iPad Pro iPad Pro USB-C port issue

[puddlestomper]

What are people's experiences with Apple repairing the iPad for this? Did they replace it as part of standard warranty or have you had to pay for an incident/out of warranty repair?

I got an iPad back in March and it worked fine for the few months and developed charging issues. I sent that iPad in for repair and they diagnosed it as port damage. I reluctantly paid the Apple Care+ incident fee, and I got a replacement iPad in July. Now, just one month later, my new iPad is showing signs of usb c port issues! The Apple usb c cables won't charge my iPad anymore and I have a thunderbolt usb c cable that only charges on one side. Since I already used one incident repair, I'm hesitant on burning another when I haven't even owned the iPad for half a year.

I'm thinking I'll hold out longer until my iPad is completely dead and won't charge at all or wait till Apple stores open to see if being in person helps explain my issue. I'm interested to hear what other people have done.

 

[TheCloakedOne]

Something to look out for when you get a new iPad Pro. Got mine last week and wanted to charge it for the first time. Plugged in USB-C cable and...nothing happens. Unplugged and plugged it in the other way...charges immediately. Tried the USB-C cable and charger from my old 2018 iPad Pro, same story. The problem also occurs with all USB-C accessories, from headphone adapter to USB sticks to hard drives. They are all only recognized if plugged in on a specific side of the USB-C plug. So basically, the port acts as if USB-C cables were non-reversible.
By chance, I discovered that if I plug something in "the wrong way" so that it doesn't get recognized, and then exert a small amount of pressure on the iPad's display in an area about an inch above the USB-C port, the connection comes to life.
Based on the iFixit teardown, the USB-C port on iPad Pros is modular and connected to the mainboard right around that area that if I press on it, whatever is plugged in suddenly gets recognized. I'm guessing the cable that connects the USB-C port to the mainboard is loose or only half plugged it so that one side of the pins on the USB-C port is dead.
Real shame, as the device is otherwise flawless and has the most evenly lit screen I've ever had on an iPad.

I am getting a same kind of problem, I can charge my ipad with my power bank, but not with the in box 18w adapter, initially the ipad pro used to transfer data when connected to my laptop with usb-3 to usb-c cable but now it only shows charging but no data transferring is happening. my device went out of warranty just last month and now I dont know what to do?

 

[Jenafran]

Your charging port is very likely defective. It seems rare though.

No ,not rare....I’ve gone thru 2 of them now.

 

[AutomaticApple]

No ,not rare....I’ve gone thru 2 of them now.

Coincidence?

 

[Mothas]

Something to look out for when you get a new iPad Pro. Got mine last week and wanted to charge it for the first time. Plugged in USB-C cable and...nothing happens. Unplugged and plugged it in the other way...charges immediately. Tried the USB-C cable and charger from my old 2018 iPad Pro, same story. The problem also occurs with all USB-C accessories, from headphone adapter to USB sticks to hard drives. They are all only recognized if plugged in on a specific side of the USB-C plug. So basically, the port acts as if USB-C cables were non-reversible.
By chance, I discovered that if I plug something in "the wrong way" so that it doesn't get recognized, and then exert a small amount of pressure on the iPad's display in an area about an inch above the USB-C port, the connection comes to life.
Based on the iFixit teardown, the USB-C port on iPad Pros is modular and connected to the mainboard right around that area that if I press on it, whatever is plugged in suddenly gets recognized. I'm guessing the cable that connects the USB-C port to the mainboard is loose or only half plugged it so that one side of the pins on the USB-C port is dead.
Real shame, as the device is otherwise flawless and has the most evenly lit screen I've ever had on an iPad.

i‘ve had exactly the same problem. I’ve only ever used the supplied charger and cable. After the last update nothing works, I’ve tested the cable and charger on other iPads and there is nothing wrong With them. I even purchased a new USB C apple charger and cable and they didn’t work Either. Incredibly frustrating.

I do have a fix that worked for me. I found that using a USB A to USB C cable does charge the IPad.
I had a Sony USB A to C cable for my headphones and this cable charges the Ipad. Go figure.

I run it from an older Apple USB A charger But it also works off any other non Apple USB A chargers I have.

