ipad Air 2 update to iOS 13 problem

Alright - I had all of the issues mentioned in most of these messages. Nothing worked, no matter how many times I tried recovery mode and update (tried everything). Finally once Catalina came out I downloaded that (last night) and tried the restore again and it worked. It did not work with the version before Catalina or any OS before that (I tried multiple operating systems). iPad is fixed...completely restored, but it restored with 13.1.2 and it works as good as new. I was getting firmware issues and the like - it was a mess and I was one click away from getting a new iPad.

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.

It’s not that WiFi itself doesn’t work, it’s that some iPad Air 2’s with 13.1.2 installed fail to authenticate encrypted WiFi connections, which prevents you from getting on the network.

It occurred to me that since the password was failing while connecting to the WiFi network, I should try to connect to an open WiFi network, i.e. one with no encryption or password at all.

Since I didn’t already have an open WiFi hotspot in my home, I had to use a different device (my laptop) that was already on my network to log into my WiFi router’s admin interface, and switch off the WiFi encryption, changing it from WPA2 Personal to None.

Once the WiFi router restarted, the iPad could successfully connect to the internet. But I didn’t want to leave the router configured like this, obviously, because my neighbors would be able to access my network. So, as soon as I installed 13.2 on the iPad, I switched the encryption back on.

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 so much for your pointers!! Thanks to you I was able to connect my air2 on an open network, download and install the 13.2 beta which solved all the issues without me having to do any resets/restore and so I’ve not lost any of my data 😊.

I had this same problem. I had a feeling it was related to "Find My iPhone" blocking the installation somehow. I was able to solve it by logging in to iCloud on a browser, removing the device from every I could find it (https://www.icloud.com/find/ & https://www.icloud.com/settings/).

Then I reset the iPad again (pressing the top and home buttons for a while) and restored the OS as if it was a new device from my Mac. Everything then worked fine and I was finally able to restore from my iCloud backups.

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.

Thank you so much for the BETA route! I had figured out the insecure wifi to at least get online and been struggling for days with other suggestions. Then finally found found your solution and so far my iPad is back!! Super!! Thanks!!

I had the same problem. In order to get my iPad to actually function again I had to wipe using the "Erase All Content and Settings" which is basically setting it back to a new clean iPad. It now has the updated iPadOS 13.1.2 and appears to function. Having to wipe it clean with no backup is extreme but I just use it for travel and ease of use so not a huge issue other than having to re-install everything and you lose all data, photos, applications that you installed as well as all history. .

Pretty frustrating that Apple pushes the update to the device knowing that it will not function on the older models, guess that is one way to encourage new revenue. My issue is I spend that kind of money, have no need for new hardware, and will eventually be forced to do so. Might be looking at other manufactures after being a dedicated Apple customer for quite some time.

I have tried ALL of these solutions short of resetting my iPad Air 2 to factory settings and restoring my backup. None of the solutions proposed have worked yet.

Attaches to unsecure network - no browser or app that uses the internet will connect

Tried DFU - unable to update or restore

Tried resetting network settings - no help

Tried resetting ALL settings - no help

What a PAIN in the ...

Basically, this entire thread is just more evidence that software quality assurance is DEAD!!!

Been an Apple customer for over 20 years and have to say that if Apple is not going to do quality assurance then maybe it's time to find a new platform where I have more control.

Same issue here with my wife’s iPad Air 2. Tried all the suggestions. Only one that worked was the DFU process. I could connect to an unsecure WiFi but nothing actually connected including authenticating Apple ID pw.

Hooked up her ipad to my MacBook Air and went thru the restore process via iTunes. Takes some time but it worked. Once back to factory defaults it connected to WiFi just fine. Went through the restore from iCloud backup and all is back to normal working order.

If if you can’t get connected to internet I don’t see any other option that works. And with a recent backup, she’s back in action. Was almost ready to buy a new one but saved that $$.

Good luck to others.

My iPad will not respond to the DFU restore or update. Also, when I try to Erase all data and Settings, it fails to authenticate because it cannot reach the Apple server.

Effectively, at this point, my iPad is a BRICK only good for using apps which are completely local - guess I have a really expensive Sodoku game machine at this point.

All of my devices including my two Macs have now had automatic update TURNED OFF (they will remain this way until I see several/many updates from Apple with no basic functionality issues).

I'm in the same boat. I have tried to restore my iPad to factory or to update thru my Macbook's iTunes but iTunes can't connect to the iPad. My iPad looks like it's connected to wifi but chrome or safari can't connect to the internet, so I can't download any beta either.