iPadOS 18 - Final Release More Like a Beta. Worst OS Release I've Experienced

[noanker]

I’ve been an iOS user since purchasing my iPhone 3G in 2008 and an iPad user since the 1st gen iPad. Over the years, I’ve experienced various OS releases, some of which slowed down the devices, but these issues were usually resolved through subsequent updates.

However, iPadOS 18 feels different. Since updating from iPadOS 17.6 to iPadOS 18 yesterday, both my 9th gen iPad and 5th gen iPad Mini have exhibited unusual performance issues that seem more characteristic of a Beta release than a final version.

Siri has become mute, unable to execute the ‘restart this device’ command, and there is constant application lag and malfunctioning widgets. This has been the worst OS launch I can recall. Although I resolved the ‘restart this device’ issue by toggling Voice Control on and off in Settings, Siri remains mute, and the device has been restarted multiple times with no improvement.

As an IT professional, I understand that not all issues can be caught during the Beta period. However, compared to previous OS releases from Apple, this one feels particularly disappointing and unpolished, raising the question of why this OS launch seems to be worse than its predecessors.

Admittedly, many of you may not be experiencing anything at all, and if that's the case, good for you! But the purpose of this post is to gather input from those who ARE experiencing issues post OS upgrade.

I am interested in hearing about other users’ experiences with this release, any issues they’ve encountered, and their solutions. Additionally, I would like to know how your initial experience with iPadOS 18 compares to past releases.

 

[hch720]

I haven’t updated due to the widespread brick issues

 

[noanker]

I haven’t updated due to the widespread brick issues

Now that I hadn't heard.

Will be interesting to see how that pans out.

 

[Berek]

going to hold for a while but kind of sucks

 

[TokyoKiller]

I’ve been an iOS user since purchasing my iPhone 3G in 2008 and an iPad user since the 1st gen iPad. Over the years, I’ve experienced various OS releases, some of which slowed down the devices, but these issues were usually resolved through subsequent updates.

However, iPadOS 18 feels different. Since updating from iPadOS 17.6 to iPadOS 18 yesterday, both my 9th gen iPad and 5th gen iPad Mini have exhibited unusual performance issues that seem more characteristic of a Beta release than a final version.

Siri has become mute, unable to execute the ‘restart this device’ command, and there is constant application lag and malfunctioning widgets. This has been the worst OS launch I can recall. Although I resolved the ‘restart this device’ issue by toggling Voice Control on and off in Settings, Siri remains mute, and the device has been restarted multiple times with no improvement.

As an IT professional, I understand that not all issues can be caught during the Beta period. However, compared to previous OS releases from Apple, this one feels particularly disappointing and unpolished, raising the question of why this OS launch seems to be worse than its predecessors.

Admittedly, many of you may not be experiencing anything at all, and if that's the case, good for you! But the purpose of this post is to gather input from those who ARE experiencing issues post OS upgrade.

I am interested in hearing about other users’ experiences with this release, any issues they’ve encountered, and their solutions. Additionally, I would like to know how your initial experience with iPadOS 18 compares to past releases.

Have you tried doing a “reset all settings” on the iPads? It will toss out the old plist files that were inherited from the previous OS and start fresh which can often help software issues like these.

I’ve had no issues on my M4 iPad Pro.

 

[noanker]

Have you tried doing a “reset all settings” on the iPads? It will toss out the old plist files that were inherited from the previous OS and start fresh which can often help software issues like these.

I’ve had no issues on my M4 iPad Pro.

Thanks.

That is one item I hadn't tried, good point about the plist.

 

[TokyoKiller]

Thanks.

That is one item I hadn't tried, good point about the plist.

No worries glad I suggested it! Former Apple tech here so I’ve been trained to always do that step before nuking and doing a fresh install after a major update with issues. Hope it helps.

 

[Gregaus]

I updated from 17.6 to 18.0 on my 2024 iPad Pro (M4) and boy oh boy is it buggy. I didn’t have the bricking issue thankfully but there are a raft other problems I’m experiencing. Here’s a shortlist;

- Battery won’t charge to 80% (as per my setting) but fluctuates all over the place in the low-mid 70s despite being plugged in
- The UNDO/REDO buttons when taking screenshots are non-existent though they’re there on my iPhone running 18.0
- When taking screenshots, the iPad takes two shots at once, one of which disappears to the side for some reason whilst the other is nowhere to be found
- Sometimes when taking screenshots, the pen menu simply doesn’t display at all
- Safari regularly “locks/freezes” and I have to restart it
- Other apps (including Twitter) also sometimes ‘freeze’ and require a restart
- Occasional noticeable laginess with apps
- When editing THIS post, the browser partially locked up. I could press the edit button but then nothing (my keyboard or screen touches couldn’t do anything) - though the iPad doesn’t lock as I could still move the mouse around

There are more but that’s all I can think of right now (I’ll edit the post as I discover new bugs) but like noanker said, this release feels like a beta and should not have been released in this state, especially given the bricking issue which forced Apple to withdraw it. Fingers crossed a fix comes out soon.

One other thing I found interesting is the noticeably lower Geekbench scores compared to when I got my iPad in May. I ran it twice just to be sure. See results below.

