iPad Pro black screen & 1% battery icon

[bimfi]

Here is my issue. About two weeks ago my wife's iPad Pro, which is about 3 years old, was charging. I noticed that it was at 100%, so I unplugged it. When I did, the screen went black with a battery icon and red line representing 1% battery charge on the screen. I could not power cycle the device and kept trying to get it powered up. I finally got the apple logo to come up but after the home screen came up, it shut down again. Then when I got it back up the battery icon was at 100%. This happened about half a dozen times during the next 15 minutes.When it finally stabilized and stayed on, I went into settings and reset the iPad without erasing any data. This seemed to help for about three days, until the same scenario occurred. When I unplugged it from the lightning cord, the same thing happened with the black screen and battery 1% icon. This time I decided to chat with Apple support. They did a diagnostic analysis but found no problems with the device. Just to make sure nothing was happening with the iPad, we made an appointment with the local Apple Store. I explained the whole situation to the tech support at the Apple Store. He said the he had never heard of this situation, but suggested that we reset the iPad to factory condition, then restore the device from my latest icloud backup.

When I got it back home, I plugged it in to charge the battery. About three hours later it was at 100% charge. I then unplugged the lightning cord from the iPad and... it did the same thing! This time it took about 10 minutes to get it back up and running. I'm now waiting for the iPad to discharge the battery low enough to charge it again to see if it will "crash" again. My only other choice will be to reset it back to factory and start it as a new device. Any suggestions on why this is happening? Has this been happening with anyone else? I have had four iPads over the years and had no issues with any of them except this particular one. I also posted a thread on the Apple Support web site, but have not had a single nibble.

 

[twerppoet]

I would re-contact Apple Support and let them know that the factory reset did not work. Give them the full history of what you’ve done so far. This sounds like either a battery problem, or the charging circuit; or something may be loose.

Keep persuing it through Apple Support until you receive a satisfactory solution.

 

[bimfi]

I will contact them again. I am charging the iPad right now, but with a different lightning cord. I'm hoping that maybe the old cord was possibly defective. I agree that there may be something loose or defective in the charging port. Hopefully the device is fine now. Thanks for the reply and suggestions.

 

[bimfi]

So, last night I had the iPad on the charger with a different lightning cord. I watched it closely until it reached 100%. I unplugged it and it stayed running. I plugged it back in and out, just to see if the charging port would malfunction. It did not. I took it to my bedroom and left it on the bed for about an hour. When my wife came home, she opened the cover and... it was black! Again! After I got it up and running again,(which took me about 10 minutes of powering up and having it shut right down numerous times) it stabilized for the rest of the night. When I awoke in the morning, it was still running.

Apple support THINKS it might be a software glitch and wants me to reset to factory condition and NOT restore from my previous backup. They suggested that I handle it like it was a new device. This means that any data stored on the device will be lost. I'm not sure which direction I want to go in. If I go the factory reset route and it happens again, then I can rule out an errant software glitch that was possibly embedded in the backup. Decisions, decisions.

 

[scifan57]

So, last night I had the iPad on the charger with a different lightning cord. I watched it closely until it reached 100%. I unplugged it and it stayed running. I plugged it back in and out, just to see if the charging port would malfunction. It did not. I took it to my bedroom and left it on the bed for about an hour. When my wife came home, she opened the cover and... it was black! Again! After I got it up and running again,(which took me about 10 minutes of powering up and having it shut right down numerous times) it stabilized for the rest of the night. When I awoke in the morning, it was still running.

Apple support THINKS it might be a software glitch and wants me to reset to factory condition and NOT restore from my previous backup. They suggested that I handle it like it was a new device. This means that any data stored on the device will be lost. I'm not sure which direction I want to go in. If I go the factory reset route and it happens again, then I can rule out an errant software glitch that was possibly embedded in the backup. Decisions, decisions.

Back up your iPad before you factory restore it. This will preserve the data in case the software was not the problem. Just in case, transfer as much data from your iPad to your computer as possible, such as photos and videos shot on your iPad. That way if the backup contains the problem you have secondary copies of all the important data on your iPad.

 

[bimfi]

thank you for the suggestions. Hopefully (or not) the issue is hardware related, not software related. The only caveat is that because the iPad is out of warranty, it will cost me up to $600 to repair (according to the Apple Support website). We will see. I will update this when it all pans out. Thanks!

 

[scifan57]

thank you for the suggestions. Hopefully (or not) the issue is hardware related, not software related. The only caveat is that because the iPad is out of warranty, it will cost me up to $600 to repair (according to the Apple Support website). We will see. I will update this when it all pans out. Thanks!

You’re welcome. Please let us know how it works out.

 

[bimfi]

Well, that didn't work out well... Yesterday I reset the device to factory using iTunes. I did a fresh install and downloaded all of the apps that I had on it before. I then charged it to 100%. After it was fully charged, I played some games and opened up some apps just to see if it was stabilized. About 30 minutes later I was satisfied with the progress. I did notice that the battery life was dwindling down quicker than it used to. It got down to about 65%, so I put it on the charger and went to work. The wife came home and picked up the iPad and...it was dead! Again! I did a chat with Apple and they set up an appointment with the Apple Store for next week.
It took me about 30 minutes of trying to reboot the device. Hopefully, I will get this thing repaired. Will update when it is fixed.

 

[bimfi]

The Apple support tech at the local Apple Store ran another diagnosis on the iPad which did not show any abnormalities. They then looked at the crash logs and saw the numerous crashes/shut downs but could not determine what was causing the issue. They did say that they were sure that it was not the battery. That was it. My options were to pay $599 to get a repaired one, or to purchase a new ipad. So, my final take away is that the longer you keep your devices, the more of a gamble you will have if you want to get it fix or replace it. But, of all the ipad/iphone devices I have had over the years, this was the first time I've ever had an issue. The "good" news is that the iPad is still usable even with having to finagle with it each time it gets charged. Thanks for all of the advice. Ciao!

 

[Tombola]

Have had similar problem….iPad charges overnight but won’t startup.
when you do get a response, it shows 1% battery life.
Someone told me to try to heat up the back of the iPad using something like a hair drier fo about 30 secs…..then when you press the reboot button the Apple icon comes on and starts up as normal. Then is ok all day until the next morning after a full charge. Then the same thing again.
Someone did say it may be the ambient temp….it’s winter here now….but not sure about that. Will try to charge during the day and see what happens.