iPadOS 18 bricked my iPad M4

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.

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.

Just tried updating mine as well iPad Pro M4, went to check on it 20 mins later and nothing. I had it sitting in the keyboard case.

Doesn't even make a sound when trying to charge.

Any help appreciated.

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

so I have the iPad M4 - Pro (1TB) - updated to iPad OS 18 and it bricked. Crazy thing is that just a couple weeks earlier, my iPhone 15 Pro also bricked when updating to iOS18! - they sent me a new phone - didn't fix it. ended up I could set up as new but could not restore from my diligently backed up backup! - then, same thing happens to iPad. I see now the known issue with iPad - wondering how they could be connected? I spent hours on phone with tech support in both cases, and went to Apple store for a GB visit. - both cases they sent (and are sending) me a new device. I'm wondering if my replacement iPad will be able to restore from backup. At this point, I have little hope. Maybe it will come with iPad OS 17 and that will be how it works. It is SO MUCH WORK! to get my device back to the way it was set up previously - when not being able to use backup to restore. Putting apps in folders, signing in to accounts,... - so many things you don't even think about until they are gone! VERY VERY frustrating!

-Has anybody else has issue with iPad AND iPhone?

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Same problem here. I just bought my iPad (1 week ago) and now I have to get it fixed? Repaired? It’s unbelievable.

It’s annoying, and frustrating at the same time.

How can I send it back and get a new one?

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

Hi everyone, I spent an hour with Apple support regarding my M4 pro which broke after an update. They agreed that it cannot be repaired by Apple. They said it should be sent for further testing and a replacement will be sent within 7 days. They did send a replacement but I have not received it yet. It is very annoying that an update can damage your iPad and then you have to wait a week for a replacement. Is the replacement used or new because mine was new a month ago and I bought it from Apple

ZsuKovács wrote:

How can I send it back and get a new one?

If you want help from Apple, start here:

Genius Bar Reservation and Apple Support Options - Apple

suchandra009 wrote:

My Ipad pro M1 has flickering multiple black lines after the Ipad os 18 update, seems like the new OS is released without proper testing of the OS which is giving us these problems.

Your issue is unrelated to the problem currently affecting the 2024 iPad Pro M4 models.

In your case, you can easily determine if you have a hardware or software issue. A reliable method to confirm a screen or other hardware fault is to take a screenshot when the fault is evident - and then review the captured screenshot image...

When reviewed, if the lines are not present in the screenshot image, then you have demonstrated that you have a hardware fault that, sooner or later, may become sufficiently severe that repair or replacement of the iPad are the only options. If the lines are visible in the screenshot, the something other than hardware will be the cause.

Note: When reviewing the image, rotating the iPad screen orientation by 90°, from Portrait to Landscape, will ensure that the image does not coincide with screen defects if present.

Take a screenshot on your iPad – Apple Support

If the test indicates that a hardware fault (as, given your description this is perhaps likely) a visit to the Genius Bar at your local Apple Store is recommended - where the technicians will be able to test and assess your iPad. This will likely inform your next steps:

Genius Bar Reservation and Apple Support Options - Apple

iPad Repair – Official Apple Support

SuperAIDS wrote:

Same here. In Poland Apple service is a disaster. 2 days phone talk with mid technical cuz they need to ensure it’s really dead. In local apple service don’t have no recourses (people) to deal witch 1200€ iPad. Right now we know at least that apple (and maybe someone else) have the abilities to bricked your device anytime eg. intentional aging…

It's a fact of life that on devices that have firmware, corrupted firmware updates, or bugs in firmware updates, can result in turning customer hardware into a "brick". An update that "bricks" customer hardware is one of a firmware development team's worst nightmares; doubly so for the software quality assurance team that tested that update before it went out to the public.

This does not mean that

• Vendors "brick" hardware intentionally. (One exception: Activation Lock. If the owner of a lost or stolen iPhone wants to "brick" of a stolen or lost phone, Activation Lock can help the owner accomplish their goal.)
• Vendors are waiting for the opportunity to "brick" your device at any time
• Third parties necessarily have any ability to "brick" your device at all. (On an iPhone that is not jail-broken, only Apple's software, itself, has the ability to install an iOS update. Apps don't have the privileges that it would take to mess with the firmware.)

I downgraded mine and save it phew.... no need to get a replacement but it was close...