How To Fix an iPad that won’t charge

Follow these tips to power up your iPad

iPads that refuse to charge, or charge very slowly
– like non-charging iPhones – are a sadly common
cause of irritation among Apple customers. Before
long the battery will be empty and you’ll be stuck
with the world’s most expensive chopping board.
This isn’t a problem that’s unique to Apple
products, in fact: for various reasons the charging
port and cable are almost always a weak point on
tablets and smartphones. Your iPad’s Lightning
port (or 30-pin port, if you’ve got an iPad 3 or
earlier) is open to the air and therefore vulnerable
to dust and detritus getting inside and clogging
up the connections; the bit just behind the head
of the charging cable is constantly getting twisted
and bent and often frays. And this all assumes
that there are no problems with the plug (or even
your power outlet), and that the iPad’s battery
unit is still performing properly – neither of which
are safe assumptions.
In this article we walk you through a range of
troubleshooting tips that will help you establish what
is causing your iPad to charge slowly or refuse to
charge at all, and offer solutions that will fix many
of these issues either permanently or temporarily. If
all else fails, we explain your consumer rights, and
proffer some advice about getting Apple to step in
and repair malfunctioning device for you.
The basics
Don’t be embarrassed if you’ve dropped a howler:
we’ve all been there. Let’s check the absolute
basics. Make sure the cable is plugged firmly and
fully into the iPad, that the USB end is plugged
firmly into the plug attachment, and that the plug is
plugged firmly into the wall outlet. (If you’re charging
via a Mac rather than through a wall plug, jump
to the next step.) Make sure the power outlet is
switched on. Yes, I know.
Charging via a Mac
If you’re charging via a Mac, it’s worth stressing
first of all that charging via a Mac is always slower
than charging via a power outlet – it simply can’t
output the same wattage – and in some cases you’ll
struggle to see much increase at all.
The iPad may warn you if the Mac isn’t able to
charge it (in the past we’ve occasionally seen a
message saying ‘Not charging’ in the status bar at
the top of the iPad’s screen), but in our experience
that often doesn’t happen: sometimes the charging
icon appears yet the percentage doesn’t increase,
or does so at a glacial rate. In fact, we’re starting to
suspect that the ‘Not charging’ status message has
been removed from iOS.
If you’re charging via a MacBook, make sure the
MacBook itself is plugged in: depending on the
settings you’ve selected, there may be problems
if the laptop is trying to preserve battery power.
And whichever Mac you’re using, be sure to plug
into the Mac itself rather than a USB-connected
keyboard or similar.
As in the previous step, make sure that the USB
end is attached firmly to the Mac. Similarly, make
sure the Mac is switched on and awake. Technically,
you should be able to charge from a sleeping Mac
as long as it was awake when you plugged your
iDevice in – if it then goes to sleep the charging
should continue. But let’s play it safe here.
Stop using the iPad!
Are you using your iPad at the same time as
charging it? Bear in mind that any charge you
gain will be set against the loss incurred through
working the processor and screen. Processorintensive
apps are particularly heavy burdens for
the iPad to bear; games with high-end graphics
(such as the insanely brilliant Legend of Grimrock,
pictured) quickly blitz a battery.
Charging via a Mac in particular (see previous
step) is almost always a dead loss if you have the
iPad’s screen powered on at the same time – a sad
fact we discovered after trying to use an iPad Air 2
as a spare screen at work. Despite being plugged
into the main Mac and only having a (continually
refreshing) web page open, the iPad was always
dead by lunchtime. You’re losing charge quicker
than you’re gaining it.
In other words, try switching the iPad off – at least
power off the screen – and see if that helps.
Check the Lightning port for detritus
Remove the cable from the Lightning port and
take a look at the connector at the bottom of your
device. (We’ll refer to it as the Lightning port for the
remainder of this article, but if you’ve got an iPad 3
or earlier it’ll be the wider 30-pin port – and many of
the same principles apply.)
Make sure the port is free of debris, and give it a
quick blow. If you’re feeling really flash, try using a
compressed air blower.

