iPad Pro Unresponsive screen ipad pro 12.9 2nd gen

[seadragon]

My replacement iPad has been great. Very responsive screen. I’m now kicking myself for waiting so long (just over a year) to get it replaced. My new iPad makes me realize just how bad my original one was.

My only advice now is if you’re dealing with this issue, don’t waste time hoping it’s a software issue and just take it in to the Apple Store. It’s defective hardware.

 

[danmart]

My only advice now is if you’re dealing with this issue, don’t waste time hoping it’s a software issue and just take it in to the Apple Store. It’s defective hardware.

I agree. And my device was outside the ‘official’ Apple warranty period but still replaced with no-quibble.

 

[burgman]

I have this same issue with my 10.5. What ALWAYS seems to fix it (temporarily) is to completely clean the screen with a microfiber cloth. My theory is that the new high-refresh-rate screen introduced on the second gen 12.9 and the 10.5 is more sensitive to touch than previous iPad screens, and therefore begins to sense dirt and grime on the screen even when the screen is only slightly smudged. It senses this dirt/grime as if there are other fingers touching the screen, which causes the screen to sometimes become unresponsive or become jumpy instead of having normal smooth movements.

This would also explain why the Apple Pencil always works fine, which is that it has palm rejection, thus rejecting the dirt/grime which otherwise would cause the issue.

Typically if I exit the app and go right back in (no need to even force quit the app), that will do the trick. I think that causes the touch screen to reset itself. Eventually if I don’t clean my iPad screen for a few days, it will happen more and more often, and will seem as if the screen is very glitchy. However, cleaning the screen once again restores its function to like-new again, at least for a few hours of use until the problem resurfaces.

I’ve considered getting a tempered glass screen protector with an oleophobic coating as a possible fix. Has anyone who has this issue tried using a screen protector? In theory, that could solve the issue (if my theory is correct).

This fixed my screen issues, thanks.

 

[appleofmyibook]

I have the same issue and I remember it happened exactly 1 year after the Gen 1 was released too. I don’t know if it is a hardware issue because a force reset always fixes it... I thought because the weather was colder here in Sydney now, it had something to do with it like that temporary issue on the iPhone X but it’s not. The problem seems to have resolved itself in the last week or so but it can be so frustrating.

In other news, the Smart Keyboard connection is starting to play up on me now. I already had to get one replaced because once it would click into the smart connectors, it would constantly lose connection.

 

[kazmac]

My issue is I cannot replicate the issues. I've all but stopped using it for the moment.

Glad to hear everyone is getting replacements. That gives me hope that when I can finally take mine in, perhaps Apple will resolve it in the same manner.

 

[danmart]

My issue is I cannot replicate the issues. I've all but stopped using it for the moment.

The two potential causes of this I’ve been told are a de-laminated screen and a swollen battery. Both of those should be detectable through visible inspection, though they may need to dis-assemble the device partially? If your device is still in warranty I would definitely take it in.

 

[kazmac]

The two potential causes of this I’ve been told are a de-laminated screen and a swollen battery. Both of those should be detectable through visible inspection, though they may need to dis-assemble the device partially? If your device is still in warranty I would definitely take it in.

Thank you. Yes, it is under warranty. I bought Apple Care when I picked it up on launch day last year. I do not see any signs of a swollen battery yet.

I appreciate your response and am glad you got yours sorted. When I can take mine in I will try to update in this thread.

 

[Eric5273]

I brought mine to the Apple store on Tuesday. During the 15 minutes I spent with the Apple tech, I could not replicate the issue. He ran a diagnostic on my iPad and it came out without any errors, so he suggested restoring the iPad from a backup and that could clean up any possible issues.

So I did that on Tuesday night, and now it’s Friday and the issue has not reappeared yet, so hopefully all is fine. I guess I will know for sure in a week or two.

 

[canesalato]

I brought mine to the Apple store on Tuesday. During the 15 minutes I spent with the Apple tech, I could not replicate the issue. He ran a diagnostic on my iPad and it came out without any errors, so he suggested restoring the iPad from a backup and that could clean up any possible issues.

So I did that on Tuesday night, and now it’s Friday and the issue has not reappeared yet, so hopefully all is fine. I guess I will know for sure in a week or two.

Eric, what about the dirty screen reason you proposed? I have noticed that after i clean the screen carefully, touch seems to work fine. Could that be the key? A touch screen which is much more "sensitive" to dirt. Did you clean the screen before bringing it to the store?

 

[kazmac]

I managed to get in yesterday and got the same experience as Eric. I cleaned my iPad Pro screen etc. It seems okay now on 11.4, but I've had it. Trading it into Gazelle and got my pro-rated AC refund from Apple.

