My iPad Touchscreen Is unresponsive after iOS 18.1.1 update

If your iPad is not operating as expected, begin with a forced-restart - as this will often clear an isolated software issue:

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.

Force restart iPad (models with the Home button)

Press and hold the top button and the Home button at the same time. When the Apple logo appears, release both buttons.

If the problem persists after performing the restart, it may be necessary to reset your iPad settings. While this reset will not cause any loss of data, as a precaution, it is always wise to ensure that you have a current iCloud or iTunes backup before performing the reset:

How to back up your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch - Apple Support

When you are happy to proceed, you can perform the reset from iPad settings:

Settings > General > Transfer or Reset iPad > Reset > Reset All Settings

If the problem still doesn’t clear, the next step is to reset the iPad to factory settings:

Restore your iPhone, iPad, or iPod to factory settings - Apple Support

Otherwise, you would 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 and perhaps easier, you can initiate and manage your support cases using the excellent Apple Support App. If not already installed on your iPad, 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 - and you can explore your available options:

Genius Bar Reservation and Apple Support Options - Apple

While not quite as bad, I’ve experienced similar issues with taps and presses not being recognised. It feels like the app (mostly safari, but any situation involving typing is affected) is frozen except for how regular scrolling still works fine.

Some examples:

Safari:

tap one of several open pages, a different, non-tapped page will open instead.

tap one of several open pages and nothing will happen. You can swipe up and down, and might be able to tap on other pages successfully, but the one you want won’t open. Sometimes closing other pages helps with this. (I have about half as many tabs open as I usually do when experiencing this bug.)

swipe to close a page, nothing happens. You can swipe up or down but not to close the page. Tapping the x button to close it works fine most times.

Keyboard:

tested mostly in safari and chat gpt - double tapping a word often unresponsive.

Sometimes you can tap to move the cursor and sometimes you can’t. Even if the cursor moves, double tap or ‘press’ won’t work.

Issue is intermittent, semi-frequent but not exactly repeatable on demand.

My wife’s 5th PadPro started playing up after iPadOS 18 installed. It first started manifesting phantom screen pressings using BBC iplayer when the play controls would pop up sporadically. Then, Safari became unusable because random bookmarks would pop up unbidden and trying to type on Messenger was impossible. Even using Settings became a challenge.

At first, we thought it was a problem with AirPods2, which had been absolutely fine before the update. Our nephew, who is an Apple engineer thought it might be a problem with the screen, but was unable to locate any problem without replacing the entire screen.

I’ve done hard reboots and even scrubbed the whole iPad down before restoring it from an iCloud backup. The symptoms persist. Any fixes beyond Apple not screwing stuff up with their rush to get us all into AI ready mode??