If you use an iPad Pro or an iPad Air, a Magic Keyboard w/Trackpad is the best accessory that you can get your hands onto. It drastically improves the way you handle your iPad thanks to iPadOS’s stellar keyboard and mouse support. But there’s a sore point, and that’s the Magic Keyboard’s backlight. Sometimes, it just won’t work as you would expect it to.
For instance, the Magic Keyboard’s backlight may not adjust properly to the surrounding ambient light levels. Or, it may fail to turn off alongside your iPad and end up draining the battery. The fixes that follow should help you resolve such issues.
Uncover Ambient Light Sensor
The Magic Keyboard’s backlight automatically changes in brightness based on the ambient light level. In dark surroundings, the backlight increases in intensity, and vice versa. However, the Magic Keyboard does not have its own ambient light sensor. Instead, it uses the one on your iPad.
If the backlight’s brightness does not change automatically based on the ambient light, there’s likely something covering the light sensor on your iPad. In that case, the screen brightness on the iPad may also not adjust automatically.
The ambient light sensor is located to the top of the iPad in portrait mode or on the side that contains the Power/Top button. Typically, it’s to your left when you use the device in landscape mode with your Magic Keyboard. If there’s an object in the way blocking the sensor from a light source, consider moving it out of the way.
Adjust Brightness Manually
If nothing covers the ambient light sensor on your iPad, try adjusting the backlight brightness manually. However, iPadOS makes that unnecessarily complicated and requires you to dive in deep into the Settings app. The following steps should show you how to do that.
Step 1: Open the Settings app on your iPad.
Step 2: Select General on the side-bar.
Step 3: Tap Keyboard.
Step 4: Tap Hardware Keyboard.
Step 5: Use the slider under Keyboard Brightness to adjust the brightness of the Magic Keyboard’s backlight. Move it to the left to decrease the backlight intensity or move it to the right to increase the intensity.
Remove Magic Keyboard and Force-Restart
The backlight on your Magic Keyboard is supposed to turn off automatically when you lock your iPad (or when it auto-locks by itself). If that does not happen, the Magic Keyboard’s backlight can end up using battery life unnecessarily. Force-restarting your iPad may help fix that.
It’s best to detach your iPad Pro or iPad Air from the Magic Keyboard before initiating the force-restart. Once you’ve done that, quickly press and release the Volume Up button. Then, quickly press and release the Volume Down button. Follow by pressing and holding the Top button until you see the Apple logo on the screen.
After your iPad force-restarts, enter the device passcode to get into the Home screen. Then, snap your iPad back onto the Magic Keyboard and check if that helped.
Update iPadOS
Issues with the Magic Keyboard’s backlight dates back to the accessory’s time of release. Apple has since released updates to fix them. If you’re still on iPadOS 13.4, for example, consider upgrading to iPadOS 14 or later. Even if you’re on a relatively newer version of iPadOS, it’s best to apply the latest iPadOS updates since they may fix any recurring issues with the backlight on your Magic Keyboard.
Step 1: Open the Settings app on your iPad.
Step 2: Select General.
Step 3: Tap Software Update.
Step 4: If you see an update listed, tap Download and Install to apply it.
Reset All Settings
If you continue to experience spotty backlight functionality on your Magic Keyboard w/Trackpad, try resetting the iPad settings. That should help remove any corrupt settings preventing your Magic Keyboard from functioning normally.
A settings reset does not delete apps, documents, or photos from your iPad. But it will revert your general and privacy settings, including a host of other settings, to their defaults, so you will have to spend time setting up your preferences from scratch afterward.
Step 1: Detach your iPad from the Magic Keyboard.
Step 2: Open the Settings app.
Step 3: Select General.
Step 4: Tap Reset.
Step 5: Tap Reset All Settings.
Step 6: Enter the device passcode and tap Reset to confirm.
After the reset procedure, reattach your iPad to the Magic Keyboard and check if the backlight works without issues.
No More Backlight Woes
If you continue to have persistent issues with the Magic Keyboard’s backlight and none of the fixes about helped, then consider taking it to your nearest Apple Store or Genius Bar. You could be dealing with a hardware-related fault that’s impossible to resolve all by yourself.
Next up: With the current work-at-home situation, it’s more than essential to use Zoom on your iPad. Here are 13 Zoom keyboard shortcuts that you must know about.
Having spent some years coding applications for macOS we’ve created a tool that everybody can use. The all-round problem fixer for Mac.
