ipad Air 2 update to iOS 13 problem

This is a deadly problem. My Ipad Air 2 is now a brick, with the very same problems you've outlined above, which suggests that this is a general problem. I would happily not have updated to iOS 13 if Apple had told us that it doesn't work on our iPads, but we were told that it WOULD work, and it's destroyed my iPad. I have no way to update the thing, even if Apple comes out with a fix, since I can connect neither to my wifi nor to iTunes on my computer. Amazing.

If your wife was really experiencing the same problem, the info from the Apple tech sounds incorrect. My understanding was that this issue was fixed with 13.1.2. If it is the same problem we had, just put the iPad into recovery mode and restore through iTunes.

Someone else commented about problems using apps after a restore from backup. You just need to give it more time. The grayed out icons just mean that your apps are queued for download.

I had a bit of difficulty with the button-pushing that is required to get into recovery mode, and it took a couple of times. Hopefully that is your problem. I can’t remember which website I got the instructions from, but they go like this:

Press and release the Volume Up button and then the Volume Down button. Then, press and hold the Side button until you see the recovery mode screen.

For me the problem was that I wasn’t holding the side button long enough. Someone else here much more knowledgeable than I might be able to give more exact instructions. I have never in 35 years of using apple products had such a disastrous time updating to a new version of an OS. But I absolutely love the features of iPadOS on my iPad Pro.

My apologies - IPadOS 13.1.3 is available now. Incorrectly stated 13.1.2 in my last response.

I have the opposite problem. I can’t sign into apple ID. But the gray button is unresponsive for me to. I don’t want to restore my iPad because I paid for things, and Apple took all my credit with iCloud without my permission.

Restoring your device doesn't prevent you from accessing things you've purchased. The problem you describe sounds different, but you should feel free to perform a restore to get the device functioning again, and then just restore from a backup to get all your stuff back. Even if you don't have a backup, your purchases are registered with Apple and you can still get them back by just downloading them again.

Well, thanks to the good suggestions in this thread I did a complete restore and now my iPad is at least working again, keeping my fingers crossed. It is a major pain to restore, since many apps claim they can’t be installed through the normal restoration process, even though their icons show up. One has to delete the icon, then go to the App Store and download the app again. Then it works. I think this may be the problem that a writer above is experiencing. And, sadly, the backup does not restore documents one has saved locally with particular apps. I restored my iPad from an iCloud backup, so maybe a computer-based back up does better. Anyway, thanks to you all for posting ideas here, they greatly helped me.

This same thing happened to my wife after applying iOS 13.1.2 update on Saturday. No WIFI, unable to connect to iTunes, etc. She just went to the Apple Store to see a tech who said he couldn't help her. He said they expect to see a lot of these issues with the iPad Air 2 because they are old models. He told her if she can wait, perhaps Apple will come out in a couple of weeks with some kind of fix that would require one to take the iPad into the store tech support. As for me, with an iPad Air 2 also -- we're both looking for newer models. But very annoying.

Spent a career in IT. Problem occurred after applying 13.1.2. Tried several times to put the iPad into recovery mode and restore through iTunes with no success. Continue to get the error message that the device cannot be read. At this point she's buying a new iPad and hoping that at some time in the near future - there's a fix for this one.

No, initiating recovery wasn't an issue. Tried it twice. It is as though the iPad is a "brick" (as someone referred to it earlier). I also tried some software to extract photos and that didn't work with the iPad (but worked fine with my iPhone).

We both purchased new iPads last night. So aren't put off. Just would like her "brick" restored at some point. Thanks.

Thanks a lot for the IOS 13.2 BETA tip, it worked great on my I pad Air 2, without having to resort to a DFU detour. I had been trying for 2 days all sort of remedies including purchasing the expensive and useless (at least for this problem) Imyfone fixppo IOS recovery tool. So again thanks a lot for sharing your findings🙏

It looked promising when I got onto an unencrypted network, unfortunately all the apps (only thing that runs is settings), including Safari just crashes so I cannot download the profile for the Beta software.

So looks like I will have to do a DFU first.

Looks like many problems out there. I’ve had my trusty iPad Air 2 for many years now and upgraded last week to 13.1.2. Believe it or not, it works just about as it should. The only glitch I’ve come across is the double tap to zoom. It will only work once after a fresh reboot, then it’s back to using two fingers to zoom. Everything else appears to work perfectly. All of the problems described in this forum have not happened on my iPad. My sympathies go out to you all.

Well, this is interesting. I'd given up yesterday out of frustration. After reading your help this morning, I decided to try again. Opened my ipad air 2 and it was connected to Wi-Fi! Of course, nothing works; safari won't open, Chrome (or any other application) won't download, email seems to work, but not the app store. Bottom line, I have a "mostly brick." Any suggestions? TIA.

THANK YOU @scottmvegas!!!!! This saved me!!!! In my case, the DFU detour was absolutely necessary, so thanks for including it in your writeup. Before the DFU, none of my apps would work, including Safari, so I couldn't go on to install the beta until after I did the DFU. Now I'm up and working great on the 13.2 beta, and I've turned Wifi encryption back on.