Are you using the right plug adaptor?
Apple currently sells USB power adaptors in 5W,
12W and (for laptops) 29W ratings. Apple Watches
and iPhones come with 5W chargers, whereas
iPads come with 12W models – but these are
intercompatible, so you can charge up your iPhone
with an iPad charger and vice versa.
But bear in mind that this will affect the charging
speed. Older iPhones can’t benefit from the 12W
charging unit’s extra oomph, but the iPhone 6 and
later will actually charge significantly faster with an
iPad’s 12W adapter that with the 5W one they came
with; and charging your iPad with the lesser 5W unit
will result in a far slower charge.
You can have a look on Apple’s online store to
see what the different units look like, but the wattage
is often labelled clearly on the charging adaptor (see
picture). If not, look for a model number you can
Google, and then label the plug with a spare scrap of
paper and sticky tape so that in future it’ll be easy to
work out if you’re using the adaptor that came with
your iPhone/iPod/Apple Watch by mistake. Dig out
the 12W charger instead.
Waiting, restarting, and resetting
Apple advises owners of non-charging iDevices to
unplug them, then reconnect to power source and
wait for 30 minutes – something which it can’t hurt to
try before we go any further.
If at this point your device still hasn’t shown any
inclination to charge, Apple suggests that you try
to restart it while it’s connected to power. And if
you can’t restart, reset your device. You may then
see an alert when you plug in your device, such as
‘This accessory is not supported by this device’. In
which case you know the problem is the charging
equipment. We’ll try swapping out various parts of
the charging setup in the next step.

Work out which component isn’t working
At this point we look to be headed into the realms
of component failure. But if we’re lucky the part
that is misbehaving may be cheap to replace:
fingers crossed. Set up the iPad, cable and plug
as before – keep everything the same – but this
time, plug into a different power outlet (or into a
different USB port on your Mac). If it starts working,
congratulations! Your power outlet (or USB port) is
broken. Okay, that’s not ideal. If it still won’t charge,
keep everything the same but this time use a spare
charging cable or borrow one from a friend. A new
charging cable is relatively cheap at £15.
Finally, do the same with the plug connector
on the end of the charging cable. A new 12W USB
power adaptor is also £15.
If your cable or power adapter is at fault, it’s
possible you may be able to fix it, although in almost
every case we would strongly advise paying for a
new unit instead – the words ‘amateur repair’ and
‘mains power’ don’t look good when they share
a sentence. But if you wish to consider all your
options, have a look at our article How to fix a
broken iPhone or iPad or iPod charger, and when
you’re safer just buying a new one.
If none of these substitutions work, it’s most likely
your iPad that’s misbehaving. If that’s the case, we
need to get help from the professionals.
Get Apple to fix your iPad
First of all, be prepared for the tedious possibility
that the Apple representative who deals with your
issue will ask you to repeat some or all of the
steps we have outlined previously.

Many of us prefer to speak to an Apple employee
face to face while discussing tech problems, but it
may be inconvenient to get to an Apple Store, or
to make an appointment there. Instead you may
choose to go into the Apple online support program,
but you will most likely be asked to send or take in
your iPhone or iPad for a service, and that point you
just have to sit back and wait for Apple’s diagnosis.
If you’re still in warranty, this should remain
financially painless, but out of warranty we have
heard of people being charged £200 for a repair for
this problem. You may be able to claim for the repair
through any insurance you took out specifically to
cover the iPad, or even a good quality of home and
contents insurance.
If not, consider whether the repair is worth the
cost. Check the latest prices for the model of iPad
(or other brand of tablet) you would choose as a
replacement. Would you have been thinking about
an upgrade soon anyway? At £200 for repair you are
better off buying a replacement. David Price

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