 

[sunking101]

It's such a shame that Android and now Apple have introduced this sub-standard port. Sticking a $2 USB-C port which handles both charging and peripheral connectivity on $1000+ machines is an absolute joke. No matter how careful you are with these things they either start off tight and get steadily looser over time, or they're loose and wiggly straight out of the box. The USB-C is rated for 8000-10,000 inserion cycles before failure, and that's providing you get a good one to start off with. For a multi-use port on such expensive machines that's not anywhere near robust enough for my liking.

The Lightning port was substantially better.
I especially loved those older electronic devices from the 80s and 90s that had a separate charging port like an AUX jack. They were solid as a rock.

 

[tahiche]

No ,not rare....I’ve gone thru 2 of them now.

It seems like the third one for me.... That´s 3 iPad Pros in less than a year. I´ve had it replaced twice and it just died again this morning.
I was using a Satechi usb adapter to use a midi usb device, unplugged, plugged the powerbank.. bam. Blackness...
On the 2 previous occasions they replaced the iPad (still under warranty) but i never received an explanation or cause. It seems to me like there´s serious issues with the USB-C port. I´ve had a lightning Ipad Pro for about 6 years and never had a problem.
At Apple Genius (ha, that name) they told me that the Satechi adapter couldn´t be the cause. I bought a "top" Anker battery... I don´t know what the hell the problem is but there´s certainly one. If i get yet another replacement. How will it be different this time around?. Its bloody embarrasing.
I hear about this "Tristar" chip. Who knows... I´m so pissed off right now.

 

[SFPete04]

Replying to this old thread but had the USB-C port on my iPad Pro die on me about 6 months after the warranty period ended. After lots of investigation with the Apple Genius, apparently there’s damage to the connectors in the port (was able to show me the bent ”pins” through a macro camera). He also said that Apple doesn’t repair this as, in this model 2019), the port is integrated on the board. I’m now on the hunt for a non-Apple repair shop that might do this repair but so far no luck.

 

[ommachi]

Just recording another data point in the context of this thread.

The USB C in my 2018 12.9” iPP had developed this glitch from the past few months. LG 32” USB C external monitor connection goes blank with the slightest touch on the cable or shake of the set-up. The charging also happens now only one ‘correct’ side using the apple USB C charger that came with the iPP. Unfortunately, even if I connect to the external monitor using the Apple proprietary USB C - HDMI cable, the problem persists, which wasn’t the case say, last year.

As others have reported here, I also suspect the USB C port in my iPP has developed an expansion beyond the tolerance limit for proper connectivity with external cables.

As such, for the best part of the day, I keep my iPP connected to the LG external monitor via USB C cable and am extremely careful not to upset the set-up (like inadvertently ’touching’ the iPP screen thereby shaking it), while I type using an external keyboard along with a trackpad. Nevertheless in the most inopportune moment (like when I am lecturing, reading from the ‘big’ screen, to an online audience) the screen on the external monitor goes blank… while it is still ‘on’ with the iPP…

(There is no problem with the USB C cable or the external monitor. Both work well with a Mac Mini, when connected through the USB C port.)

I don’t know a solution. My iPP is more than three and half years old and beyond the warranty coverage period. In India, it is tough to get this repaired now by Apple ‘recognised’ repair shops. Eventually, if the problem becomes unbearable, I’ll probably risk repairing it (by trying to replace the USB C port in the iPP) at a local ‘all Apple products repaired here’ shop. Or, shall take the safer option of simply selling it and get a new one…

 

[Rsa777]

Something to look out for when you get a new iPad Pro. Got mine last week and wanted to charge it for the first time. Plugged in USB-C cable and...nothing happens. Unplugged and plugged it in the other way...charges immediately. Tried the USB-C cable and charger from my old 2018 iPad Pro, same story. The problem also occurs with all USB-C accessories, from headphone adapter to USB sticks to hard drives. They are all only recognized if plugged in on a specific side of the USB-C plug. So basically, the port acts as if USB-C cables were non-reversible.
By chance, I discovered that if I plug something in "the wrong way" so that it doesn't get recognized, and then exert a small amount of pressure on the iPad's display in an area about an inch above the USB-C port, the connection comes to life.
Based on the iFixit teardown, the USB-C port on iPad Pros is modular and connected to the mainboard right around that area that if I press on it, whatever is plugged in suddenly gets recognized. I'm guessing the cable that connects the USB-C port to the mainboard is loose or only half plugged it so that one side of the pins on the USB-C port is dead.
Real shame, as the device is otherwise flawless and has the most evenly lit screen I've ever had on an iPad.

