What you need to know
- Several iPad Pro users claim their devices exhibit unresponsive touch.
- It's unclear if the problem is hardware or software related.
- The problem has persisted for months and appears to continue with the beta for iOS 13.
Over the weekend, developer Steve Troughton-Smith noted his iPad has been touches, particularly when using resource-intensive apps. Turns out, this is an issue that's been going on for months, and it continues to persist in iOS 13.
Troughton-Smith aired his grievances on Twitter and got a flurry of responses from users who are experiencing the same thing. The redesigned iPad Pro seems particularly affected by the issue, especially as it ages.
I’m finding my iPad to be dropping a whole load of touches on iOS 13 systemwide, especially when using resource-intensive apps. A reboot fixes it for a few days. Did something change in touch event routing?, cause this gets pretty bad. I barely made it through this tweetI’m finding my iPad to be dropping a whole load of touches on iOS 13 systemwide, especially when using resource-intensive apps. A reboot fixes it for a few days. Did something change in touch event routing?, cause this gets pretty bad. I barely made it through this tweet— Steve Troughton-Smith (@stroughtonsmith) August 26, 2019August 26, 2019
"I've been having the same problem on my 12.9" iPad Pro running iOS 12 as well," said Twitter user cmarriotti.
"2018 iPad Pro? Happens all. the. time. on mine with iOS 12," said Bryson_M on Twitter.
A report from MacRumors back in April highlighted a number of similar complaints related to registering touch gestures, scrolling, and missed keystrokes.
It's unclear what's causing the issue, and Apple doesn't appear to have publicly acknowledged anything is wrong. Some users have speculated it's a hardware problem. Others believe it's software related. According to Troughton-Smith, the Pencil always seems to work fine, "even in hotspots where my fingers aren't registering."
https://twitter.com/LeeLoiChieng/status/1165848444025626624
Troughton-Smith also noted that locking and unlocking the iPad will temporarily fix the problem, but it will eventually come back. Other iPad users have said they've gotten their affected devices replaced because of the issue only to encounter it after a few months of use, suggesting these aren't isolated incidents.
For what it's worth, I haven't encountered any noticeable problems with my iPad Pro while attached to Apple's Smart Keyboard.
Apple is gearing up to release iOS 13 this fall, along with a new iPad Pro. Let's hope Apple the problem, whatever it is, gets ironed out by then.
