Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

DragonX

macrumors 6502
Mar 23, 2013
352
221
Bought a 12.9 Gen 2 refurb. Touch issues out of the box... I was initially unaware and just enjoying the size...but unconsiously growing more frustrated that touches sometimes needed repeating in order to be actioned. So I sent it back. Updated to latest IOS so not old firmware...

Manufacture date 2019, I think. Serial begins F8QY...

It seems Apple started reselling all those faulty iPads as refurb. The ones that were returned by customers and were "not confirmed" by Apple itself as faulty though definitely had a broken touch screen (as we all know their "genius" hardware tool doesn't detect this problem and it comes after some time of usage, so not easy to reproduce).

Now any iPad purchase becomes a real lottery for everybody. Probably on eBay and Amazon it's the same situation.

Tons of malfunctioning iPads being sold as "working". Greed and ignorance will sink this company unless they really change.
 

jammybastard

macrumors regular
Apr 26, 2010
124
18
In Trasnic
Hey everyone! My 2018 iPad Pro 12” started having touch problems 3 months ago.
The screen would go dead for approx 5-10 secs in regular intervals. I would use the onscreen kybd and get no response or the wrong letter.
Thought I was going crazy.
If I am it looks like I am in good company.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Äppelman and dk001

Äppelman

macrumors newbie
Jul 21, 2019
1
1
Seems there is a design or manufacturing issue....the display controller faces a serious overload after a certain time of operation (maybe due to some apps that are not well adapted for the ipad or whatever)

I found a workaround in other forums already.
Limiting the display refresh rate to 60Hz only brings back full responsiveness to the controller, display, keyboard.
(Go to settings---> accessibility-->display....Limit Frame Rate in IOS12 ..... or settings---> accessibility-->Motion....Limit Frame Rate in IOS13)

As I said it's a workaround only. But works fine if you can accept missing the 120Hz refresh rate.
Also increases battery capacity significantly.....
 
  • Like
Reactions: A.R.E.A.M.

Zahni

macrumors regular
Jul 16, 2019
141
64
Sometimes, I think it has to do with the shirt I currently wearing. Mostly, I put the 12.9 3rd gen with the long edge on it.
Some shirts causing problems, others are fine. Electrostatic discharges?
 

keeper

macrumors 6502a
Apr 23, 2008
520
303
I installed IPAD OS yesterday and did a reboot and touchwood it’s been fine so far.
 

DragonX

macrumors 6502
Mar 23, 2013
352
221
Seems there is a design or manufacturing issue....the display controller faces a serious overload after a certain time of operation (maybe due to some apps that are not well adapted for the ipad or whatever)

I found a workaround in other forums already.
Limiting the display refresh rate to 60Hz only brings back full responsiveness to the controller, display, keyboard.
(Go to settings---> accessibility-->display....Limit Frame Rate in IOS12 ..... or settings---> accessibility-->Motion....Limit Frame Rate in IOS13)

As I said it's a workaround only. But works fine if you can accept missing the 120Hz refresh rate.
Also increases battery capacity significantly.....

Unfortunately all software fixes only help for a while and the touchscreen issue returns no matter what.
We tried many things: Bluetooth, various connection settings, pencil, Accessibility options, Pro Motion, Factory Reset, Network Reet, restore from backup, cleaning iPad, rotating, putting at different angles. Using different Apple genuine chargers, backside protectors (I don’t have any screen protectors), tweaking almost all Settings on the iPad and removing/installing different applications, using different versions of iOS...

Here's a detailed thread on iFixit where people try different things since year 2017! The touchscreen problem returns after a while.
 

dk001

macrumors demi-god
Oct 3, 2014
11,137
15,490
Sage, Lightning, and Mountains
Unfortunately all software fixes only help for a while and the touchscreen issue returns no matter what.
We tried many things: Bluetooth, various connection settings, pencil, Accessibility options, Pro Motion, Factory Reset, Network Reet, restore from backup, cleaning iPad, rotating, putting at different angles. Using different Apple genuine chargers, backside protectors (I don’t have any screen protectors), tweaking almost all Settings on the iPad and removing/installing different applications, using different versions of iOS...