I have a 6 month old ipp and i’m having the same problem with my USB-C port. I was told by Apple support to bring it into a service center of which the only ones available are Best Buy and all of them, all 15 of them have no appointments available. My only alternative is to send it to Apple and wait two weeks. Totally unacceptable. If I fiddle with different cables and chargers I can sometimes get a charge. I think I will continue to fiddle until I can get a local warranty solution.

 

[Guapa2]

I have this issue with a second hand 11" pro 2018.Very temperamental with the mix of charger and lead that works.Very odd.I've tried DFU mode to no avail.As long as I have a limited way of charging it I'll persevere.

 

[CynicalMan]

Also here to give steam to this thread again.

I have been losing my god damn mind for a month now because I HEAVILY rely on my IPP for music performance, it really is such a perfect device with the robustness of the platform for “mobile” music today.

The strange thing with my particular experience is that I have NEVER encountered such issues before now, nor had I ever heard of anyone having the same types of issues. All was working flawlessly until updating to 15.1 - ever since I have had nothing but problems and it’s literally driving me insane.

I have 2 satechi pro hubs that work fine with literally all my other devices. I even ordered a new hub from amazon JUST TO SEE..Oddly enough it did actually work the first time I plugged it in; I could see all connected (MIDI) devices in the software..THEN it crapped out again after unplugging it and moving it to get situated…no matter what, I couldn’t get it to reconnect after that.
(This is the common loop because with technology sometimes you have to do the most basic/random s*** over and over and sometimes it just works again)

It also wasn’t until 15.1 that I began to experience this 1-side-only phenomenon with the port, because I’m 100% sure I never had to think about how I was plugging it in before now…

Through my strenuous and arbitrary testing methods it appears I have all the same symptoms as these “failed” ports yet I can still manage to get it working, sometimes for an entire day. Ha

Let’s say things start acting up again though, after I try and do the hard reset of the port twice in a row, the ipad usually stops taking a charge????? It gets really weird and convoluted after that because THEN the ONLY way to get it to take a charge once more is to let it die COMPLETELY…
So completely in the way that you have to keep waking the ipad up to tell you it needs to be plugged in - to the point that it stops telling you it needs to be plugged in and is just a black screen. AND THEN WHEN I PLUG IT IN IT SLOWLY WAKES UP AND THE USB IS “NORMAL” (in the sense that it still takes a charge)

If I dont try to f*** with the port and do all this ridiculous arbitrary troubleshooting of random motions to get ANYTHING to register and stick - then on a basic level I can get the data portion working, like I can get it to show up on my mac plugged in and/or use it as a usb audio/midi device on my mac…It isn’t until I start trying to use the port for data and power that it goes full hard-R-tarded.

So it doesnt actually seem like anything is broken as far as hardware goes, ive applied differing pressure all around the port and nothing happens any differently. Sometimes - seemingly randomly - it actually does work again. I can also confirm that the port is fine because it can still supply power to devices even when it wont take a charge. How stupid is that?
Like if it acts up and nothing can make it register its plugged in to a charger, if I say, plug in a usb-c battery pack - THAT WILL START SUCKING UP THE JUICE FROM THE IPAD…wtf.
I reset the entire ipad twice, full wipe, and it was working as it should for a day - until I unugged the damn thing to move it!!! Then the problem came back. Its pure insanity tbh.

While it MAY be a port problem it has to be more than that be ause now after 15.xx I am seeing wayyy more issues about hardware connectivity than ever before. Even on ios but that’s still the more reliable connection - so its definitely deeper.