If I ever buy another iPad, it'll be a smaller Pro with a drastic price cut, or the regular iPad model.

I hope everyone who has issues gets them sorted promptly.

Thanks for all of the tips and encouragement everyone. Enjoy your iPads.

 

[Eric5273]

Eric, what about the dirty screen reason you proposed? I have noticed that after i clean the screen carefully, touch seems to work fine. Could that be the key? A touch screen which is much more "sensitive" to dirt. Did you clean the screen before bringing it to the store?

I purposely did not clean the screen before I brought it into the Apple store, but as luck would have it, the iPad just decided to not have any issues for that 20 minute period while I was there.

The issue is definitely temporarily cured by cleaning the screen, but over time I was finding the need to clean the screen more and more often, and that should not be necessary.

I’ve been using the iPad since Tuesday and have purposely not cleaned the screen, and since restoring from my iCloud backup, the issue has not appeared again. So maybe the issue is a combination of both software and hardware. It’s hard to know for sure. We have reached a point where software and hardware are so connected that it’s possible for an issue to be a combination of both.

I’m just theorizing here, but perhaps if two particular kinds of apps are running at the same time, then the screen becomes more sentsitive to being dirty and the problem appears. Since everyone uses the different apps, the issue only appears for a small percentage of users. Or maybe the issue is caused by installing two particular kinds of apps on the same iPad in a certain sequence, or while a certain other app is running in the background, but then restoring from a backup fixes the issue as everything is reinstalled in the “proper” order.

I’m just theorizing here, but it could be something weird like that which is causing the issue, and if so it will remain a mystery as to what exactly is causing it, but maybe a fix can be figured out anyway.

 

[Bazooka-joe]

I have the same issue with my 10.5 with lag and an unresponsive screen . Been like this for three months. Did a factory reset and restored from the cloud and has only lagged once in the last week. I will trade it in when the new iPads come out.

 

[seadragon]

Mine was a hardware failure. It acted up regardless of screen cleanliness, software updates or restoring as new. It was a defective screen. The replacement has been absolutely fine.

 

[FatherOfTwo]

I have this same issue with my 10.5. What ALWAYS seems to fix it (temporarily) is to completely clean the screen with a microfiber cloth. My theory is that the new high-refresh-rate screen introduced on the second gen 12.9 and the 10.5 is more sensitive to touch than previous iPad screens, and therefore begins to sense dirt and grime on the screen even when the screen is only slightly smudged. It senses this dirt/grime as if there are other fingers touching the screen, which causes the screen to sometimes become unresponsive or become jumpy instead of having normal smooth movements.

This would also explain why the Apple Pencil always works fine, which is that it has palm rejection, thus rejecting the dirt/grime which otherwise would cause the issue.

Typically if I exit the app and go right back in (no need to even force quit the app), that will do the trick. I think that causes the touch screen to reset itself. Eventually if I don’t clean my iPad screen for a few days, it will happen more and more often, and will seem as if the screen is very glitchy. However, cleaning the screen once again restores its function to like-new again, at least for a few hours of use until the problem resurfaces.

I’ve considered getting a tempered glass screen protector with an oleophobic coating as a possible fix. Has anyone who has this issue tried using a screen protector? In theory, that could solve the issue (if my theory is correct).

Hi,

Certainly see the above as a temporary way of fixing the problem, a dirty screen does certainly make the touch screen non responsive. If I clean my screen it starts to work but there is something else.....

I have noticed that if my 12.9 iPad Pro is docked to the Apple Keyboard the screen works, when I un-dock and hold the iPad in my hand the problem is much worse.

Now.. My feeling is if i’m holding the iPad in landscape with the home button to the right it means my hand can come in contact with the smart connector on the iPad, this I feel then makes the touch screen stop working. Hence when it is docked to the Apple Keyboard I never notice a touch screen issue.

Anyway just my experience, holding and my hand touching the smart connector seems to cause problems.

 

[DaBozMan]

This unresponsive screen problem has been driving me mad for a couple of months on a 2nd gen iPad Pro 12.9
Looked around and tried various solutions; cleaning screen, turning off Bluetooth, discarding magnetic cover, reset etc. None of these worked.

What seems to have worked for me is turning off gestures in Settings. Used it for a day without hitting the problem. It used to happen every few minutes.
Will keep using and report back, but if you have this issue I would give this a try.

If it carries on being the solution I will report it to Apple as it surely must be a software issue.

 

[danmart]

it surely must be a software issue.

There have beeen two potential physical issues identified that could cause this:

• Delaminating screen
• Swelling battery

So if there is a chance of hardware-swap for you, I suggest you explore that ASAP before you drop out of warranty etc.

