iPadOS 18 bricked my iPad M4

cpusch wrote:

I have the same issue on my 11 inch pro max. I installed 18.3 and now I can’t get the Apple logo the screen stays dark, won’t display.

If your iPad is unresponsive, connect your iPad to its Power Adapter and allow the iPad to charge undisturbed for at least and hour - or preferably overnight. Then, while still connected to external power, try a forced-restart:

Force restart iPad (models with Face ID or with Touch ID in the top button)

If your iPad doesn’t have the Home button, do the following:

1. Press and quickly release the volume button nearest to the top button.
2. Press and quickly release the volume button farthest from the top button.
3. Press and hold the top button.
4. When the Apple logo appears, release the top button.

If iPad still doesn’t turn on, or if it gets stuck during start up, see the Apple Support article If your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch won’t turn on or is frozen. Or if your iPad isn’t working correctly after you restart it, see the iPad Support website.

These support pages should help with troubleshooting general battery and charging issues:

Charge and monitor the iPad battery - Apple Support

If your iPad won't charge – Apple Support

Troubleshooting generally requires substitution of the Power Adapter and cable for another known-good item. Most models of iPad require a Power Adapter rated at 12W (i.e., 2.4A @5V) or greater to reliably charge. 5W Power Adapters (1.0A @5V) intended for older models of iPhone are inadequate to charge an iPad; if the iPad charges at all, charging will be very slow. Recent models of iPad are supplied with a 20W USB-C Power Adapter.

Some third-party USB-C power adapters (and portable PowerBanks) may not support USB PD (Power Delivery). Power Delivery mutually negotiates the charging voltage; the source, load and cable are all elements involved in the negotiation protocol. Unless the Power Adapter explicitly supports USB PD, it will almost certainly fail to charge the iPad; proprietary charging standards, such as QC (Quick Charge), are not supported.

Many computer USB ports also cannot source sufficient power to charge an iPad. Unless explicitly designed for charging connected devices, computer USB ports are typically limited to 0.5-1A @5V (i.e., 2.5-5.0W).

If you continue to experience difficulties when using an appropriate Power Adapter of 12W or greater, you might be best advised to seek assistance directly from Apple Support. You can contact the Support Team using the Support link at top-right or bottom-left of this page. Alternatively, you can initiate and manage your support cases from Apple devices using the excellent Apple Support App. If not already installed, the App can be downloaded from the App Store:

https://apps.apple.com/app/apple-support/id1130498044

You might also visit the Genius Bar at your local Apple Store or Apple Authorised Service Provider (AASP) - where the technicians will be able to test and assess your iPad:

Genius Bar Reservation and Apple Support Options - Apple

You can try forcing it into recovery mode, if you haven't already:

On your iPad without a Home button: Press and quickly release the volume button closest to the top button. Press and quickly release the volume button farthest from the top button. Press and hold the top button until your device begins to restart. Keep holding the top button.

If you can get it to the recovery screen, your computer then may allow you to restore it. If that fails, or you can't even get it into recovery mode, then you will almost certainly need to get it in for repair. It's unlikely that iOS 18 actually caused the problem - more likely a hardware issue caused the install to fail than the reverse happened - but it's not impossible.

Regards.

For everyone affected by this thing happening:

Go to the Apple Store. This is a known issue, and iPadOS 18 is pulled for M4 iPad Pro's at the moment as the issue is been looked after.

In the Apple Store you can get technical support. If your iPad is completely bricked they might set you up with a replacement. As I said, Apple is aware of this issue and you will get help in the Apple Store

I took my bricked IPad Pro M4 to the Genius Bar yesterday ( 23 Sept ) It had died last week during the IOS 18 update and was completely unresponsive with a black screen

The Apple technician tried all the usual things to get it to respond but nothing worked. He then tried putting it on the shops fast charge system and noticed a brief flash. Connecting again to the computer then allowed the recovery process to start and an Apple was displayed on the screen. A full restoration was then possible and it is now back to normal but with IOS 17.7

The battery charge was 1%

The conjecture is that after the 18 upgrade failed the machine continued doing something but locked out any interaction. When the power failed it was no longer frozen but needed a bit of a power kick to get it going

Whether this will work with other bricked machines is a matter of conjecture ….. but worth a careful go

HermanJr wrote:

If the iPad like mine is completely dead, none of the mentioned steps are working.

