Apple has temporarily paused the iPadOS 18 update after some users reported that their M4 iPad Pro devices were becoming unusable after the update. “Due to a small number of devices affected by the issue, we have temporarily removed the iPadOS 18 update for M4 iPad Pro models,” the company said in a statement to Engadget.
This issue first came to light on Reddit, where many M4 iPad Pro users reported that their devices were not working after trying to install the latest version of iPadOS. Reddit user “tcorey23” shared, “My iPad shut down during the update and wouldn’t turn back on.” The user noted that he took his device to the Apple Store, where they confirmed that his device was completely unusable. However, he added that Apple Store staff told him that they couldn’t provide a replacement device without sending the device to their engineers.
Another Reddit user, “Lisegot,” reported that he took his unusable M4 iPad Pro to the Apple Store and had to wait 5 to 7 days because the store did not have a replacement device. “Nobody apologized and they implied that it was impossible to prove that the update caused this,” he complained.
It’s rare for a software bug to render an iPad unusable in this way. ArsTechnica, which first reported the news, notes that iPads can often be put into recovery mode after a failed software update to get them working again.
When will Apple re-release the iPadOS 18 update?
If you own an M4 iPad Pro, you won’t be able to get iPadOS 18 until Apple fixes this issue. It’s not yet known when this will be resolved.