Apple has temporarily suspended the rollout of the iPadOS 18 update for M4 iPad Pros following reports of devices becoming unresponsive or “bricked.” The company has ceased signing the 18.0 update for these devices, meaning users can no longer download it through official channels, and Apple’s servers will not activate the update if installed manually.
In a statement to Ars Technica, Apple acknowledged that they had “temporarily removed” the update to address an issue impacting “a small number of devices.” Reports from Reddit and MacRumors forums suggest that while some users updated their iPads without incident, others have found their devices unusable after installing iPadOS 18.
Apple’s response to affected users has reportedly included offering hardware replacements, indicating that the issue is serious. Typically, software update issues can be resolved through recovery or DFU mode, but this bug seems to bypass those solutions.
Interestingly, some users encountering problems had first installed iPadOS 17.7—a security update for those not ready to upgrade to iPadOS 18—before attempting the transition to the latest version. It’s speculated that the upgrade path from 17.7 to 18.0 may not have been as thoroughly tested as other routes, such as directly upgrading from iPadOS 17.6 to 18.0.
For M4 iPad Pro users who haven’t yet updated, the wait continues. Apple will either re-release iPadOS 18 with a fix or determine if the issue stems from hardware rather than software. In the meantime, users are advised to install iPadOS 17.7 to ensure they receive the latest security patches.
The iPadOS 18.0 update remains available for other models, including the M2 iPad Air, suggesting that the issue is specific to M4 iPad Pros.
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