iPad issue - just happened tonight

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OnceBitten

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#324471 14-Apr-2026 21:04

ok so I've got an iPad that we bought about 6? years ago 2nd hand.

We bought it for my wife and I had the old one that was about 10+ years old, and when that packed up we bought a new one for wife and I inherited this old one.

while using it tonight the screen suddenly went blank.... then the white screen came on with the black apple logo, then it went blank again, came on with the black apple logo... and it's been doing that ever since

I've tried pressing the on / off button, home button and volume buttons in various random sequences, but it just keeps doing the above

I've not had an issue with the iPad before

I have a feeling the iPad is on it's way to iPad heaven

Does anyone know why the iPad is doing this?

edited to add - the iPad screen stayed blank and I pressed the home key and it asked for my pin, then everything came up as normal and the iPad appears to be working - weird??

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#3480907 14-Apr-2026 22:27

That sounds like an update in progress or a failed and recovered update. If you check for an update is it up to date now?

OnceBitten

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#3480908 14-Apr-2026 22:56

gzt: That sounds like an update in progress or a failed and recovered update. If you check for an update is it up to date now?

it updated about a week ago and is all up to date... it's just bizarre what happened, but it appears to be working fine now

fearandloathing

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#3480911 14-Apr-2026 23:21

Sounds like an update
two updates have released close together

26.4

23E246

March 24, 2026

26.4.1

23E254

April 8, 2026

gzt

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#3480913 14-Apr-2026 23:43

New iPads I think schedule automatically for charging and WiFi. You can change the schedule in settings.

The classic thing is when you're typing and it randomly pops up an install dialog and you just happen to hit 'install now' without noticing and it's all over for the next 10 minutes. I'm an occasional user don't know if that's still a thing.

Goosey

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#3480924 15-Apr-2026 07:20

gzt: New iPads I think schedule automatically for charging and WiFi. You can change the schedule in settings.

The classic thing is when you're typing and it randomly pops up an install dialog and you just happen to hit 'install now' without noticing and it's all over for the next 10 minutes. I'm an occasional user don't know if that's still a thing.

nope, the update prompt is part of the pin code prompt…if you are paying attention there’s an option to “remind me later”, but if you enter the PIN code as normal then you are accepting that the update will install when connected to power and wifi.

i suggest the op, goes into updates option and checks for updates again…

then googles the iPad model number for how to “reboot”, and you will get the key sequence for reboot….possibly holding power and volume up or down buttons at the same time until the logo appears (or it could involve the round home button).

xpd

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#3480928 15-Apr-2026 07:24

Plug it into your PC/Mac and run iTunes and see if thats happy with it.

XPD / Gavin

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gehenna

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#3480935 15-Apr-2026 08:06

All else fails, do a DFU restore to get it back to a fresh baseline. If it's still faulting at that point then you can be fairly sure you have a dying device.

OnceBitten

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#3480940 15-Apr-2026 08:20

xpd:

Plug it into your PC/Mac and run iTunes and see if thats happy with it.

thanks - I might try that later tonight

johno1234

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#3480947 15-Apr-2026 08:57

OnceBitten:

gzt: That sounds like an update in progress or a failed and recovered update. If you check for an update is it up to date now?

it updated about a week ago and is all up to date... it's just bizarre what happened, but it appears to be working fine now

I only got the 26.4.1 update installed last night although it had been available for a while.

OnceBitten

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#3482292 19-Apr-2026 20:51

xpd:

Plug it into your PC/Mac and run iTunes and see if thats happy with it.

Ok - I've charged it fully but all that happens is the apple screen comes on for about 4-5 seconds, then it goes blank for 3 seconds and it just repeats this over and over until it goes flat.... when I charge it up again just does the same thing over and over

I've plugged it into the MacBook and clicked on 'music' (I assume that's iTunes as I don't have a separate icon for iTunes) and that just brings up all mine and wifes playlists... I used to be able to plug in the iPad or iPhone and 'sync' them.... but plugging the iPad into the MacBook does nothing

RunningMan

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#3482294 19-Apr-2026 20:54

It should show up in a Finder window, not music. iTunes isn't used any more for this.

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OnceBitten

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#3482300 19-Apr-2026 21:05

RunningMan:

It should show up in a Finder window, not music. iTunes isn't used any more for this.

ok - I'm in Finder and have clicked on all the menus but don't see or know where to see if the iPad is connected

sorry I'm used to just plugging the iPad / iPhone in and having iTunes or something automatically come up when I plug it in...

Newtown

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#3482305 19-Apr-2026 21:32

Have a look at the following support pages:

Restore your iPhone, iPad, or iPod to factory settings using a computer
https://support.apple.com/en-us/118107
If your iPad won't turn on or is frozen
https://support.apple.com/en-us/102642

RunningMan

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#3482309 19-Apr-2026 21:58

As in the linked article above, chuck it into recovery mode, connect to the mac, and it should show up on the left sidebar of a Finder window.

OnceBitten

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#3482314 19-Apr-2026 22:07

RunningMan:

As in the linked article above, chuck it into recovery mode, connect to the mac, and it should show up on the left sidebar of a Finder window.

ok thanks for that - I've found it on the sidebar and tried to update it and it's come up with this

If your iPad can’t be updated, you will need to restore it to its factory settings.

if I restore it I will lose all my apps / photos / music and everything else on the iPad?

I'm a bit reluctant to do that as I'm not sure all the photos have been air dropped to the Macbook

when I try to update it, it goes into ipad recovery mode 'your Mac is updating the software on the ipad' then after about 20 seconds the iPad disappears from the finder sidebar

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