iPadOS 18 issue with my iPad Pro M4

[IpadNTexas]

I have a 2024 iPad Pro M4, never had any issues with it. Have installed any updates that have come along since getting it in July, no issues. So I went to install iPadOS 18, it downloaded it, prepared it and then said “Unable to Verify Update”. I tried many times. So finally called Apple Support. They said, after putting me on hold to investigate, that it is unavailable world wide for the M4 iPad Pros. You would have thought telephone support would already know that. They said try again in a few days. Anybody else experiencing that?

 

[reidmangel]

Yes, I am having the same issue.

 

[Hmac]

Me too. I just now got off the phone with Apple Support. They told me that iOS 18 updates have been stopped for iPads. They advised me to try again in a couple of days.

 

[loekf]

Me too. I just now got off the phone with Apple Support. They told me that iOS 18 updates have been stopped for iPads. They advised me to try again in a couple of days.

Only for the M4 iPad.

Did you install iPadOS 17.7 btw ? That seems to be a common thing.

 

[Hmac]

Only for the M4 iPad.

Did you install iPadOS 17.7 btw ? That seems to be a common thing.

Yeh, I tried to upgrade my iPad Pro 11 M4 from 17.7 but it failed several times. I was confused because I had no trouble upgrading my 4th gen iPad Pro and my iPhone 14, so your statement makes sense. Thanks.

 

[sdfox7]

The iPadOS 18 update is bricking M4 iPad Pros.

<Off-topic>: I find it amazing how people are willing to upgrade to the newest iOS/iPadOS before even the first bug fix is released. You're really taking a gamble with destroying your device.

 

[winxmac]

It's weird that doing an update [17.6.1 to 17.7] then an upgrade [17.7 to 18.0] causes a device to get bricked...

I performed a macOS update and upgrade of my iPhone 13 Pro using IPSW:
IPSW DFU to iOS 17.6 [when it was new] then clicked Restore to iOS 17.7 RC IPSW [without putting the device in Restore mode] and finally clicked Restore to iOS 18.0 RC IPSW [same as with iOS 17.7 not putting the device in Redtore mode] and waited to see whether RC will be the final release or there will be a different one...

I only learned about iPads getting bricked after I finished the iPhone iOS upgrade...

 

[Hmac]

It's weird that doing an update [17.6.1 to 17.7] then an upgrade [17.7 to 18.0] causes a device to get bricked...

I performed a macOS update and upgrade of my iPhone 13 Pro using IPSW:
IPSW DFU to iOS 17.6 [when it was new] then clicked Restore to iOS 17.7 RC IPSW [without putting the device in Restore mode] and finally clicked Restore to iOS 18.0 RC IPSW [same as with iOS 17.7 not putting the device in Redtore mode] and waited to see whether RC will be the final release or there will be a different one...

I only learned about iPads getting bricked after I finished the iPhone iOS upgrade...

The iPad Pro M4 that I tried to update isn't bricked despite several update attempts. The update just failed. It still works fine on iOS 17.7. However...it may be that they disabled downloads for the M4's before I attempted the iOS18 update yesterday, in which case maybe I dodged a brick.

I should also note that my initial attempt to update to iOS 18 was from 17.6.1. That failed, so I updated to 17.7 and unsuccessfully tried the update again.

 

[cmcbhi]

Interesting.
I updated my 13 inch M4 iPad Pro on the first day w/o problems. My wife got the same results described above when she tried to update her 11” M4 iPad Pro. She is stuck on 17.7.
Any word on why this is happening?

 

[Hmac]

Any word on why this is happening?

Just that they have disabled download of iOS 18 for the M4 iPads. No clue why, except maybe because some of them were getting bricked?

 

[Pixels7]

The iPadOS 18 update is bricking M4 iPad Pros.

<Off-topic>: I find it amazing how people are willing to upgrade to the newest iOS/iPadOS before even the first bug fix is released. You're really taking a gamble with destroying your device.

Well I always wait too. Haven’t updated my iPad Pro yet, luckily. But my Apple Watch arrives Friday and that’s why I had to update to iOS 18, if I want to use the Apple Watch. I was very nervous about it though! It’s ridiculous an update can make me so nervous. It happens every time I update a device..!

 

[canyonblue737]

They found a bug in iPadOS 18 that during install was bricking M4 iPad Pros (not all but still a scary number) to the extent the only fix was Apple replacing the iPad. Because of this about 24 hours after the release they pulled it from availability just for M4 iPad Pro models and as of today, Thursday Sept 19th, it remains unavailable. I've seen brand new iOS updates pulled before due to a bad bug found but usually within 12-24 hours they have it available again, this clearly is going on considerably longer. Hopefully we will get it available again any time now.

 

[cmcbhi]

Apparently this affected M4 iPad Pros who had iPadOS17.7 installed. Is there not some way to revert to 17.0?
Would this allow installation?

 

[msackey]

The iPadOS 18 update is bricking M4 iPad Pros.

<Off-topic>: I find it amazing how people are willing to upgrade to the newest iOS/iPadOS before even the first bug fix is released. You're really taking a gamble with destroying your device.

I guess I'm not surprised because the public beta (and developer betas) give it a high probability that nasty bugs are take care of. Of course, it's not 100% risk-free.

