Apple Working on a Fix for Bricked M4 iPad Pro Models
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In a rare move, Apple was forced to pull the iPadOS 18 update for some iPads earlier this week when it came to light that some found their tablets bricked during the installation.
What was more surprising about this (and probably a bit embarrassing for Apple) is that the flaw didn’t affect older and more obscure iPads, but rather Apple’s latest premium flagship M4 iPad Pro. Other models appeared to be fine across the board, and iPadOS 18 continued rolling out to those; only the M4 iPad Pro version was halted.
While it’s not uncommon for some iPad users to encounter problems with major iPadOS releases (and ditto for iPhone users and iOS), these problems rarely result in a device that’s so messed up it can’t be forcibly wiped and restored from scratch. It’s even more unusual for the issue to be widespread enough that Apple pulls an update entirely.
While Apple’s move has left some M4 iPad Pro owners in limbo, the good news is that Apple has told Authorized Service Providers (AASPs) that it’s actively working on fixing the issue.
In a memo to AASPs obtained by MacRumors, Apple acknowledges that a “small number” of M4 iPad Pro models cannot power on after an attempt to install iPadOS 18 on them.
The memo doesn’t appear to specify a resolution for affected iPads other than to attempt a force restart. However, multiple users who reported the issue on Reddit have tried that without success. Some have reported that their local Apple Stores or AASPs have simply replaced the affected iPad Pro models, although that hasn’t happened right away in all cases due to limited stock.
While the reports — and Apple’s need to pull the update — suggest that it was more widespread, the statement that it only affected a “small number” may be fair when you consider that Apple has likely sold tens of millions of M4 iPad Pro units since it launched in May.
Apple’s quality assurance teams undoubtedly tested the iPadOS 18 update before it was released, not to mention the number of developers and public beta testers running it successfully. Still, there’s always the possibility of outliers once a software update is unleashed on millions of devices. We doubt it’s a coincidence that this problem affects the only Apple device that uses the latest M4 silicon.
Some units may have been defective, and customers have theorized that mid-updated battery failures may have been partly responsible, although Apple usually accounts for that during its software updates. One user who received a replacement was able to install the iPadOS 18 update successfully on their new M4 iPad Pro before Apple pulled the update. At the same time, another person reported that they had no problem updating their M4 iPad Pro but ended up with it bricked after they wiped it and tried to set it up from scratch.
Meanwhile, the iPadOS 18.1 beta remains available with no reported problems in either the earlier developer beta (beta 3) or the most recent public beta (beta 4), suggesting that whatever caused this issue was unique to iPadOS 18.0.
