Apple halts iPadOS 18 rollout for iPad Pro M4 after damage complaints

Apple has temporarily stopped rolling out the iPadOS 18 update to the M4 iPad Pro. The company has stopped signing the update for these iPads, meaning it will no longer be offered to users during the review process, and Apple’s servers will not activate the update if it is installed through other means.

Apple confirmed to Ars that it had “temporarily removed” the update to “address an issue affecting a small number of devices.”

The update reportedly “bricks” devices for some iPad Pro M4 users; anecdotal reports from Reddit and MacRumors suggest that some users installed the update without a hitch, while others ended up with non-functional devices. Apple is apparently offering hardware replacements to affected users, which points to a pretty serious bug — devices can typically be put into recovery (or DFU) mode as a last resort in the event of a failed software update.

Some affected users reported that they installed the iPadOS 17.7 update first and then attempted to install iPadOS 18.0. The 17.7 update is primarily provided as a security update for users who are not yet ready to upgrade to a brand new version of iPadOS, and the update path from 17.7 to 18.0 may not have been as thoroughly tested as the update from 17.6 to 18.0.

In any case, iPad Pro M4 owners who have not yet updated will have to wait — until Apple releases a new version of the iPadOS 18 update without issues, or until Apple determines that the affected iPads have a hardware issue and not a software bug.

The iPadOS 17.7 update is still being signed for these iPads, and users should install it if they want the latest security patches while they wait for Apple to iron out the issues with iPadOS 18. Apple is also continuing to sign the iPadOS 18.0 update for other iPads, including the M2 iPad Air.

This article has been updated to include a statement from Apple.