Could be a problem of both fronts, their own hardware/software integrwtion. But it definitely sounds like a new “gate” issue because this problem goes back years now, just more isolated incidents. Well its a real f****** problem now and I’m just beyond pissed and frustrated.

This is supposed to be a professional machine - well clearly there aren’t too many people using it to it’s full potential with the available ecosystem of software and capabilities available because if pro’s actually used their ipads for things like music performance or on-the-go editing with a robust setup of drives and peripherals - we would hear about this from a much louder community of creatives and such, which would get apple’s attention.

Ive sent multiple feedback/bug forms and posted in the apple forums, and apple tech support really are no help either so who the f*** do ya gotta scream at to get a problem thats clearly a real problem get noticed? Like god damn.

 

[Guapa2]

Also here to give steam to this thread again.

I have been losing my god damn mind for a month now because I HEAVILY rely on my IPP for music performance, it really is such a perfect device with the robustness of the platform for “mobile” music today.

The strange thing with my particular experience is that I have NEVER encountered such issues before now, nor had I ever heard of anyone having the same types of issues. All was working flawlessly until updating to 15.1 - ever since I have had nothing but problems and it’s literally driving me insane.

I have 2 satechi pro hubs that work fine with literally all my other devices. I even ordered a new hub from amazon JUST TO SEE..Oddly enough it did actually work the first time I plugged it in; I could see all connected (MIDI) devices in the software..THEN it crapped out again after unplugging it and moving it to get situated…no matter what, I couldn’t get it to reconnect after that.
(This is the common loop because with technology sometimes you have to do the most basic/random s*** over and over and sometimes it just works again)

It also wasn’t until 15.1 that I began to experience this 1-side-only phenomenon with the port, because I’m 100% sure I never had to think about how I was plugging it in before now…

Through my strenuous and arbitrary testing methods it appears I have all the same symptoms as these “failed” ports yet I can still manage to get it working, sometimes for an entire day. Ha

Let’s say things start acting up again though, after I try and do the hard reset of the port twice in a row, the ipad usually stops taking a charge????? It gets really weird and convoluted after that because THEN the ONLY way to get it to take a charge once more is to let it die COMPLETELY…
So completely in the way that you have to keep waking the ipad up to tell you it needs to be plugged in - to the point that it stops telling you it needs to be plugged in and is just a black screen. AND THEN WHEN I PLUG IT IN IT SLOWLY WAKES UP AND THE USB IS “NORMAL” (in the sense that it still takes a charge)

If I dont try to f*** with the port and do all this ridiculous arbitrary troubleshooting of random motions to get ANYTHING to register and stick - then on a basic level I can get the data portion working, like I can get it to show up on my mac plugged in and/or use it as a usb audio/midi device on my mac…It isn’t until I start trying to use the port for data and power that it goes full hard-R-tarded.

So it doesnt actually seem like anything is broken as far as hardware goes, ive applied differing pressure all around the port and nothing happens any differently. Sometimes - seemingly randomly - it actually does work again. I can also confirm that the port is fine because it can still supply power to devices even when it wont take a charge. How stupid is that?
Like if it acts up and nothing can make it register its plugged in to a charger, if I say, plug in a usb-c battery pack - THAT WILL START SUCKING UP THE JUICE FROM THE IPAD…wtf.
I reset the entire ipad twice, full wipe, and it was working as it should for a day - until I unugged the damn thing to move it!!! Then the problem came back. Its pure insanity tbh.

While it MAY be a port problem it has to be more than that be ause now after 15.xx I am seeing wayyy more issues about hardware connectivity than ever before. Even on ios but that’s still the more reliable connection - so its definitely deeper.

Could be a problem of both fronts, their own hardware/software integrwtion. But it definitely sounds like a new “gate” issue because this problem goes back years now, just more isolated incidents. Well its a real f****** problem now and I’m just beyond pissed and frustrated.

This is supposed to be a professional machine - well clearly there aren’t too many people using it to it’s full potential with the available ecosystem of software and capabilities available because if pro’s actually used their ipads for things like music performance or on-the-go editing with a robust setup of drives and peripherals - we would hear about this from a much louder community of creatives and such, which would get apple’s attention.

