iPad Air times out when used as an extended display

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Level 1

4 points

iPad Air times out when used as an extended display

iPad Air (4th gen) on 26.1 iOS keeps timing out when it is an extended display. I extend my Macbook Pro on Tahoe 26.1 to my iPad so I can draw directly into Toon Boom Harmony. In the last month after about 20 minutes, the cursor stops moving and then the screen blacks out. The window I was working on snaps back to the Mac and then my iPad resets itself. If I have an extended display and nothing occurs, then it doesn't time out. It's only when I am constantly working on it. I checked the auto-lock and it's set to never. I even updated from 18.6 to 26.1 thinking it would fix this problem. I am looked up if anyone else has this issue but they're from years ago.

Posted on Nov 29, 2025 6:25 PM

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Answer 1

AlWeir

Level 5

4,868 points

Nov 30, 2025 6:04 AM in response to kesha294

fix is to disable the Auto-Lock feature on your iPad Air:

Open the Settings app on your iPad.
Tap on Display & Brightness.
Tap on Auto-Lock.
Select Never.

This prevents your iPad's screen from automatically sleeping after a period of inactivity, which is often what causes the connection to time out.

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Answer 2

kesha294 Author

Level 1

4 points

Nov 30, 2025 6:49 PM in response to AlWeir

It's already set to this and has been for years. I even changed it and went back to this setting prior to posting. It only times out when I'm using the iPad physically.

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