So the question is legitimate, how did he get it up again.

An Apple Store may have access to debugging and repair tools that most people don't have at home. E.g. there are scenarios in which reviving an Apple Silicon Mac may require the assistance of a second Mac, running Apple Configurator 2.

In the case of M4 iPad Pros and iPadOS 18, the impression that I get from news reports is that some of the iPad Pros got bricked so thoroughly that Apple had to replace them outright. Reviving them, if possible, was beyond the level of what even Apple Stores were equipped to do.

I used Passverse iOS System Recovery program to install V17.7 after my iPad Pro (M4) bricked when I tried to install V18. Passverse runs on Windows 11 and is connected to the iPad with an USB cable. My wife also has an iPad Pro (M4) and she installed V17.7 followed by V18 without any problems. After all this effort, I noticed the offer to install V18 was gone from the update menu.

I took mine into the Genius Bar tonight only to have it confirmed that the iPad is well and truly dead. The guy said that he had never seen it before but said it couldn't possibly be the update. If only he knew that as he was telling me this that apple were pulling the update from the M4 iPad Pros.

He said it has to be sent off for more testing and that a replacement will be sent out with in 14 days time. It's pretty annoying that the update breaks your iPad and then you have to wait 2 weeks for a replacement.

I should have stuck to my normal ethos and waited before doing the update.

Apple has pulled the update for the M4 iPad Pro's regarding this issues.

If you have an iPad Pro that is affected, I reccommend that you go to an Apple Store to seek help and replacement. This is not an issue that you can solve from Home I am afraid

I have updated my iPad Pro M4 11 inch without issues. I haven't updated to iPadOS 17.7 first, just directly to 18 from 17.6.1

See this article.

Apple Pulls iPadOS 18 for M4 iPad Pro After Bricking Complaints

I have an iPad Pro M4 and updated to iPadOS 18 without issue. The above article suggests (but does say for certain) that those iPads previously using iPadOS 17.7 may have this issue.

My M4 downloaded IOS 18 but couldn’t install the update. I had been using the beta version with no trouble.

The iPad still worked but was stuck in a cycle of trying and failing to install the update. Tech at the Apple Store tried everything but couldn’t get rid of the download.

They said it was an emerging issue, apologised and gave me a new iPad with iOS 17. I wasn’t able to use a backup to set up the new iPad in case it carried over the issue to the new iPad. I also wasn’t able to transfer my e sim between devices, the two devices just would not communicate (when they were bought near to each other).

Staff were v v helpful.

If you've just got a black screen and it's completely unresponsive then it's dead and you'll need to go into the Apple Store to get a replacement. It can't be fixed via the USB-C port at home.

The update from iPadOS 18 to 18.1 bricked my iPad gen 7. All subsequent efforts to restore terminate with an "Unknown" error. Apple tech support can resolve it, and suggest I take it to an Apple store. Haven't done that yet. Closest is 30 miles away.

Well, here we go again. Went to iOS 18.3 upgrade my iPad Pro 13" M4 two days ago and

seems it's Bricked, Again...!!!!!!! This is a brand new Apple iPad Pro M4 replacement from

Apple. Read my original post below. Had to take this machine to the Genius Bar to have Apple

complete the iOS 18.1.1 upgrade which they successfully did. Upgraded iOS 18.2 without a

problem. Now upgrading to iOS 18.3 which came out a week ago has Bricked my new replacement

once again. I'm getting sick and tired driving 45mins. to the Apple Store and have them deal with these

Bricking upgrades. Apple is definitely having problems when upgrading. Either selective Hardware or

Software issues or both. Attached image has been in this state for 24 hours now.

Apple is obviously having problems with their iPad Pro 13" M4 Hardware.

Bought a new iPad Pro 13" M4 w/ 1TB last June 2024. Updated my iPad Pro

M4 to 17.7.1 and that Bricked my new iPad Pro. Took it into the Apple

Store and they couldn't fix it. So, Apple replaced it with a brand new

iPad Pro M4 13" in September. Now my replacement iPad Pro M4 got "Bricked"

after updating to iOS 18.1.1 Taking it in tomorrow to Apple Store

tomorrow to see if they can fix it OR get a new replacement. Apple seems

to be having continuing problems with their new iPad Pro M4's. I'm a

long long time Apple user since the Mac FX. I hope Apple figures this

out.......... Very disappointed......