iPad Mini 6 Not Charging? Apple Confirms iPadOS 15.5 May Be the Cause
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If you’ve been experiencing problems charring your iPad mini since updating to iPadOS 15.5, it looks like you’re not alone. Enough iPad mini 6 owners have run into this problem that Apple has sent out a memo to service providers with guidance on ways to mitigate the problem.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like Apple has a real solution to the problem yet, but the memo, seen by MacRumors, obliquely suggests the issue is caused by a software change in iPadOS 15.5.
The problem in question most commonly results in the iPad mini not charging at all. In some cases, it will show the charge indicator when it’s first plugged in but then stops charging a few seconds later. In other cases, the charging indicator doesn’t light up at all.
There are multiple posts in Apple’s Support Community and on Reddit from iPad mini owners that have tried numerous solutions that have only temporarily fixed the problem. The issue occurs regardless of what cables or charging bricks are used, and even restoring an affected iPad mini 6 to factory settings is only a temporary fix.
In the service memo, Apple advises technicians and retail staff to tell customers experiencing this problem to restart their devices. However, this isn’t a permanent solution, and Apple says it’s still investigating the issue.
This issue isn’t affecting everyone, although it’s interesting that even folks who have received replacement units often have the same problems with the new one. Some folk who have taken their iPad mini to an Apple Store or Apple Authorized Service Provider and received a replacement unit but still found the new unit would eventually suffer from the same problem a few days later.
This aligns with Apple’s instructions to service providers, where it explicitly says that a hardware replacement of the iPad or its battery won’t solve the problem. Nevertheless, it seems to be the luck of the draw whether you end up with an iPad mini that’s impacted by this or not.
Since the problem only began after iPadOS 15.5 came along in May, there’s almost certainly a software issue involved. Apple already has iPadOS 15.6 in beta testing, which is also available as a public beta. However, we’ve been unable to find any confirmed reports that the iPadOS 15.6 beta fixes this issue.
Nevertheless, if you’re experiencing this problem and getting frustrated, trying out the iPadOS 15.6 beta is worth a shot. Public betas of iOS and iPadOS point releases rarely introduce any serious bugs, so it’s unlikely that installing the beta will make things any worse.
As a public beta, iPadOS 15.6 is open to anyone. You simply need to sign up for Apple’s public beta program and then download the necessary configuration profile to receive the update over the air. Here’s how:
- Using your iPad mini, visit Apple’s Beta Software Program website at beta.apple.com.
- Select Sign in in the top right corner and sign in with your usual Apple ID and password.
- Select Enroll Your Devices from the menu at the top.
- Select iPadOS from the options below the header.
- Read the instructions, noting the warning and instructions about ensuring you have a backup before installing the beta.
- Select the Download Profile button to install the iPadOS 15 public beta profile.
- Open the iPad Settings app and look for the message at the top of the menu, noting that a new profile has been downloaded and is ready to install. Select this and follow the instructions to install the beta profile.
Once the iPadOS 15 beta profile is installed, your device will be ready to receive not only iPadOS 15.6 but all future iPadOS 15 public beta releases. Simply check for updates as you usually would, and the beta versions should appear.
Installing this beta profile will not enroll you in the iPadOS 16 public beta program; you’ll only receive public betas in the iPadOS 15 family. This means iPadOS 15.6 now, and iPadOS 15.6.1 or iPadOS 15.7 if such releases ever show up. You’ll need to follow the instructions above to download a new profile for iPadOS 16 if you want to participate in that public beta program once it’s available.