Is the touch screen of your iPad Pro 12.9” not working?
There are a number of users who are having the same issue. The majority of them are trying to find answers on the Apple Support Community page.
Unlike your regular laptop which has a keyboard and touchpad, your iPad Pro relies on its touch screen to get your inputs. Without it, your iPad would only be a piece of screen that you can’t use.
We know that this is very frustrating but the only way to resolve this issue is to focus on the possible solutions. You need to consider the physical, configuration, and software aspects of the device before you can decide that it is indeed an internal hardware issue. Well then, you are in luck.
Our today’s topic covers that for today. Our guide will help you fix your iPad Pro 12.9” that is not responding to touch intermittently. We have rearranged the methods for a possible fix from simple to complicated processes. That way, you can lessen the risk of losing data while performing the fix.
Let’s dive in!
- 1. Clean the Screen
- 2. Remove Screen Protector or Case
- 3. Discharge Static Electricity from Hands
- 4. Enable Lock Screen Rotation
- 5. Disable Tap to Wake Feature
- 6. Enable Touch Accommodations
- 7. Limit Frame Rate on Display
- 8. Disable Background Tasks
- 9. Forget and Pair the Apple Pencil Again
- 10. Restart the iPad Pro
- 11. Update iPadOS to Latest Version
- 12. Reset and Restore the Device
- 13. Contact Apple Support
1. Clean the Screen.
Sometimes our hands are dirty that it leaves grease and smudges on the iPad’s screen. This dirt causes the screen to be unresponsive to touch. In order to resolve the issue, you will need to clean your iPad Pro correctly.
According to Apple Support, here’s how you can do it:
- First and foremost, unplug all cables connected and turn off the iPad Pro.
- Then, use a soft and lint-free cloth that is slightly damp to wipe off the dirt and smudges from the screen.
- Finally, make sure that your iPad Pro’s charging port is dry before you start charging your device.
Do not use window or household cleaners, compressed air, aerosol sprays, solvents, ammonia, or abrasives to clean your iPad Pro. It will damage the oleophobic coating of your screen that repels oil. Also, it protects the screen from scratches.
After cleaning your screen, it should not be having iPad Pro 12.9” not responding to touch intermittently issue.
2. Remove Screen Protector or Case.
It is possible that your screen protector has diminished the responsiveness of your screen. These screen protectors also expire and could affect the contact between your fingers and the screen.
What you can do is try to remove the screen protector and see if it improves the responsiveness of the screen. This is also true for the iPad case with a screen protector. You must remove the case in order to remove the screen protector.
Another possibility that is causing the issue is that the magnetic case causes static electricity and it messes up the functionality of the touch screen. This static charge can get a lot stronger when you charge your device. What you can do is to remove the magnetic case when charging.
Once it is done with the charging, you can try to reattach the case. If the issue still persists, remove the case permanently.
3. Discharge Static Electricity from Hands.
Even though static electricity is just a minimal amount of electricity, it can cause short circuits on your devices. When this happens, your device can malfunction. Your iPad Pro is not an exception.
To prevent this, the most common procedure to discharge static electricity from your body is to let your hands touch a concrete wall or floor.
Some of the common tips on how to avoid build-up static electricity on your hands is to moisten them with lotion. You can also spray a mixture of water and fabric conditioner on your clothes.
If possible, wear a shoe or sandal with a leather sole. A humidifier on your house also reduces static electricity from building up on your body.
4. Enable Lock Screen Rotation.
There are times that your iPad Pro is having a hard time adjusting to your position with the screen orientation. With this, it sometimes overloads the background process and causes an unresponsive touch screen.
To avoid this, you need to enable the lock screen orientation option of your iPad Pro. You can do this by going to the Control Center on your iPad Pro and tap on the padlock with a circular arrow icon to enable the lock screen rotation feature.
Make sure to restart your iPad after this process. After locking your screen orientation, your touch screen should be able to respond correctly.
5. Disable Tap to Wake Feature.
It seems that for some users, turning off the Tap to Wake feature on their iPad Pro helped with the responsiveness of the device. This feature puts your iPad Pro to sleep mode whenever you are not using it and wakes it up when you need it.
Apparently, it is possible that this feature is having a glitch on the current version installed on the iPadOS. This could be a temporary workaround while waiting for the developers to fix the issue.
To disable the feature, you can go to your iPad Pro Settings, then tap on the General option and then the Accessibility option. From there, find Tap to Wake option and toggle the feature to turn it off.
Now that you have disabled the feature, your touch screen should be able to respond to your touch with no issues.
6. Enable Touch Accommodations.
Another possible reason why your iPad Pro is not responding to your touch is that it cannot understand the input. The touch accommodations feature is responsible for your device response to your finger’s tap, swipe, and other gestures. To enhance the touch screen responsiveness, you need to enable this feature.
To turn on the Touch Accommodations feature, go to the Settings of your iPad Pro, then tap on the General option, and then tap on the Accessibility option. From there, toggle the Touch Accommodations option to enable it.
After enabling this feature, your touch screen should be able to respond correctly to your touch gestures.
7. Limit Frame Rate on Display.
It is also possible that certain settings on iPadOS are not working correctly. One of those settings is the frame rate settings which are responsible for the refresh rate of the display output.
If the frame rate is set on the maximum settings, there is a chance that your hardware cannot keep up with it. This might be the cause of why your touch screen is having a responsiveness issue.
To fix this, it is advisable to set the frame rate to 60 fps. To do this, go to the Settings of your iPad Pro, then tap on the General option, and then tap on the Accessibility option. From there, find Display Accommodation and tap on Limit Frame Rate to enable it, which sets the frame rate to 60.