Ive sent multiple feedback/bug forms and posted in the apple forums, and apple tech support really are no help either so who the f*** do ya gotta scream at to get a problem thats clearly a real problem get noticed? Like god damn.

This pretty much sums up the experience we all seem to be experiencing.In all seriousness maybe there is a case to settled here.These things should be lasting more than two years.

 

[RSA-777]

My usb-c port failed 7 months ago. Made an appointment at Best Buy, had to wait a week. Took it in and was told they only repair screens and would have to send it into Apple. Week wasted. I ended up sending it in directly to Apple and got a fast turnaround. They sent me a different iPad. Now after six months the USB-c port on this one is failing. Now I'm out of warranty. Clearly there is an issue with these ports.

 

[Menel]

This is typical inherent issue with USBC design. The interface is fragile. You see it all over Nintendo forums with their USBC ports, and android forums with their USBC ports.

With Lightning the $1000 device was robust, and the cable broke.
With USBC, the $1000 device breaks, the $5 cable survives.

 

[sunking101]

My usb-c port failed 7 months ago. Made an appointment at Best Buy, had to wait a week. Took it in and was told they only repair screens and would have to send it into Apple. Week wasted. I ended up sending it in directly to Apple and got a fast turnaround. They sent me a different iPad. Now after six months the USB-c port on this one is failing. Now I'm out of warranty. Clearly there is an issue with these ports.

They're cheap cr@p. Putting a $1 port on an expensive item is ludicrous when that port needs to be used thousands of times over the product's lifetime. Who here wouldn't rather pay $5 more for a premium 'Rolls Royce' port?

 

[sunking101]

This is typical inherent issue with USBC design. The interface is fragile. You see it all over Nintendo forums with their USBC ports, and android forums with their USBC ports.

With Lightning the $1000 device was robust, and the cable broke.
With USBC, the $1000 device breaks, the $5 cable survives.

Yes. I always find it bizarre when people moan about the Lightning port and demand that Apple introduces USB-C to the iPhone.

USB-C is woeful when it cones to longevity.

 

[HenryVoodoo]

I bought a 3rd gen 12.9 iPad Pro for my mother in August. It suddenly stopped charging - tried different apple cables and chargers. Very difficult to find a repair shop willing to fix it. Found one that would do it for £100 here in the UK. He said the charging IC was broken and the USB C port could do with being replaced as well. all sorted, now about 4 months later it’s gone again.

Doesn’t sync or appear on my MBP. If you turn it off completely - you can wake it by plugging in the power (apple logo boot up on black screen)

I suspect these models have a serious issue and should have a replacement program from apple! Reminds me of the 2008 15” MacBook pros with the bad graphics cards.

I’ve got her an old 1st gen with the lightning port instead (she only uses it for PDFs so doesn’t need a newer one). After reading up online it’s ridiculous that this issue hasn’t been addressed by apple (or even they could offer cheaper repairs with a warranty).

The only advice I can give in my experience is to avoid the 3rd (and possibly 4th) gen models. Hopefully this defect isn’t present in the newer models as well.

I just thought it would be helpful to share my experience as someone who has had this model repaired via a 3rd party. The iPad was well cared for and not used while charging!

(first time posting - I’ve been using the site for about 15 years!)

 

[sam_dean]

I bought a 3rd gen 12.9 iPad Pro for my mother in August. It suddenly stopped charging - tried different apple cables and chargers. Very difficult to find a repair shop willing to fix it. Found one that would do it for £100 here in the UK. He said the charging IC was broken and the USB C port could do with being replaced as well. all sorted, now about 4 months later it’s gone again.

Doesn’t sync or appear on my MBP. If you turn it off completely - you can wake it by plugging in the power (apple logo boot up on black screen)

I suspect these models have a serious issue and should have a replacement program from apple! Reminds me of the 2008 15” MacBook pros with the bad graphics cards.

I’ve got her an old 1st gen with the lightning port instead (she only uses it for PDFs so doesn’t need a newer one). After reading up online it’s ridiculous that this issue hasn’t been addressed by apple (or even they could offer cheaper repairs with a warranty).

The only advice I can give in my experience is to avoid the 3rd (and possibly 4th) gen models. Hopefully this defect isn’t present in the newer models as well.