Getting my device replaced has instantly solved the problem with no re-occurrence so far, yet my new device is built from a backup of my old device and so very similar from a software perspective.

 

[seadragon]

So.... my replacement iPad started acting up two days ago. Same BS as before although not quite as bad as my original. Scrolling was intermittently not responding, even just swiping between desktop pages. I couldn’t believe it. Powered off and back on, no difference.

I had read somewhere about the Apple Pencil causing issues for some. My Bluetooth was off but I did have an Apple Pencil paired. I turned Bluetooth on, unpaired the pencil (forget this device) and then turned off Bluetooth again. No problems since.

I’m at a loss to explain it.

 

[kazmac]

So.... my replacement iPad started acting up two days ago. Same BS as before although not quite as bad as my original. Scrolling was intermittently not responding, even just swiping between desktop pages. I couldn’t believe it. Powered off and back on, no difference.

I had read somewhere about the Apple Pencil causing issues for some. My Bluetooth was off but I did have an Apple Pencil paired. I turned Bluetooth on, unpaired the pencil (forget this device) and then turned off Bluetooth again. No problems since.

I’m at a loss to explain it.

Sheesh. Thanks for that. Sorry you keep having issues, but glad the pencil unpairing is a solution.

I am beginning to think if I get any iPad to replace the 12.9, it’ll be the 2018 iPad and I will deal with crashes, lags accordingly, due to less RAM.

 

[lazypoet]

There have beeen two potential physical issues identified that could cause this:

• Delaminating screen
• Swelling battery

So if there is a chance of hardware-swap for you, I suggest you explore that ASAP before you drop out of warranty etc.

Getting my device replaced has instantly solved the problem with no re-occurrence so far, yet my new device is built from a backup of my old device and so very similar from a software perspective.

Is there any way I can physically recognize a delaminating screen ? I'm thinking this is software as well as it suddenly started happening after last iOS update

 

[danmart]

Is there any way I can physically recognize a delaminating screen ? I'm thinking this is software as well as it suddenly started happening after last iOS update

Check out this thread:
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/ipad-pro-12-9-light-bleeding-covered-by-warranty.2127615/

My device had a similar light bleed.

 

[Donoban]

So.... my replacement iPad started acting up two days ago. Same BS as before although not quite as bad as my original. Scrolling was intermittently not responding, even just swiping between desktop pages. I couldn’t believe it. Powered off and back on, no difference.

I had read somewhere about the Apple Pencil causing issues for some. My Bluetooth was off but I did have an Apple Pencil paired. I turned Bluetooth on, unpaired the pencil (forget this device) and then turned off Bluetooth again. No problems since.

I’m at a loss to explain it.

Similar to my experience. Wha always blows my mind is how the Apple staff act like they’ve never seen this problem before. I’m like, you trolling bruh?

I’m now on my 3rd iPad Pro,12.9 2nd gen and so far it seems ok.

It was a refurb and came with iOS 10, which kind of hinted how long it had been sitting out the back.

I believe it’s hardware. Surely if it was software then the problem would be much more widely spread and reported.

I don’t use an Apple Pencil and the screen would just not respond for seconds at a time. There is no lag or buffering where the touches catch-up, it’s as if during that period the touch screen is disconnected from the software.

 

[danmart]

I don’t use an Apple Pencil and the screen would just not respond for seconds at a time. There is no lag or buffering where the touches catch-up, it’s as if during that period the touch screen is disconnected from the software.

My replacement device is fine so far...

To provide another data point when I had my defective unit it behaved exactly the same way as described above - no response for a period of time then it would start functioning again and there was no buffered commands to execute.

I have the Pencil but rarely use it, so that is unlikely to be a factor. I didn’t use the Smart Keyboard with my defective device (though I have bought one and use it with my replacement one).

 

[lazypoet]

My replacement device is fine so far...

To provide another data point when I had my defective unit it behaved exactly the same way as described above - no response for a period of time then it would start functioning again and there was no buffered commands to execute.

I have the Pencil but rarely use it, so that is unlikely to be a factor. I didn’t use the Smart Keyboard with my defective device (though I have bought one and use it with my replacement one).

I have the exact same problem,

Would you guys change the unit or wait for the next iOS update to see if it get’s fixed? I tried resetting it as a new iPad that didn’t change anything.

 

[danmart]

I have the exact same problem,

Would you guys change the unit or wait for the next iOS update to see if it get’s fixed? I tried resetting it as a new iPad that didn’t change anything.

I am 100% sure my problem was physical so would recommend trying for a new device.

 

[Aussi3]

Try turning multitasking gestures off it worked for me. Fixed my problem so far