iPad Pro PSA: Apogee ONE incompatible with iPad Pro 3rd Gen. (2018)

[gnomeisland]

The 2018 iPad Pro doesn't play nice with the Apogee ONE for Mac and iOS. Apogee's own USB-C cable does nothing. Using a USB-A cable with the USB-C adapter gives you audio out but nothing shows in Maestro which means no control over phantom power, internal vs. external mic, and no low-latency mixing. Apogee says the problem is that with the switch to USB-C, the audio protocols have changed and they need to write new drivers. No timeline on update though.

I suspect that this is true for Duet and Quartet as well but I don't have those to test.

 

[jammybastard]

I contacted Apogee CS and they confirmed their products are not compatible with the 2018 ipad proa.
They said that their engineers are working on a solution.
Hopefully it will be a just new cable with USB-C to Apogee’s connector ao I can use it with my One and Jam96k.

 

[gnomeisland]

I contacted Apogee CS and they confirmed their products are not compatible with the 2018 ipad proa.
They said that their engineers are working on a solution.
Hopefully it will be a just new cable with USB-C to Apogee’s connector ao I can use it with my One and Jam96k.

I have an Apogee micro-USB to USB-C cable that is listed on their website as compatible with the ONE but it does not work. The tech I spoke to said this isn't a cable problem it is a change in how audio is handled.

The 2018 iPad Pros don't seem to use the MFi standard/technology. This is critical because all the Apogee iOS products use a special chip to do full-support of Lightening, which was one of the big hardware changes between the USB-only Duet and ONE and the iOS versions. Apple now implements a pretty standard USB-C audio, like their notebook/desktops, so I'm 99% sure it is a driver issue.

I'm curious to see if the new drivers actually bring support for the older USB-only devices since the MFi hardware isn't necessary anymore.

 

[jukeboxaddict]

Hmmmm does anyone know if this means the Mic Plus is also incompatible? It ships with a Micro USB (on the mic's side) to USB-C cable.

 

[gnomeisland]

Hmmmm does anyone know if this means the Mic Plus is also incompatible? It ships with a Micro USB (on the mic's side) to USB-C cable.

No clue. It probably depends on how the audio interface is implemented. Does it work on Windows or Android phones? If it does, then it may have a USB standard mode and work fine (even if it doesn’t/can’t use the MFi drivers).

I have the older MiC but haven’t tried it yet. Even if it did work I’m not sure it would be of help to you.

 

[AE_stc]

I just discovered this, I purchased the new 2020 IPP to specifically use it with the ONE and me being a dummy didn’t think to check if it’s even compatible (why wouldn’t the unit made for iPads be compatible with iPads right?) but either way plugged it all in tonight to discover it doesn’t work and then started reading up on it

In the meantime at least I have my trusty old Mackie blackjack so that’ll work fine. Time to sell the ONE. As this thread is from 2018 and there still isn’t a solution we can only assume there never will be. Disappointing.

 

[Shiva Shiva]

Actually, I bought an Apogee One and after reading that it was not compatible with Ipad Pro2018/2019 i left it there for a year in my store. So the other day , I read that the windows driver is up for Apogee One and i tried my Apogee One for MAC and IOS with Windows 10 machine .. and IT WORKED!!!! It sounded so good..

Then out of curiosity, I put on my USB C hub into the Ipad Pro and downloaded Apogee maestro app. I plugged in and WALLAH!!! I got full signals and i went on Garageband and tried it... it worked completely! No hiccups .. NOTHING! It was full signal. no compatibility issues.. it worked like it should. Pristine recording of my acoustic guitar..

all it took was a cheap USB C hub into my Ipad.

 

[AE_stc]

Actually, I bought an Apogee One and after reading that it was not compatible with Ipad Pro2018/2019 i left it there for a year in my store. So the other day , I read that the windows driver is up for Apogee One and i tried my Apogee One for MAC and IOS with Windows 10 machine .. and IT WORKED!!!! It sounded so good..

