iTunes for Windows crashes while restoring iPad Pro M4 with iPadOS 18.0.1

I used my laptop on Windows 10. After 5 hours messing with my son's ipad I came across this forum post and it helped me. Apple! Scum company! Had left after the iphone 5 titanium. Been using Samsung since the S4. Was thinking about going back to apple products. This is twice Apple has bricked my sons pad with software updates. 1.5 years old and twice. First time went to Apple store now i'm out of warranty. 1 more time thats a lemon law!

I couldn't agree more that the Apple apps on Windows are a confounding hot mess. I guess it's not surprising that they would want iOS device owners to buy Macs as well, but it's shocking that they would go to the trouble of releasing these pathetic apps on Windows in the first place.

I actually was sort of optimistic at first. I installed Apple Devices 1.5.2.58 (1.1282.14849.0) on Windows 11 Version 24H2 (OS Build 26100.2605), and it actually was able to update my 10.5" iPad Pro from 17.7.2 to 17.7.3. I started with that one this time because I figured I could live without it for longer if it bricked.

Emboldened, I plugged in my iPhone 15 and started the 18.1.1 -> 18.2 update. It was looking much better than the last time using iTunes, where iTunes crashed immediately after starting the update. This time, it got through updating Firmware and about half-way through Software. At that point, Apple Devices popped up an error box and the progress bar on the phone stopped. No crashes, but Game Over nonetheless.

I was surprised to find that the latest version of Apple Devices on any platform seems unable to do a Restore. It presents a button, but the button doesn't do anything. The older version of Apple Devices and the current version of iTunes both allow a Restore on 23H2. And then the newest Apple Devices on 24H2 was capable of applying the backup and getting everything back to good, apart from having to reset FaceID, Passcode, and Apple Pay.

I'll probably keep bricking my phone, just out of stubbornness, until Apple and Microsoft learn to test. I don't really view running the old version of Windows or Apple software as a viable long-term solution. Fun times...

Feedback this morning, on version 1.5.2.60 (1.1282.15361.0) of the Apple Devices application since Windows 11 24H2:

- Attempted to update my iPad 9 with firmware 18.3 downloaded upstream (https://ipsw.me/): KO

- Attempted to update with firmware 18.3 from the iPad restore mode: KO

Conclusion: do not do the updates from this version of Apple Devices

PS: I was able to update and restart my iPad (without having restored it to factory settings) with a Windows 10 22H2 virtual machine with version 1.5.0.160 (1.1280.40963.0) of the Apple Devices application

The version of the Apple Devices application that is causing the problem is: 1.1280.40963.0, what would be interesting is to check in the next few days for the possible release of a new version and to test it on the 24H2 of Windows. I am located in France, but I think that we have the same version number regardless of the country.

Did as you said and my iPhone 13 is now updated.

thank you

trying to update ipad pro 12.9 to ios 18 bricked device. Can't boot to home screen stuck in recovery mode but no display. go to restore/update get logo and partial progress never completes. can only see display when iTunes update/restore is selcted

If in doubt, you can do the updates from the tablet, and they will be done without any problem.

The problem at the moment is the Windows 24H2 update which is not really stable (Microsoft suspended its deployment for a while) AND Apple which still has not released a patch on its Apple Devices software

I understand your distress, I too when I was blocked, I was a little lost, luckily I had a Windows 10 to unblock the situation

It is well known with Apple, the ideal if you want to use a computer to update your devices is to have a Mac.

For years under Windows, I used iTunes and now Apple Devices to do the "big" updates because I download the firmware upstream, and I have never had this kind of problem, in general the updates are done correctly. I do the updates like this because I like to download the firmware and then install it, but if this doesn't concern you, do the updates from the device, it will never crash

I'm not too sure 100% what happen. Device was not charging and was losing display unless my son hit the power button over and over. Told him to update. During update ipad died. He gets it working again is using it until 2 days ago. device not coming on. I hit combo of buttons get it to home screen. go to update and bricked.

