Clearing and reloading an iPad's iOS install for sale or donation.
It's my understanding that it's not possible to back out the current version of iPadOS to a previous version. I current iPad is an iPad Pro 10.5, whose battery is getting a little "long in the tooth", which is very concerning since I used it almost exclusively for my marine navigation. I would consider replace it with a newer model and using the 10.5" model as a backup or selling it on the used market.
Whether I kept it as a backup or give/sell it to someone else, I would want to reformat it and reload the iOS. If I keep it as a backup, I would want to reload only Apple's core apps plus the apps that I use exclusively for marine GPS navigation, celestial navigation, weather forecasting, etc. By far, the most used, most extensive, and most expensive apps are those which fall in these limited categories.
When I do this with my MacBooks, I tend to load the original OS version, or possibly a newer (but not the latest) version. If I keep this as a backup, I would prefer to update only to the iOS that's fully compatible (and stable) with the aforementioned apps.
Can this be done, or am I stuck with the latest available release of iPadOS?
Thank you.
iPad Pro 10.5-inch, Wi-Fi, Cellular