Then out of curiosity, I put on my USB C hub into the Ipad Pro and downloaded Apogee maestro app. I plugged in and WALLAH!!! I got full signals and i went on Garageband and tried it... it worked completely! No hiccups .. NOTHING! It was full signal. no compatibility issues.. it worked like it should. Pristine recording of my acoustic guitar..

all it took was a cheap USB C hub into my Ipad.

What no way, I do have a cheap hub lol and I will be trying this

 

[Shiva Shiva]

What no way, I do have a cheap hub lol and I will be trying this

Dude.. do let us know with an update! Excited to hear this

 

[ugbert100]

@AE_stc it would be great to know what type of hub you used to get this working. Did it come up in the Apogee Maestro app on the iPad Pro? I can get the audio out to work, and dial controls volume control, but not able to select the input in Garageband, or get Maestro to recognise it. Literally did the same thing and purchased without realizing the iPad Pro wasn't supported! 🙄

 

[gnomeisland]

I’d be very interested to know what type of hub you used and what version of iPadOS you’re running. That hasn’t been my experience at all. It will WORK but I can’t change, or view, any of the settings plugged into the iPad.

 

[gnomeisland]

Doesn’t work with my Inatek USB-C hub. Tried via USB-A & USB-C. Not recognized in Maestro.

EDIT: Apogee still has it marked as “least compatible”on their website. If you’ve discovered a unicorn work around please share the details!

 

[Shiva Shiva]

 

[Shiva Shiva]

Its a basix Usb c hub. It also provides power to the apogee and charges when I connect it to the charger. Running iOS 13 latest version

 

[ugbert100]

Wow - that’s really interesting. Do you know what version of firmware you have on the Apogee One? and I’m guessing you are using the latest version of Maestro (I say latest...it was last updated two years ago it seems). Last night I tried the apogee directly into my ipad Pro and it showed up in Maestro - but when I unplugged it and then plugged it in it disappeared. Out of interest, can you see it in the ’settings’ of the iPad at all? - going to see if I can find one of those basix hubs...

 

[Shiva Shiva]

OK Update.

It is not stable. On the picture i sent on the apogee unit, notice the mic light lit up? When i tested it again .. it is not working anymore. And the gain faders do not work. Which means it is intermittent and not reliable. However when it works.. it is a beautiful unit.

 

[ugbert100]

This seems to be a similar experience to the one that I had, except I think @Shiva Shiva you managed to get a bit further than me. It worked, but for not very long. The fact it can work is more annoying than it not working at all, as surely it is a case that drivers could be reworked to iron this out. I've resorted to using it with the macbook air for now. Agree that when it is working, it's really great. Looks to me like devices compatible with iPad Pro for this kind of thing haven't caught up yet

 

[ugbert100]

FYI - I have logged another ticket with Apogee support asking for a position on whether this is even part of their development roadmap; better than waiting in the dark.

 

[gnomeisland]

Very interesting . . . and frustrating. Apogee told me (years ago now) that they were working with Apple to sort this out. No driver updates—not even a comparable hardware upgrade! The "best" solution they recommend is a Quatro which, cost aside, is overkill and oversized for my needs.

 

[ugbert100]

It's quite annoying as AFAIK there isnt a great deal of choice available without going very cheap, or very expensive, and I just wanted something good quality I could use to start off a recording process and potentially finish with my desktop set up, without going to a full blown audio interface such as an RME ucx or similar, and like the idea of something with a reasonable built in mic. Any suggests of any other compatible (and good) interfaces welcome!