 

[richpjr]

I updated from 17.6 to 18.0 on my 2024 iPad Pro (M4) and boy oh boy is it buggy. I didn’t have the bricking issue thankfully but there are a raft other problems I’m experiencing. Here’s a shortlist;

- Battery won’t charge to 80% (as per my setting) but fluctuates all over the place in the low-mid 70s despite being plugged in
- The UNDO/REDO buttons when taking screenshots are non-existent though they’re there on my iPhone running 18.0
- When taking screenshots, the iPad takes two shots at once, one of which disappears to the side for some reason whilst the other is nowhere to be found
- Sometimes when taking screenshots, the pen menu simply doesn’t display at all
- Safari regularly “locks/freezes” and I have to restart it
- Other apps (including Twitter) also sometimes ‘freeze’ and require a restart
- Occasional noticeable laginess with apps
- When editing THIS post, the browser partially locked up. I could press the edit button but then nothing (my keyboard or screen touches couldn’t do anything) - though the iPad doesn’t lock as I could still move the mouse around

There are more but that’s all I can think of right now (I’ll edit the post as I discover new bugs) but like noanker said, this release feels like a beta and should not have been released in this state, especially given the bricking issue which forced Apple to withdraw it. Fingers crossed a fix comes out soon.

One other thing I found interesting is the noticeably lower Geekbench scores compared to when I got my iPad in May. I ran it twice just to be sure. See results below.

I've had the Safari locking, general lagginess where my iPad will freeze for seconds completely unresponsive and then come back to lift and a couple of times my wifi just stopped working until I restarted.

Not ready for prime time yet.

 

[yabeweb]

I had the opposite feeling and experience.

 

[ddhawk]

I've had the Safari locking, general lagginess where my iPad will freeze for seconds completely unresponsive and then come back to lift and a couple of times my wifi just stopped working until I restarted.

Not ready for prime time yet.

Also having Safari locking up consistently on iPadOS 18.1 Beta 4 when using Stage Manager with multiple Safari windows open. Problem sees to resolve when Stage Manager turned off.

 

[nick9191]

I’m noticing things are laggier on my M4 iPad Pro since updating. For example, if I switch from Google Sheets to another app, and then back, it takes me back to the start screen half the time. This was never happening in iPad OS 17 unless I had a multitude of apps open.

Perhaps it’s Apple’s way of trying to get me to swap for the 1tb version with the extra RAM.

I’ve tried restarting, closing apps, etc. Hasn’t made much of a difference. I will probably just deal with it until 18.1 and then try a clean install.

 

[smokinjoe2122]

Same, buggy and laggy experience on my M2 Air. Lots of lag or dropped frames when going through the home screen, false notification badges, Safari has weird glitches, just to name a few.

 

[Gregg2]

Not a single glitch for me with 18 so far. Maybe that's because I only use it for simple things. (?)

 

[ian6969]

Great experience on both my iPhone 13 Pro and iPad Air M1 here - I’d say they are the quickest and most fluid I’ve ever had them. However, every year when the new OS drops I always do a DFU wipe and set up as new, then sync with iCloud. It doesn’t take long - the initial install is actually a lot quicker than an upgrade install (as my partner always does on the same hardware), then installing the apps I need is pretty quick as the vast majority of my passwords are saved and automatically added by the OS. Only thing I have to remember before is making sure my WhatsApp is backed up. I’m sure the vast majority of issues read about on this forum would be solved by a wipe-and-start-again.

 

[ddhawk]

Also having Safari locking up consistently on iPadOS 18.1 Beta 4 when using Stage Manager with multiple Safari windows open. Problem sees to resolve when Stage Manager turned off.

Beta 5 of 8.1 has resolved my Safari issues

 

[sparksd]

Been good for me - 13" Pro WiFi (lucky) & Mini 6 cellular.

 

[Grayburn]

All good here, no problems for me.

 

[Frosties]

Swedish keyboard in safari in iPad os is in English. Open a Pages document it is correct. This is a big wtf 🤷🏼

 

[JD2015]

I’m noticing things are laggier on my M4 iPad Pro since updating. For example, if I switch from Google Sheets to another app, and then back, it takes me back to the start screen half the time. This was never happening in iPad OS 17 unless I had a multitude of apps open.

Perhaps it’s Apple’s way of trying to get me to swap for the 1tb version with the extra RAM.

I’ve tried restarting, closing apps, etc. Hasn’t made much of a difference. I will probably just deal with it until 18.1 and then try a clean install.

Same here.

 

[Saturn1217]

I’ve had so many weird UI bugs on the Home Screen on iPad OS 18. Each time turning the device off and back on resolves them but I’ve noticed like 3 separate ones all in a 24 hr period. I’ve only had this iPad mini 7 (my first iPad os 18 device) for 3 days.

First the widgets on the today view couldn’t be moved or removed. Then some of the icons on my home screen were showing wireframes instead of the actual icon. And just now even though I had badges disabled for Gmail in settings when it was inside a folder the badges showed back up.

I’ve never experienced this level of bugs on an iPad or iPhone before. I very intentionally set this iPad up from scratch to save space. No restore from backup was involved. I have a very minimal set of apps.

Performance thankfully has been fine. But I hope Apple can focus on some polish and hopefully something besides AI now that 18.1 is out.

 

[blufrog]

LOL...Nope...still going to wait...