After setting it up to a supported state, your touch screen should be able to work correctly and with no issues.
8. Disable Background Tasks.
Another possibility that your iPad Pro 12.9” is not responding to touch intermittently is due to overloaded background tasks. With maximized resources, your device cannot perform additional tasks and thus it does not work correctly.
One of the tasks that is causing this is the Handoff feature of your iPadOS. This feature is responsible for seamless data sharing from one application to another.
Since you are using one dedicated app per task, you don’t need to share the data with other applications. To disable the feature, go to the Settings of your iPad Pro and tap on the General option. Then tap the Handoff setting to disable the feature.
Another feature that you might want to disable is the background refresh option. This feature is responsible for updating your application with new data. To lessen the load of your iPad Pro processes, you can disable this feature because you can update it anytime when you need the application.
To do it, go to the Settings of your iPad Pro and tap on the General option. Tap on the Background App Refresh to disable the feature.
Finally, after you have freed your resources, your touch response should work correctly.
9. Forget and Pair the Apple Pencil Again.
Not all users are using Apple Pencil on their iPad Pro but some who do use it have problems with the screen responsiveness as well. The Apple Pencil works with your iPad Pro using the Bluetooth connection.
Just like any other Bluetooth speakers, it has it’s own battery and should not be running low in order to work correctly. So make sure that you charge your Apple Pencil to avoid screen responsiveness issues.
But if you have enough battery on your Apple Pencil and still have responsiveness issues, there is a chance that your Bluetooth connection is having problems. In order to fix it, you will need to rebuild the Bluetooth connection settings.
According to Apple Support, here’s how you can do it:
- Go ahead and put your Apple Pencil on the magnetic connector on the right edge of the iPad Pro.
- Then go to the Settings of your iPad Pro and then tap on the Bluetooth option. Make sure that Bluetooth is enabled.
- Next, on the list of the Bluetooth devices, tap the ( i ) beside the Apple Pencil and tap on Forget this Device.
- Finally, connect back your Apple Pencil in your iPad Pro when the Pair button prompts on the screen.
Make sure that when doing this process, your Apple Pencil is not running low on battery. After rebuilding the Bluetooth connection of your Apple Pencil, it should not have any screen responsiveness issue.
10. Restart the iPad Pro.
There is a chance that your iPad Pro has been running for a long time that its resources are fully consumed. That means that it may not have enough space or processing capability left to perform newer tasks.
To fix this, you should perform a restart on your device to offload the resources of your device.
Here’s how you can do it:
- Go ahead and tap the Settings of your iPad Pro.
- Then find and tap the General option, and then tap Shut Down.
- Wait for about 20 seconds and turn back on your iPad Pro.
- Finally, when your iPad Pro has fully started up, try to test the touch screen responsiveness if it improves.
If you cannot do a soft restart process, you can always force restart your iPad Pro. After refreshing your iPad Pro, it should improve the screen responsiveness and should not be having responsiveness issues.
11. Update iPadOS to Latest Version.
It is possible that this issue is due to bugs on the iPadOS level. Apple developers are constantly doing upgrades and fix glitches in the operating system. In order to apply these bug fixes and new features, you will have to download and install the latest version of iPadOS.
According to Apple Support, you can go to the Settings of your iPad Pro, then tap on the General option, and then tap on Software Update. You should be able to see the current version of your iPadOS and if an update is available.
But if you are having issues when updating your iPadOS, you can learn more about what to do. Since you have applied the latest bug fixes, your screen responsiveness issue might be included on the fix.
12. Reset and Restore the Device.
When your iPad Pro 12.9” not responding to touch intermittently, it is possible that it is caused by corrupted settings in the system. This can happen when core processes in the device were interrupted and were not able to save critical system data.
With this situation, your iPad Pro will not be able to work correctly. In order to fix this, you will need to reset your device to factory default settings. But before you proceed, make sure that you have backed up your iPad’s data so you can have it restored after the process.
Here’s how you reset your device to factory default settings:
- Go ahead and tap the Settings on your iPhone or iPad, then General, and then Reset option.
- Then, find and tap the Reset All Settings option.
- Next, provide your device passcode if applicable.
- Finally, tap Confirm to finalize the process.
Now that you have restored your iPad Pro to its default factory settings, try to set it up as new. Make sure to take note of all the applications that you want to install and check if it’s affecting the responsiveness of your screen. But since your iPad Pro is as good as new, it should not be able to have screen responsiveness issues anymore.
13. Contact Apple Support.
It is not clear to determine the number of iPad Pro users that are having iPad Pro 12.9” not responding to touch intermittently issue. That is because each user has different hardware specifications, places where it is manufactured, and software status.
However, you can help Apple to get these details by submitting product feedback on their website. With this, Apple will be able to fix issues a lot faster if they have the details of the problem.
After that, you can actually have an Apple-certified technician to check your unit at your nearest Apple Store. Make sure that you include the troubleshooting steps you did in the attempt to fix the problem yourself. It will help them narrow down the possible fixes that they need to do. Be sure to check the warranty status of your iPad Pro before going there.
But if you don’t have an Apple Store near you, check out what are the available support in your country. You can still send your unit to Apple via courier and just book the repair online. While the Apple-certified technician is repairing your unit, you can check the repair status anytime on their website.
This wraps up our article for today. We hope that we are able to help you fix your iPad Pro 12.9” that is not responding to touch intermittently. If you have questions related to this topic, please feel free to leave a comment below. We will be more than happy to help you with your question.
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