 

[Shiva Shiva]

This seems to be a similar experience to the one that I had, except I think @Shiva Shiva you managed to get a bit further than me. It worked, but for not very long. The fact it can work is more annoying than it not working at all, as surely it is a case that drivers could be reworked to iron this out. I've resorted to using it with the macbook air for now. Agree that when it is working, it's really great. Looks to me like devices compatible with iPad Pro for this kind of thing haven't caught up yet

Yea bro...I knew i had something going on there... looks like the unit could support Apogee one, but the moment it stopped working, my heart just broke. To add to the pain, i cancelled my Golf outing for the day to chill out with this unit... Apogee is very slow in resolving this issue. They were just too busy marketing other stuff without giving two hoots for the owners of ONE.

I think, personally, APPLE is a devious company too.

 

[Shiva Shiva]

FYI - I have logged another ticket with Apogee support asking for a position on whether this is even part of their development roadmap; better than waiting in the dark.

Have they replied yet? What is so difficult for Apogee to liaise with apple to provide a pathway for drivers?????? GODDDDDDDDDD!!!!

 

[gnomeisland]

Have they replied yet? What is so difficult for Apogee to liaise with apple to provide a pathway for drivers?????? GODDDDDDDDDD!!!!

I don't know. I have theories (device security on iOS is a big BIG deal for Apple) but they all come down to time/priorities. Going with full USB-C opened up a world of possibilities but also required either completely stock devices (like sound out on the ONE which does work) or custom drivers. Whatever interface the MiFi program worked out (at least some encrypted handshake), can't work over USB-C. They support different protocols and lighting actually has a tiny bit of logic in the cable too.

The new driverkit replacements for ktexts in Big Sur seems like the right tech to make this happen safely but for some reason they are ONLY part of the MacOS on Apple Silicon and not iOS/iPadOS. So close and yet so far!

I've got a dim hope that this functionality is actually included in iPadOS 14 but not publicized for some reason. However, Apple won't say and if Apogee can now write a driver for their devices they haven't rolled it out. So hope is dimming. . .

 

[AE_stc]

I don't know. I have theories (device security on iOS is a big BIG deal for Apple) but they all come down to time/priorities. Going with full USB-C opened up a world of possibilities but also required either completely stock devices (like sound out on the ONE which does work) or custom drivers. Whatever interface the MiFi program worked out (at least some encrypted handshake), can't work over USB-C. They support different protocols and lighting actually has a tiny bit of logic in the cable too.

The new driverkit replacements for ktexts in Big Sur seems like the right tech to make this happen safely but for some reason they are ONLY part of the MacOS on Apple Silicon and not iOS/iPadOS. So close and yet so far!

I've got a dim hope that this functionality is actually included in iPadOS 14 but not publicized for some reason. However, Apple won't say and if Apogee can now write a driver for their devices they haven't rolled it out. So hope is dimming. . .

Excellent thoughts and I agree. Hope is diminished and I believe the ONE for iPad is a dead product moving forward. It’s sad, it’s such a beast of a device

I use a Mackie onyx blackjack for anyone looking for an alternative. Works perfectly, the only problem is it has that subtle Mackie “Sheen” on everything. Not a huge deal as it’s not too noticeable and I’ve never had a client ever complain. But if your ears are tuned like ours it’s just something to consider. But the unit itself is built like a tank, looks awesome, and is incredibly reliable

 

[gnomeisland]

Excellent thoughts and I agree. Hope is diminished and I believe the ONE for iPad is a dead product moving forward. It’s sad, it’s such a beast of a device

I use a Mackie onyx blackjack for anyone looking for an alternative. Works perfectly, the only problem is it has that subtle Mackie “Sheen” on everything. Not a huge deal as it’s not too noticeable and I’ve never had a client ever complain. But if your ears are tuned like ours it’s just something to consider. But the unit itself is built like a tank, looks awesome, and is incredibly reliable

Thanks! Looks a touch bulky for my needs (the ONE is my traveling AD/DA; I have an old Duet USB (not MiFi) for the home studio. I've been using exclusively apogee for over ten years. I'm hesitant to look elsewhere but this Mackie or FocusRite's 2X2 have enough physical controls they should work fine with the driver limitations.