Here's a detailed thread on iFixit where people try different things since year 2017! The touchscreen problem returns after a while.

So many of us have BTDT and bought one or more t-shirts all to no avail. :(
 

cap7ainclu7ch

macrumors 6502
Jun 30, 2010
454
513
My 10.5 just turned into a stuttering mess the past 2 months. Thought it was just due to dirt on the display at first, but it's absolutely becoming unresponsive to touch inputs pretty much all the time now. Of course I didn't buy AppleCare as I assumed iPads were a pretty reliable device. Is there any course of action that can be taken regarding this? I've had good luck with Apple replacing stuff out of warranty, so I guess I'm going to bring it in this week.

Super disappointing having such a powerful and fluid device turn into something so aggravating to use. Any chance that a replacement unit has a hardware fix?
 
  • Like
Reactions: dk001

dk001

macrumors demi-god
Oct 3, 2014
11,137
15,490
Sage, Lightning, and Mountains
My 10.5 just turned into a stuttering mess the past 2 months. Thought it was just due to dirt on the display at first, but it's absolutely becoming unresponsive to touch inputs pretty much all the time now. Of course I didn't buy AppleCare as I assumed iPads were a pretty reliable device. Is there any course of action that can be taken regarding this? I've had good luck with Apple replacing stuff out of warranty, so I guess I'm going to bring it in this week.

Super disappointing having such a powerful and fluid device turn into something so aggravating to use. Any chance that a replacement unit has a hardware fix?

Been through 4 12.9's. I use mine now mostly as a spare video device and run beta on it in hope.
All I can say is best of luck and hope you can get a swap without the issue.
 
  • Like
Reactions: kazmac

mrex

macrumors 68040
Jul 16, 2014
3,458
1,527
europe
oh damn! after awhile, now months later, after the newest ios update, i looks like it started again :( seen many times missing letters and other hiccups. i really hope it didnt come back!

edit. a week later... Nope, didnt come back. Thank god! Still working great, but some hiccups on sometimes.

unfortunately it is getting worse again and typing experience start to be horrible with missing letters and so on. now i see backlight issues too. exactly same than on this post https://discussions.apple.com/thread/8572802 on the left side.
 

Dave-Z

macrumors 6502a
Jun 26, 2012
885
1,489
unfortunately it is getting worse again and typing experience start to be horrible with missing letters and so on. now i see backlight issues too.

I experienced the exact same thing, unresponsiveness and backlight bleeding. Eventually I just started using my iPad to read incoming iMessages. Even reading books was horrible because I couldn't advance the pages.

All started just before the warranty ended and got really bad shortly after it was officially out of warranty. It's sad for a $1600 iPad to not even last a year. The smart keyboard cover also failed just after a year.
 

cap7ainclu7ch

macrumors 6502
Jun 30, 2010
454
513
Was told I could get a 10.5 replacement unit for $450 today. What a joke. I hope Apple recognizes this issue officially soon. I'm not recommending any iPad to friends/family until this issue is addressed. Do we have any idea just how widespread it is? Wondering what the odds are of this becoming the standard Apple "oh we are unaware of this issue" to "sorry here is a free repair even when you are out of warranty" type of situation.
 
Last edited:

mrex

macrumors 68040
Jul 16, 2014
3,458
1,527
europe
i contacted apple, they had screenshare connection with my ipad and didnt see any software issue (backlight bleeding) and they asked me to bring the ipad to a service center (auth., because no apple stores in this country) to be checked for possible physical damages. well, the usual procedure...

it started with couple of brighter leds, now i see seven of them.

unresponsiviness is quite difficult to reproduce because you never know when it happens, so i have taken vids of it when it happened.
 

