happened once but I remember having issues like this on other USB C devices.

luckily i got my iPad replaced for another issue so got a brand new port so hopefully doesn't happen for another year now lol.

i think Apple might have a good reason to be holding onto Lightning for iPhone. it feels more durable than USB C. unfortuantly they will need to get rid of it. Part of me hopes they go all in with wireless charging because i'm not sure I want a USB C iPhone.
 
krspkbl said:
the port on my iPad Pro which i had between May 2021 and yesterday was starting to have issues. When i plugged in my USB C cable to charge it stopped charging then started again. It felt very loose and if i moved my iPad it stopped charging. Only happened once but I remember having issues like this on other USB C devices.

luckily i got my iPad replaced for another issue so got a brand new port so hopefully doesn't happen for another year now lol.

i think Apple might have a good reason to be holding onto Lightning for iPhone. it feels more durable than USB C. unfortuantly they will need to get rid of it. Part of me hopes they go all in with wireless charging because i'm not sure I want a USB C iPhone.
Click to expand...
... I mean... like the current ones... it will probably have both.
 
pilotkid said:
Turns out the USB-C port somehow got fried when charging. My replacement (at a $49 cost with AppleCare+) iPad Pro comes on Monday. I will fully admit that I am not good about using the provided Apple charger that came with my iPad, I usually just use whatever USB-C charger is around me at the time(ie: computer charger, 3rd party chargers that aren't the same wattage as the Apple provided one, etc.) but I was also under the impression that the iPad would self regulate the amount of wattage it would accept from whatever charger I throw at it. I guess I'll have to me more careful now. I never buy the "cheap' 3rd party cords or chargers. Actually most, if not all of my 3rd party chargers/cords are from either Anker or RavPower. Just a heads up for anyone else that reads this....and like I mentioned above, Apple did end up charging me a $49 replacement fee. Which I am not complaining about(or maybe I am at the slightest) its better than having to purchase a whole new M1 12.9in iPad Pro!
Click to expand...
You need to use a USB-C with USB-PD. Those chargers are likely fine, ive used similar.
The next is cable, anker or apple cables? Lot of cables don't make proper connection and can cause arcing or are not built right.
 
Menel said:
You need to use a USB-C with USB-PD. Those chargers are likely fine, ive used similar.
The next is cable, anker or apple cables? Lot of cables don't make proper connection and can cause arcing or are not built right.
Click to expand...
As simple as it sounds I've never really thought about the quality of the USB-C cable itself. I know there are some that are rated to handle more power through them than others but I kind of overlooked that and just focused on the power brink itself. Thanks for the info! So from now on I'll pay attention to that and make sure they are rated for power delivery (PD).

Thanks again!
 
mrochester said:
Hi.

just yesterday my 2018 11“ ipad Pro stopped recognising any cable plugged into it. It won’t charge and it isnt recognised by any computer it is connected too. All the cables definitely work as I have checked and confirmed that.

I’ve tried restore mode but still no cable is recognised.

cables feel like they plug in normally and I have shone a light into the port and can’t see anything lodged inside.

has anyone got any idea what the problem might be?

many thanks.

m.
Click to expand...
So I have been going crazy with same issues on my 2018 Pro 12.9” for quite some time. Intermittent for at least 6 months. I have tried every possible solution on the internet. That made things more confusing because I had short term success with multiple different solutions. In the end I ended up with a completely dead IPad battery and had a new port ordered for next day delivery. That is today. I am not the type to give up on simple things before taking extreme measure such as opening my IPad and replacing the USB-C port. That was only hours away though. So was going through my cables, testing each one first on another device then on the IPad. I also did not use any sort of power block and went straight into a multi port power station. My understanding is most of the power blocks are to low of an output and the IPad Pro’s are power queens. Direct through the power station seemed to be the best way to go. All the cables I tried worked on other devices but only one was recognized by my IPad and showed it was charging. There were 2 significant differences with this cable. First, it was a thicker cable and you could tell it was well made. Second it is only 12” long. Currently I am charging with no issues.

I don’t know what the cable is for or who makes it but it works. I don’t know long term yet but I do believe it gives some validity to the IPads need for more power. Even for the iPad to just recognize it. The shorter and heavier gauge cable help with current flow and maintaining a higher charge rate.

So I am gonna hold off on opening it and replacing the port and hopefully this works. If so I’ll try to find a power supply with switchable amperage’s and use heavier gauge PD cables.

I’ll update with outcome .
 
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TheRealAlex said:
Same thing happened to me of my 2018 11” iPad Pro. If you have the Apple keyboard case it can and will charge Via the Keyboard case Smart Connector on the back. Take it any Apple store and let them show you how just prentend you are gonna buy a Keyboard case. Also this happened to me like in 2020 during the Pandemic and manager was nice enough to give me a new iPad Replacement
Click to expand...
Im having this exact issue with my iPad Pro m1. The ipad wont charge when the usb c is plugged into it, but is charging via the Magic Keyboard
 
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