So here's a tip for you: Download CleanMyMac to quickly solve some of the issues mentioned in this article. But to help you do it all by yourself, we’ve gathered our best ideas and solutions below.
Backlit keyboards are now so common that it’s difficult to remember a time before all keyboards had backlights. The implementation of backlighting in keyboards varies, but Apple notebooks tend to have an LED for each key, which means the brightness is consistent across the keyboard. Other keyboards may have just a few LEDs under the keys, which means some keys are more illuminated than others.
Why is keyboard backlighting useful?
The keyboard light on Mac was designed for low-light settings and dimly lit rooms. Backlit keyboards shine LED through the keycap, allowing you to identify keys on the keyboard. Without backlighting, you’d be typing almost blind, making more mistakes.
What is the problem with backlit keyboards?
The biggest issue is battery use. Although the LEDs used to backlight keyboards use very little power, they are numerous, which makes a difference. Nobody enjoys running out of battery before the end of a captivating lecture, an important meeting, or a favorite Netflix movie.
The other issue can be the backlight on a keyboard, causing a distraction for others in the room. But really, the brightness of your Mac’s screen is likely to be more of an issue.
How to turn the keyboard light off on your Mac
- Click on the Apple menu and choose System Preferences.
- Select the Keyboard pane and uncheck the box next to ‘Adjust keyboard brightness in low light.’
- Press F5 repeatedly (or Fn-F, or use the relevant button on the Touch Bar).
- Stop when the backlight is off.
It’s important to uncheck the box next to the ‘Adjust keyboard brightness in low light’ box before tapping F5. Otherwise, it will just come back on again.
How to turn on the keyboard light on your Mac
- Open System Preferences from the Apple menu.
- Choose the Keyboard pane.
- Check the box ‘Adjust keyboard brightness in low light.’
- Press F6 (or fn and F6, or the relevant button on the Touch Bar) repeatedly until the backlight comes back on.
If you’re trying to light up the keyboard on your Mac or turn up the level and get a message or logo saying keyboard lighting is locked, it may be that the light sensor has picked up a bright light somewhere in the room. Try changing position or moving to a different room.
What if the keyboard light doesn’t work properly?
Reset the SMC
The System Management Controller (SMC) in your Mac controls many hardware functions and low-level power management. So when something goes wrong, and none of the usual fixes work, it’s worth resetting it. The backlighting on the keyboard is one feature that the SMC controls. Before you reset the SMC, however, you should try one more thing:
- Unplug the power adapter from both your MacBook and the electrical outlet.
- Go to the Apple menu and choose Shutdown.
- Once your Mac has shut down, remove and re-insert the battery if it’s removable.
- Press the power button to start your Mac.
If that doesn’t work, here’s how to reset the SMC on Macs that don’t have the T2 security chip.
If the battery is non-removable
- Shut down your Mac from the Apple menu.
- Press Shift-Control-Option on the left side of the keyboard, then press the power button (or TouchID button if you have a Mac with a Touch Bar) at the same time.
- Hold all the keys and the power button for ten seconds.
- Release all the keys.
- Press the power button again to turn on your Mac.
If the battery is removable
- Shut down your Mac.
- Remove the battery.
- Press and hold the power button for five seconds.
- Reinsert the battery.
- Press the power button again to start up your Mac.
If your Mac has the Apple T2 security chip
- Shut down your Mac.
- Press and hold the power button for ten seconds.
- Release the power button and wait a few seconds.
- Press the power button again to start up your Mac.
If that doesn’t work, try this:
- Shut down your Mac.
- Press and hold the right Shift key, the left Option key, and the left Control key for seven seconds. Your Mac might turn on and show the Apple logo on its display. Keep holding those keys and press the power button for another seven seconds. Your Mac will turn off if it turns on earlier.
- Release all the keys and the power button.
- Press the power button again to turn on your Mac.
While trying to fix the backlighting problem, you might have discovered that your keyboard isn’t as responsive as it should be. This can happen for several reasons, but there is a straightforward fix, using a tool I use a lot – CleanMyMac X. Here’s how you do it.
- Download, install and launch CleanMyMac X.
- Choose Optimization from the sidebar.
- Go through each option, checking Login Items and Launch Agents for anything you don’t need. Check the box next to it and click Remove. Do the same with Hung Applications.
- Choose Maintenance and go through the options, reading descriptions.
The backlight on your Mac’s keyboard is a handy tool. So it’s frustrating when it doesn’t work as it’s supposed to. However, there are solutions, and you should work your way through the above to try and fix it. If all else fails, contact Apple Support. And don’t forget to try the tip at the end.