All iPads 2021iPad Pro backlight stopped working

[Gin Gin]

***update in reply*** I have a 12.9 2021 iPad pro. I use an ESR bluetooth keyboard case. I was playing a game in portrait mode, which is slightly less stable & the iPad slipped down on the keyboard, pressing multiple keys at once. The screen went black and would not come back on. I could tell the iPad was still powered on, because it was still making sound. I attempted to restart the iPad, and managed to accidentally take a few screen shots of the home screen. The screen shots show up on my iPhone as screen shots of the home screen should, though the iPad has been black the whole time.

I attempted to reboot, and since then I can't get it to take anymore screen shots. I couldn't tell if it was powered on or not at this point. It still makes the sound when I plug it into the charging cable. multiple reboot attempts did not help. The apple logo doesn't come up, nothing.

I then plugged it into my MacBook & restored it to no avail. It shows up in finder on my MacBook. Screen is still black. Of course the AppleCare just expired last month.

Please note the iPad did not fall, it has not been dropped. The keyboard case/stand simply slipped out of position while propped on my lap, causing the weight of the iPad to come down on the keys. The iPad is fully charged. I just noticed it makes the normal "click" sound of the screen turning off when I close the case cover or press the top button.

Any ideas? I would greatly appreciate any help.
Thank you!

 

[Gin Gin]

Now I've somehow turned on voice over, which is of course telling me the iPad is not set up because I restored it. 🤦🏻‍♀️

 

[cupcakes2000]

Are you sure you haven’t just damaged the screen? Sounds like you could have dislodged something inside perhaps, on the drop.

Edit- I saw the note that it wasn’t dropped, but still it may have fallen weirdly? It certainly doesn’t sound ‘bricked’, and perhaps it was previously slightly damage inside or a fragile one off.

 

[rui no onna]

Honestly, sounds like the display cable might have gotten dislodged from the impact.

 

[Gin Gin]

Honestly, sounds like the display cable might have gotten dislodged from the impact.

It is behaving like that. But wow, it was not even a hard bump. It literally just slipped from propped in portrait mode to flat while on my lap.

 

[Gin Gin]

Are you sure you haven’t just damaged the screen? Sounds like you could have dislodged something inside perhaps, on the drop.

Edit- I saw the note that it wasn’t dropped, but still it may have fallen weirdly? It certainly doesn’t sound ‘bricked’, and perhaps it was previously slightly damage inside or a fragile one off.

Bricked is probably the wrong word. When I wrote that, I couldn't tell if the iPad was powering on or not.

 

[floral]

I wouldn't jump to a repair yet... I've had an experience just like this with my iPad mini a year ago, and I'll tell you how it went.

My iPad mini has a normal case, no keyboard, but it has case-lock on so that if the case closes, the iPad goes to sleep and locks. I'm assuming this works by detecting when the iPad's screen has pressure evenly applied everywhere, which is pretty clever. But, there's an issue... it can sometimes trigger by laying face down on the floor, and because the iPad thinks it's in a case, it refuses to wake up, ignores touch input, and sometimes blacks the display while still playing sound (maybe there's some reason as to why it does that, like being a stand-in music player mode)

So basically, I had that happen when I dropped the mini on my rug, and it just wouldn't display anything or let me touch, but sound and buttons worked fine. I restarted the device a few times, and it worked fine after the 4th restart, thankfully. Now I keep case-lock disabled. -_-

 

[Gin Gin]

I wouldn't jump to a repair yet... I've had an experience just like this with my iPad mini a year ago, and I'll tell you how it went.

My iPad mini has a normal case, no keyboard, but it has case-lock on so that if the case closes, the iPad goes to sleep and locks. I'm assuming this works by detecting when the iPad's screen has pressure evenly applied everywhere, which is pretty clever. But, there's an issue... it can sometimes trigger by laying face down on the floor, and because the iPad thinks it's in a case, it refuses to wake up, ignores touch input, and sometimes blacks the display while still playing sound (maybe there's some reason as to why it does that, like being a stand-in music player mode)

So basically, I had that happen when I dropped the mini on my rug, and it just wouldn't display anything or let me touch, but sound and buttons worked fine. I restarted the device a few times, and it worked fine after the 4th restart, thankfully. Now I keep case-lock disabled. -_-

The case cover locking the screen works by magnets, not pressure. I can hear the screen lock sound when I close the cover of my case. I have attempted to reboot multiple times, have reset the iPad through iTunes. I have an appointment with the genius bar on Thursday, we'll see if they can do anything with it.

 

[Nekomichi]

Which model of ESR Bluetooth case is it? They have multiple different ones I've seen some strange behaviour with a specific model.

