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Report: iPad Pros Have a Touch-Screen Problem

The display does not respond correctly to user input, meaning typing leaves out characters, scrolling stutters, and gestures don't register.

April 3, 2019
iPad Pro

Having no keyboard, you wouldn't expect iPads to experience any problems when it comes to typing, but that's proving not to be the case for some 2017 and 2018 iPad Pros.

As MacRumors reports, a growing number of complaints are appearing on the Apple Support forums regarding missed key strokes using the virtual keyboard, but also stuttering when scrolling, and touch gestures that don't register. The most likely culprit is a fault, either software or hardware, related to the display.

The video below, posted on YouTube by The Real Family Channel, demonstrates what happens when attempting to type using the touch screen.

The complaints include specific characters that won't appear even though the key is clearly being pressed and registered as being so. Apple's support line apparently doesn't have an answer beyond suggesting a full factory reset, which doesn't fix the problem. One owner even returned a 12.9-inch iPad Pro ( at Amazon) to Apple and grabbed a new one, but it had the same problem only worse.

Other iPad Pro owners found they couldn't scroll the screen properly and in some cases input simply wouldn't register. However, attaching the Apple Pencil 2 to the 2018 iPad Pro models can stop the screen from stuttering, suggesting the two problems may be related somehow.

Until Apple acknowledges there's a problem, it's unclear how widespread it is. If your iPad Pro shows signs of an unresponsive display, the best thing to do is take it to an Apple Store or service center to be checked.

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About Matthew Humphries

Senior Editor

I started working at PCMag in November 2016, covering all areas of technology and video game news. Before that I spent nearly 15 years working at Geek.com as a writer and editor. I also spent the first six years after leaving university as a professional game designer working with Disney, Games Workshop, 20th Century Fox, and Vivendi.

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