I just thought it would be helpful to share my experience as someone who has had this model repaired via a 3rd party. The iPad was well cared for and not used while charging!

(first time posting - I’ve been using the site for about 15 years!)

Was the 2018 iPad Pro 12.9" a hand me down?

Even if you a replacement program was in place Apple may have the right to refuse your iPad as it was repaired by a non-Apple tech.

 

[HenryVoodoo]

Was the 2018 iPad Pro 12.9" a hand me down?

Even if you a replacement program was in place Apple may have the right to refuse your iPad as it was repaired by a non-Apple tech.

Yeah I bought it used!
I know, that’s why I’ve just given up at this point. It’s just a mess of a machine if you’ve got one of the models with this problem occurring

 

[sam_dean]

Yeah I bought it used!
I know, that’s why I’ve just given up at this point. It’s just a mess of a machine if you’ve got one of the models with this problem occurring

Thank you for the clarification. People would assume that you bought the iPad brand new half a decade ago and it had problems recently.

Personally I'd have bought my mom the $300 iPad brand new to avoid the problems you encountered.

I made a mistake in buying a 2018 iPad Pro 11" for myself as my use case is just consume content.

 

[HenryVoodoo]

Thank you for the clarification. People would assume that you bought the iPad brand new half a decade ago and it had problems recently.

Personally I'd have bought my mom the $300 iPad brand new to avoid the problems you encountered.

I made a mistake in buying a 2018 iPad Pro 11" for myself as my use case is just consume content.

Yeah that’s what I was trying to convince her to do! A new cheaper model iPad with apple care. But she needs the larger screen on the 12.9 pro to read as she’s quite elderly.

I was a die hard iPad fan since the 1st gen in 2010 just for media / content consumption. But now I find the fewer devices I have the less stress haha - my preference now is iPhone and MBP M1 for business (and light personal use) and then TV and Hi-Fi for media (with no computers / tablets involved). At one point in time I was an advocate of Mac Mini home cinema setups and iMac media servers - digital outputs to my preamplifier for my Hi-Fi etc. Haven’t had “fun” with an Apple product for a while unfortunately.
But yeah I can imagine the upset it’s caused you as a content consumption investment!

 

[sam_dean]

Yeah that’s what I was trying to convince her to do! A new cheaper model iPad with apple care. But she needs the larger screen on the 12.9 pro to read as she’s quite elderly.

I was a die hard iPad fan since the 1st gen in 2010 just for media / content consumption. But now I find the fewer devices I have the less stress haha - my preference now is iPhone and MBP M1 for business (and light personal use) and then TV and Hi-Fi for media (with no computers / tablets involved). At one point in time I was an advocate of Mac Mini home cinema setups and iMac media servers - digital outputs to my preamplifier for my Hi-Fi etc. Haven’t had “fun” with an Apple product for a while unfortunately.
But yeah I can imagine the upset it’s caused you as a content consumption investment!

The mistake being that repairing a cracked display is equivalent to buying a $300 iPad brand new.

If I bought a $300 iPad brand new then cracked said screen then repair would be <$100 or better yet sell for parts then buy another $300 iPad released that year.

 

[ommachi]

I see the thread is revived with fresh instances of the same old problem. Here is a follow up on my earlier post in this thread: I dropped my 2018 iPP and the screen cracked. Out of warranty so I went to a local repair shop. The guy replaced my screen for a hefty sum but changed my troublesome USB-C for free. For now, the USB-C in my 2018 iPP works great -- charges directly from the wall port, transfers data at good speed and connects to external monitor well at least using the HDMI port. I am still scared to test the USB-C external display connection with my LG 32" 4K monitor, as I had short-fused the monitor USB-C port electronics twice in the past by connecting the iPP to it!

 

[JK0513]

I had the same problem recently. iPad Pro is less than 2 years old and besides not charging was in excellent condition. I tried everything. The port either went bad or internal solder came loose evidently.
Apple won’t repair them anymore. They offered to give me a new one for $550 as the warranty was only one year. I ended up taking it to a repair shop where they replaced the port for around $200!