 

[floral]

The case cover locking the screen works by magnets, not pressure. I can hear the screen lock sound when I close the cover of my case. I have attempted to reboot multiple times, have reset the iPad through iTunes. I have an appointment with the genius bar on Thursday, we'll see if they can do anything with it.

Ooooh. Magnets. That makes this problem out of my territory :<

 

[Gin Gin]

Which model of ESR Bluetooth case is it? They have multiple different ones I've seen some strange behaviour with a specific model.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B8H8LMTZ?ref_=cm_sw_r_cp_ud_dp_54BZYSD94EX3RM3CT033

 

[Nekomichi]

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B8H8LMTZ?ref_=cm_sw_r_cp_ud_dp_54BZYSD94EX3RM3CT033

Ah, that's the same model I tested. The keyboard case has strong magnets positioned directly over the voltage regulators on the iPad's logic board and caused my iPad to loudly buzz when running intensive tasks, so I stopped using it. I don't know if this magnet issue is what messed with your screen though.

 

[Gin Gin]

Happy update! I ubered to the Apple store today (my car is in the shop because some AH tried to steal it 😭) Once I was there & under bright lights, the tech could see that the screen was working, just the backlight wasn’t. They did the diagnostics, which it passed. The support app said I had 5 days left to extend my applecare, but the diagnostic had to be run from the iPad itself so the result could be sent to Apple. They could not renew the applecare for me even though it passed their diagnostic. Because I had reset the iPad I had to sign in to everything, which was too hard to do because the screen was so hard to see. So I decided to try at home where I could use a much brighter flashlight. Once I was home I was able to do that, it passed the diagnostic & let me extend the AppleCare. So I’ve arranged to ship it to Apple for repair/replacement. Whew, saved a bunch of money.

TL;DR ipad’s not bricked, it wasn’t the keyboard case. Backlight is toast. Renewed my applecare, saved my $$$, yay!

 

[Nekomichi]

Ah, I suspected it was the backlight. I've seen this problem on several Macs and occasionally on iPads. Still worried about magnets though - I wonder if a magnet could have messed with the voltage being supplied to the backlight, causing it to burn out?

I've attached a video of a test I did - When running power-intensive tasks like 3D games the iPad would make a loud buzzing sound when in the ESR case. If I took it out of the case or if I removed that one specific magnet, the buzzing stopped.

My theory is that when your iPad slipped, one of the magnets could have slid over the area where the iPad's backlight boost converter is located, and the magnetic field passing through the inductor could have induced a current that damaged it? ...or it could have just been impact damage. Who knows.

 

[Gin Gin]

Ah, I suspected it was the backlight. I've seen this problem on several Macs and occasionally on iPads. Still worried about magnets though - I wonder if a magnet could have messed with the voltage being supplied to the backlight, causing it to burn out?

I've attached a video of a test I did - When running power-intensive tasks like 3D games the iPad would make a loud buzzing sound when in the ESR case. If I took it out of the case or if I removed that one specific magnet, the buzzing stopped.

View attachment 2218709

My theory is that when your iPad slipped, one of the magnets could have slid over the area where the iPad's backlight boost converter is located, and the magnetic field passing through the inductor could have induced a current that damaged it? ...or it could have just been impact damage. Who knows.

Yeah that buzzing would be concerning! I’ve never experienced anything like that with mine, but you definitely have me 2nd guessing using this case. The Apple Magic Keyboard holds the iPad on with magnets too, doesn’t it?

 

[Nekomichi]

Yeah that buzzing would be concerning! I’ve never experienced anything like that with mine, but you definitely have me 2nd guessing using this case. The Apple Magic Keyboard holds the iPad on with magnets too, doesn’t it?

It does, but official Apple cases use lots of small magnets placed over the corners of the iPad and avoid the position directly over the logic board area. Third-party cases sometimes use fewer but larger/stronger magnets in different positions.

 

[rui no onna]

Ah, I suspected it was the backlight. I've seen this problem on several Macs and occasionally on iPads. Still worried about magnets though - I wonder if a magnet could have messed with the voltage being supplied to the backlight, causing it to burn out?

I've attached a video of a test I did - When running power-intensive tasks like 3D games the iPad would make a loud buzzing sound when in the ESR case. If I took it out of the case or if I removed that one specific magnet, the buzzing stopped.

View attachment 2218709

My theory is that when your iPad slipped, one of the magnets could have slid over the area where the iPad's backlight boost converter is located, and the magnetic field passing through the inductor could have induced a current that damaged it? ...or it could have just been impact damage. Who knows.

I doubt it's the magnets. Mind, my aunt's 2017 iPP 12.9 had the same issue after suffering from a fall.