 

[hovscorpion12]

The iPadOS 18 update is bricking M4 iPad Pros.

<Off-topic>: I find it amazing how people are willing to upgrade to the newest iOS/iPadOS before even the first bug fix is released. You're really taking a gamble with destroying your device.

Granted, most users are going from RC build to final build. From what i've seen, the beta period including the RC have been stable. Very curious what is causing this particular issue.

 

[canyonblue737]

The iPadOS 18 update is bricking M4 iPad Pros.

<Off-topic>: I find it amazing how people are willing to upgrade to the newest iOS/iPadOS before even the first bug fix is released. You're really taking a gamble with destroying your device.

That's absurd. I've had every single generation of the iPhone since the 3G, and countless iPads. I've always installed every single version of iOS and iPadOS as soon as it was available and while yes, there have been some more serious .0 bugs on *rare* occasions I have never, ever, had a device brick. While I'm not saying that's impossible, the odds have historically been incredibly low, so low after months of public beta testing, that it is perfectly reasonable to enjoy day 1 new software rather than hiding from real quality of life improvements you could already be benefiting from. I know there are some niche users who have absolutely mission critical hardware (my work iPad as an airline pilot will always lag 2-4 weeks behind before being allowed to update to the next OS version, including point releases) but in my personal life that risk avoidance is unhelpful and unnecessary.

 

[sdfox7]

That's absurd. I've had every single generation of the iPhone since the 3G, and countless iPads. I've always installed every single version of iOS and iPadOS as soon as it was available and while yes, there have been some more serious .0 bugs on *rare* occasions I have never, ever, had a device brick. While I'm not saying that's impossible, the odds have historically been incredibly low, so low after months of public beta testing, that it is perfectly reasonable to enjoy day 1 new software rather than hiding from real quality of life improvements you could already be benefiting from. I know there are some niche users who have absolutely mission critical hardware (my work iPad as an airline pilot will always lag 2-4 weeks behind before being allowed to update to the next OS version, including point releases) but in my personal life that risk avoidance is unhelpful and unnecessary.

You've been very lucky. Crowdstrike, anyone? 😆

How Windows 95 saved companies from the global IT meltdown​

 

[confucious]

Does 18.1 work on M4 devices? Or hasn’t it been released to the public yet?

 

[Reverend Benny]

Apparently this affected M4 iPad Pros who had iPadOS17.7 installed. Is there not some way to revert to 17.0?
Would this allow installation?

Don't think 17.0 was ever available for the M4 ipads, prob 17.5. Prob better to use 17.6.1 instead since its still signed if 17.7 is what's causing the problem.

 

[canyonblue737]

Does 18.1 work on M4 devices? Or hasn’t it been released to the public yet?

the current public beta for 18.1 does work for M4 iPad Pro models and remains available.

 

[gadgetfreak98]

Hoping to get advise from the wise crew on this forum...

I upgraded my 2018 iPad Pro to iOS 18. Then I got an M4 iPad Pro last week, but didn't have a chance to update it before the release was pulled. So when I tried to set up the M4 by transferring from the old iPad or via an iCloud backup it failed -- e.g., because the backup / old iPad was an OS newer than what was on the M4, which would top out at 17.7.

I went ahead and updated the 18.1 public beta on the M4. That's working fine. But I'd really like to have it adopt everything from my 2018. What is the best way now of keeping 18.1 on the M4 and effecting a transfer of info from my 2018 on 18.0? On a Mac, I'd look to migration assistant. But I'm not sure the steps here.

I welcome any intel here. Thinking that I restore the M4 with my Mac, and that keeps it on 18.1 beta? Then I can start the whole setup again? But I don't want to go down that path if I'm just wrong.

Thanks!

 

[StoneJack]

Hoping to get advise from the wise crew on this forum...

I upgraded my 2018 iPad Pro to iOS 18. Then I got an M4 iPad Pro last week, but didn't have a chance to update it before the release was pulled. So when I tried to set up the M4 by transferring from the old iPad or via an iCloud backup it failed -- e.g., because the backup / old iPad was an OS newer than what was on the M4, which would top out at 17.7.

I went ahead and updated the 18.1 public beta on the M4. That's working fine. But I'd really like to have it adopt everything from my 2018. What is the best way now of keeping 18.1 on the M4 and effecting a transfer of info from my 2018 on 18.0? On a Mac, I'd look to migration assistant. But I'm not sure the steps here.

I welcome any intel here. Thinking that I restore the M4 with my Mac, and that keeps it on 18.1 beta? Then I can start the whole setup again? But I don't want to go down that path if I'm just wrong.

Thanks!

complete reset

 

[gadgetfreak98]

complete reset

And then how do I stay on 18.1 beta? Does it just stay on that after a reset and then I can just do the normal transfer from device to device? From my 18.0 old one to my 18.1 beta M4?

 

[StoneJack]

And then how do I stay on 18.1 beta? Does it just stay on that after a reset and then I can just do the normal transfer from device to device? From my 18.0 old one to my 18.1 beta M4?

don't stay on beta, use regular release 18.0. You can later install beta 18.1

 

[gadgetfreak98]

don't stay on beta, use regular release 18.0. You can later install beta 18.1

This isn’t an option until 18.0 gets re-released for M4 iPads.