iOS 9.3 Said to Be Rendering Some Older iPad Models Useless

iOS 9.3 Said to Be Rendering Some Older iPad Models Useless
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Possibly one of the most beloved features about Apple’s iOS mobile ecosystem is its continuity across all (or most) or Apple’s iDevices. After all, whenever the Silicon Valley tech-giant releases a new version of iOS, chances are the majority of devices — whether recent or legacy, can be upgraded to the new firmware.

However, as we’ve seen several times in the past, sometimes devices falling into the latter of those two categories simply aren’t capable of keeping up with all the new features — primarily due to incompatible, not-so-powerful internal components that render the device, well, just unable to bear the heat.

And unfortunately, as many reports begin to trickle in, such seems to be the case, yet again — as older, legacy iPad owners attempt to upgrade their ages-old tablets to Apple’s most recent, feature rich iteration of mobile computing goodness. Yes, you heard that right: whether over-the-air or via a USB cord, many users are reporting of incidents wherein their legacy model iPads are becoming bricked when trying to upgrade to iOS 9.3.

According to various posts on Apple’s Support Community forums as of Tuesday afternoon, a number of users appear to be sharing the experience of their iPads — most specifically, the 2nd generation iPad — being rendered useless, in the process of attempting to upgrade their devices to iOS 9.3.

iDrop_BrickediPadiOS9.3_02

As many users are reporting, the issue appears to be presenting itself during the activation stage of the update process, when an “authentication error message” usually pops up on their screen. Of course, as this symptom typically suggests, many were convinced that there might just be a server overload on Apple’s end — as swaths of users flock to download the latest and greatest firmware out of Cupertino. However, just as many users are also reporting persistent issues trying to upgrade even 24 hours or more after their initial attempt.

And while a number of Support Community forum members indicated that they were able to find a work-around to the issue — by downloading iOS 9.3 via iTunes, and then installing the firmware over a hardwired USB connection, others have reported attempting to do the same to no avail. Even still, other users have reported another method that proved effective — by doing a complete, manual restore of the device to factory settings. Be forewarned, though, if you attempt this method yourself — be certain to do a local or iCloud backup of your device prior to initiating the process, as a complete restore will erase all of your existing user data.

In the most extreme instance of try and fail, one Support Community forum member reported taking their 2nd generation iPad into their local Apple Store for assistance — however, employees were ultimately unable to do anything for them.

As always, I suppose we’ll just have to wait for Apple to release a statement on the matter — which the company typically does in response to these types of large-scale situations.

Learn More: Here’s Everything You Need to Know About Apple’s Powerful New iPhone SE

Have you experienced any trouble trying to update your legacy iPad to iOS 9.3?

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