Apple has posted a new support document regarding unresponsive, black-screened iPad Pros:
If your iPad Pro stops responding and the screen is black
Learn what to do if your iPad Pro doesn’t respond when you press buttons or tap on the screen, and the screen is black.
To get back to using your iPad Pro, force restart it by pressing and holding both the Sleep/Wake and Home buttons for at least ten seconds, until you see the Apple logo.
Apple is aware of this issue and is investigating.
This document will be updated as more information becomes available.
MacDailyNews Take: In other words, it’s the same as a force restart for any iOS device as Apple has long explained, “You should force restart your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch as a last resort, and only if it’s not responding. To force restart your device, press and hold both the Sleep/Wake and Home buttons for at least ten seconds, until you see the Apple logo.”
[Attribution: The Loop. Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Samantha” for the heads up.]
In 8 years of iPhone and iPad ownership I’ve had to force reboot 2 or 3 times. If this is happening frequently with the IPad Pro it’s another example of recent products pushed out the door unfinished.
I quit all apps and force reboot once a week. Keeps them iOS devices purring. I’ve also found that periodically resetting the network setting improves cellular reception.
I left mine to charge overnight just to see if mine has this issue. It doesn’t seem to, thankfully.
My thoughts on this issue and my own experience with the pro leads me to believe Apple may want to develop a more focused version of iOS for the pro. They have obviously tweaked things in the general iOS image for the pro, but the hardware is different enough (for now) to maybe clean out the install and just start over. With the vastly different screen and cpu, there may be some incompatibility with “legacy” code battling for hardware control (like power management).
Apple will take care of this after they determine the cause and the fix – hardware or software.
That might just be an average post, but it is also true. Apple generally fixes these things fairly quickly. And, if you are not satisfied with your iPad Pro, return it. Among other things, Apple has a good return policy.
My iPad 3rd Gen does this once or twice a week. The force restart (cold reset) sometimes works the first time, sometimes not. I’ve completely refreshed the thing, but suspect it might be more iOS based than anything else. Started happening with 8 and 9 didn’t relieve it. 64G WiFi/GSM.
Likely something wrong with your iPad or the apps that you are using are causing it to crash. I have the same iPad with iOS 8 rarely have I had to reset it. I’m running iOS 8 and I use it everyday.
I have the same iPad and I can’t recall the lat time that I had to force restart. It has been a long time.
Lemme axe you something…
Would you buy an Apple car right now, created by the organization under Tim Cook? I’m sure it will be a work of art, but unless Tim himself drives it back and forth across country about 5 times… I wouldn’t touch it.
I would. How could it be worse than a Ford filled with Microsoft syncing technology or various other flawed carmaker concepts of a UI?
I admit that this is not Apple’s finest hour. But we have been here before, and the company responded and came out stronger for it. I am not willing to give up because of a little adversity. What kind of loyalty is that? Besides, where are you going to go? Android? Tizen? Chrome? Windows 10.
Apple offers benefits that overshadow the recent problems. Respect for the customer as a client, not a product. Where else are you going to get that? A company that takes big risks to push technology with a great batting average. And (this is a big one for me) privacy and security – Touch ID, Apple Pay, no NSA back doors when others were bending over and luring up for the government…the list goes on.
You are free to gripe when Apple and its products do not perform at the high level expected. But, in your frustration, do not forget all of the other positives that Apple offers its customers.
More on the subject:
Apple – it’s true: iPad Pro slabs freeze when plugged in to charge
Cupertino says it’s working on a fix for mysterious stall
This comes after people have been complaining for nearly a week that their new iPad Pros were refusing to wake up when plugged into the charger.
Complaints filled more than 17 pages in one support forum thread as folks shared their frustration and offered suggestions for fixing the constant freezes that occur when the tablet is left alone for any period of time while plugged in.
While many users said they experienced the problem when charging the iPad Pro overnight, others said the freeze can occur when the tablet is plugged in and left alone for as little as an hour. . . .
Wasn’t thoroughly beta tested at all.
With all the hype Cue and Cook and Forstall have spewing about it you would have thought that they would have worked the bugs out of it before opening their mouths to spew garbage, but that’s what you get from millionaires that don’t give a shit. We saw this from Microsoft twenty years ago.
Gotta say I find it a little silly that just because it has a bigger screen & more ram & better CPU (the latter two being standard perennial upgrades on Air etc) it’s treated or perceived as a different “Pro” device etc.
Apple seems bent of marketing it as a pro device for pros, what about gamers and folks who watch lots of movies ? Games must be great on this but not a peep from apple about it being an optimal gaming device. Maybe too cumbersome to hold for gaming? Those game pad controllers paired with this would be amazing!
If I had a Mac mini with a 21″ VGA monitor and decided to get a 27″, well it’s the same computer just different size and that’s how the iPad plus / pro should be. Apps should scale to the screen size whether it’s 7.9, 9.7 or 12.9. It’s the same product with a bigger screen why the need to niche it into some pro category ? The cost?
You could just use your iPhone with an Apple TV to watch movies / play games. A better experience and a lot cheaper than buying an iPad pro.
iPad Pro seems to be expensive and esoteric. Applications for the iPad Pro are few and far between at the moment. The majority of what people do is surf the internet and check their E-mail. Artists still seem to prefer the traditional computer and Wacom tablet. However, the iPad Pro is pretty well-built, but like anything in the technology world, it is not invincible.
Make sure you purchase AppleCare for the iPad Pro or a similar service plan.
I’ve rarely had to force restart any iOS device (I go back to iPhone/iPad 1 in 2007 & 08)…. until iOS 9. Since 9 I’ve had numerous App crashes, despite numerous App updates. — and some devices freezes. It can’t be hardware, it’s happened on iPhone 6’s iPad Airs, iPad 4’s, and now the Pro. iOS 9 is a buggy, released prematurely, mess. If the iPad Pro is to be Apple’s big push into Enterprise, iOS 10 needs to be more capable, much more stable, & enable multiple users. Tim Cook is a brilliant Ops guy, not a very good CEO…