mrex

macrumors 68040
Jul 16, 2014
3,458
1,527
europe
Was told I could get a 10.5 replacement unit for $450 today. What a joke. I hope Apple recognizes this issue officially soon. I'm not recommending any iPad to friends/family until this issue is addressed. Do we have any idea just how widespread it is? Wondering what the odds are of this becoming the standard Apple "oh we are unaware of this issue" to "sorry here is a free repair even when you are out of warranty" type of situation.

the worst thing here is that today, when i called apple customer care, they didnt find any documents and didnt have any knowledge of this issue. not to mention that i have contacted them already 6months ago about the unresponsive screen. im sure they have got many other calls, replaced many other devices and still today, they didnt find a single document about it.

either the customer care don say it or they actually have no idea and they dont document anything when people contact them with issues and return/replace devices. which is hard to believe so i tend to believe that they still use the same old mantra ”this is the first time...” which is a joke nowadays.
 

dk001

macrumors demi-god
Oct 3, 2014
11,137
15,490
Sage, Lightning, and Mountains
i contacted apple, they had screenshare connection with my ipad and didnt see any software issue (backlight bleeding) and they asked me to bring the ipad to a service center (auth., because no apple stores in this country) to be checked for possible physical damages. well, the usual procedure...

it started with couple of brighter leds, now i see seven of them.

unresponsiviness is quite difficult to reproduce because you never know when it happens, so i have taken vids of it when it happened.

If yours is intermittent, what I did with the first IPP that had that issue was video it from my phone.
 

Tikatika

macrumors 6502a
Mar 12, 2012
712
797
Northern California
My 10.5 just turned into a stuttering mess the past 2 months. Thought it was just due to dirt on the display at first, but it's absolutely becoming unresponsive to touch inputs pretty much all the time now. Of course I didn't buy AppleCare as I assumed iPads were a pretty reliable device. Is there any course of action that can be taken regarding this? I've had good luck with Apple replacing stuff out of warranty, so I guess I'm going to bring it in this week.

Super disappointing having such a powerful and fluid device turn into something so aggravating to use. Any chance that a replacement unit has a hardware fix?

I have a 2 month old iPad Air 3. 10.5. For the last month, it freezes...and takes up to 30 seconds for the screen to become responsive again. I tried everything to remedy it. Finally contacted Support. They’ve had it now for 3 days and I had to answer multiple questions because they keep wanting to reproduce the “issue”. I’ve told them
repeatedly it’s random and can’t be “reproduced”. I was just informed they are sending it back, unable to identify any problem, device working. Good luck getting a replacement. My next step is Customer Relations!
 

cap7ainclu7ch

macrumors 6502
Jun 30, 2010
454
513
Honestly I mainly use mine for note taking, and the issue doesn't seem to come up with the pencil, so I'm just going to hold on to it and use it for that. Don't be using it for much else as its annoying to have inputs ignored. Hopefully Apple recognizes the issue sooner rather than later.

I have a feeling a lot of people have the problems without even knowing it. I didn't know it was an issue until it got really bad. So when the news story really blow up about "Touch disease impacting all iPad Pro's!" I'm sure a lot of people suddenly realize that they aren't crazy and that their screens really aren't working properly.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: dk001

pdoherty

macrumors 65816
Dec 30, 2014
1,491
1,736
i contacted apple, they had screenshare connection with my ipad and didnt see any software issue (backlight bleeding) and they asked me to bring the ipad to a service center (auth., because no apple stores in this country) to be checked for possible physical damages. well, the usual procedure...

it started with couple of brighter leds, now i see seven of them.

unresponsiviness is quite difficult to reproduce because you never know when it happens, so i have taken vids of it when it happened.

Huh? They thought they could see the issue on a screen share to the iPad?
 

Phonzoxd

macrumors 6502a
May 28, 2013
674
518
ive still not seen any issues on iPad os beta

Still working perfectly since iPad os 13 public beta 1, now on the latest public beta and all good.

i took your advice and downloaded the beta today. I have not experienced any unresponsiveness, whereas i was getting them frequently everything on ios 12. Hoping this is permanent.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.