Yes the iPad was blocked so to update it you had no other solution than to go through a computer. Bad luck it is not the right time to do it with Windows 11 24H2 lol

As I said above, you have to watch for an update of the Apple Devices software and do a test again from a Windows 11 24H2 to see if it does not crash again

I don't blame Apple or Microsoft, for my part, the recent Apple Devices software has always worked well since its release, because I systematically do the "big" updates from the PC.

But there it turns out that following the installation of Windows 11 24H2... it's a disaster

A compatibility problem surely, but I'm sure that in 2025 this will be resolved.

On the other hand, I am surprised because if I understood correctly you managed to update your iPad Pro 10.5" from 17.7.2 to .3, it's surprising...

For my part, on Apple Devices 1.5.2.58, I did not have a specific error code, I monitor from the Windows task manager the different processes linked to the Apple Devices application (during the update), and some processes (I can't say which ones exactly) start to disappear and then the update freezes on my iDevice, consequently the processor usage as well as the disk usage drops to zero.

For information, I had the error code 06b4 0000 on Apple Devices 1.5.0.160 (iDevice frozen etc...) BUT by resetting the software and unplugging and replugging the cable, I was then able to restart the update

I also noticed like you that on Apple Devices 1.5.2.58, following a crash of the update, the Restore button does not work, you click and nothing happens, and the Update button is grayed out too, incredible!

Like you, I will continue to do my tests, to monitor the updates of the Apple Devices software and stay on the 24H2, at worst I have a virtual machine under Windows 10 which allows me to get out of trouble in case of problem.

Indeed, the use of old versions of Windows is to be avoided for security reasons. In any case as soon as Microsoft judges your PC ready to switch to version 24H2, it downloads and installs the update, unless you have done like me for a few weeks, to suspend the updates, but this is not a good thing to do.

As soon as the days are better between Apple Devices & Windows, I will not hesitate to let it be known here

I was indeed able to update my 10.5" iPad Pro (which won't run iOS 18) using the very latest Apple Devices software running on Windows 11 with all current updates installed. And then the same machine got hung up doing my iPhone 15. Is it a difference of iOS 17.* vs 18.*? iPad vs. iPhone? Dumb luck?

Anyway, my "recovery" laptop is running Windows 11, but I don't think it will get 24H2 automatically. It doesn't have TPM 2.0, but I followed the instructions to bypass that check and Windows 11 installed and works just as well as Windows 10 did. My daughter uses it for light-duty stuff, and I won't consider forcing 24H2 until this issue is behind me.

No, from the Microsoft Store, download the Apple Device application and try to install the update on your iPhone. I live in France and I know that since the Apple Device application exists on the Microsoft Store, we can no longer do updates from iTunes. We have to go through Apple Devices to update our iDevices.

I don't know, but this is a F*%king problem for me.

The standard iTunes installed from a standard .exe download will save the backup file into the roaming profile in the user's directory. We use a domain with roaming profile stored on the server. The backup is slow and overload the server HD allocated to this. Can't use the mklink because it's not a local path it's a network drive \\server\profiles\user\appdata... and since it's a user profile folder, permission is a nightmare to bypass. Admin can't create the link into a restricted permisson folder. and User can't run the command with elevated privilege.

So the Window Store version save the file to local path C:\users\name\local\apple...

I just decided for now, not to update the device, I only backup the old device, restore it into the new device without updating the device !

It may work, but, because there's always a but, it's not a suitable solution.

The location of the device backup is not the same. The downloaded version, on a domain with roaming profile store on a network drive, the backup goes to that location, take way more time and it's oversize for the profile/user space on that server.

The Store version saved it to the local drive into a different directory of the user's profile folder.

And no the change path trix doesn't work with a roaming profile. User doesn't have permission to do that on the PC, and Admin user don't have access to user's roaming folder on the network...

Apple need to fix this!

I’ve been frustrated with my new iPad Air I just bought from target for 6+ hours because it was stuck on recovery mode. Thank you for telling me to download that particular link. I have Microsoft as well with that same update and it won’t let me revert back to the old update. I downloaded the iTunes link by typing in verbatim the link you described and finally it worked!!! Omfg. Apple makes me so mad. Thank you though!!