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Apple has confirmed a problem with its new iPad Pro tablets that renders the devices unresponsive to user inputs after they have been recharged.
After being unplugged, the tablets display a black screen and won’t function, according to user reports on the Apple Support Communities Website. Dozens of users posted on the site complaining about the problem.
“Apple is aware of this issue and is investigating,” the company stated in a recent post on its support Website.
In the meantime, users are being advised to force a restart on the devices by pressing and holding both the Sleep/Wake and Home buttons for at least 10 seconds, until the Apple logo appears.
When the freeze occurs, the iPad Pro tablets do not respond to button presses or screen taps or swipes. The unresponsive condition appears to occur after the device has been recharged.
Apple is closed this week for the Thanksgiving holidays and could not be reached by eWEEK for additional comments. The company said in its support post that it will provide updates for the problem as soon as possible and post fixes on the Website.
The iPad Pro, which has its largest-ever iPad display at 12.9 inches, went on sale in the United States on Nov. 11 starting at $799 for a model without cellular connectivity. Apple announced the tablet at its Sept. 9 product launch event.
The enterprise-aimed machine features a 12.9-inch diagonal Retina display made up of 5.6 million pixels—more pixels than a 15-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display. The iPad Pro, which runs the latest iOS 9 operating system, also includes Apple’s third-generation 64-bit A9X chip, which has two times the memory bandwidth of previous versions.
In addition, the iPad Pro has 10-hour battery life, includes Apple’s first-time-ever four-speaker audio system and weighs 1.57 pounds. It also features an 8-megapixel iSight rear-facing camera, a 5MP FaceTime HD camera, Touch ID and 802.11ac WiFi.
Two optional accessories—a $169 snap-on physical “Smart Keyboard” for users who desire the feel of real keys and the new $99 Apple Pencil, which allows users to “draw” on the iPad with a stylus for accurate inputs—are also available.
The iPad Pro models come in silver, gold and space gray and are priced from Apple at $799 for a 32GB device with WiFi, $949 for a 128GB version, and $1,079 for a 128GB model with both WiFi and LTE cellular connectivity.
The iPad Pro is Apple’s largest-ever iPad model. The iPad Air and Air 2 have 9.7-inch displays, while the iPad Mini 4 and iPad Mini 2 have 7.9-inch displays.
AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon Wireless are offering consumers myriad options to buy or lease an iPad Pro tablet.
AT&T is offering the iPad Pro that’s equipped with WiFi and cellular connectivity capabilities for $54 a month under a 20-month installment plan (total $1,080) or for $979.99 with a two-year contract. AT&T customers can add iPad Pro to an existing Mobile Share plan for $10 per month. The tablets can be ordered in silver, space gray or gold.
T-Mobile is offering the iPad Pro to its customers through its Jump On Demand program, which lets users trade in their devices later for newer models at no extra upgrade cost. T-Mobile also is only offering the iPad Pro that is equipped with WiFi and cellular services for $199.99 upfront and $34 a month, or they can buy it with interest-free financing for $199.99 down and payments of $36.67 for 23 months, plus a final payment of $36.59 (total $1,079.99).
Verizon is offering the device for $44.99 a month for 24 months (total $1,079.76) in gray, silver and gold. Customers also can get one under a two-year contract for $979.99 or for the full retail price of $1,079.99.
Samsung also recently joined the large-screen tablet wars with its consumer-focused Galaxy View tablet, which sports an 18.4 -inch Full HD display that the company hopes will create a new home entertainment niche for a large, mobile device. The Galaxy View tablet includes a kickstand for easy viewing and a host of preloaded streaming content sources where users can view movies and television shows on the fly, according to an earlier eWEEK report.