Chosen Solution
The smart connector does not work anymore. I cleaned it with contact cleaner, factory reset the iPad and even bought a new Smart Keyboard but it does not work. My old and new smart keyboards work fine on a different iPad Pro that I borrowed for testing. I see that ifixit offers an iPad Pro 9.7" Smart Cover Connector as a spare part but the ifixit teardown states that it was impossible to replace the iPad’s smart connector. Please let me know if it is worth trying and if there is any guide for the job.
After watching the teardown video of this iPad, it looks quite involved to replace the smart cover connector as you’ll need to remove the display, battery, and logic board to get to it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DepdFt8Z…
