iTunes for Windows crashes while restoring iPad Pro M4 with iPadOS 18.0.1

trying to update ipad pro 12.9 to ios 18 bricked device. Can't boot to home screen stuck in recovery mode but no display. go to restore/update get logo and partial progress never completes. can only see display when iTunes update/restore is selcted

If in doubt, you can do the updates from the tablet, and they will be done without any problem.

The problem at the moment is the Windows 24H2 update which is not really stable (Microsoft suspended its deployment for a while) AND Apple which still has not released a patch on its Apple Devices software

I understand your distress, I too when I was blocked, I was a little lost, luckily I had a Windows 10 to unblock the situation

It is well known with Apple, the ideal if you want to use a computer to update your devices is to have a Mac.

For years under Windows, I used iTunes and now Apple Devices to do the "big" updates because I download the firmware upstream, and I have never had this kind of problem, in general the updates are done correctly. I do the updates like this because I like to download the firmware and then install it, but if this doesn't concern you, do the updates from the device, it will never crash

I'm not too sure 100% what happen. Device was not charging and was losing display unless my son hit the power button over and over. Told him to update. During update ipad died. He gets it working again is using it until 2 days ago. device not coming on. I hit combo of buttons get it to home screen. go to update and bricked.

Yes the iPad was blocked so to update it you had no other solution than to go through a computer. Bad luck it is not the right time to do it with Windows 11 24H2 lol

As I said above, you have to watch for an update of the Apple Devices software and do a test again from a Windows 11 24H2 to see if it does not crash again

I don't blame Apple or Microsoft, for my part, the recent Apple Devices software has always worked well since its release, because I systematically do the "big" updates from the PC.

But there it turns out that following the installation of Windows 11 24H2... it's a disaster

A compatibility problem surely, but I'm sure that in 2025 this will be resolved.

On the other hand, I am surprised because if I understood correctly you managed to update your iPad Pro 10.5" from 17.7.2 to .3, it's surprising...

For my part, on Apple Devices 1.5.2.58, I did not have a specific error code, I monitor from the Windows task manager the different processes linked to the Apple Devices application (during the update), and some processes (I can't say which ones exactly) start to disappear and then the update freezes on my iDevice, consequently the processor usage as well as the disk usage drops to zero.

For information, I had the error code 06b4 0000 on Apple Devices 1.5.0.160 (iDevice frozen etc...) BUT by resetting the software and unplugging and replugging the cable, I was then able to restart the update

I also noticed like you that on Apple Devices 1.5.2.58, following a crash of the update, the Restore button does not work, you click and nothing happens, and the Update button is grayed out too, incredible!

Like you, I will continue to do my tests, to monitor the updates of the Apple Devices software and stay on the 24H2, at worst I have a virtual machine under Windows 10 which allows me to get out of trouble in case of problem.

Indeed, the use of old versions of Windows is to be avoided for security reasons. In any case as soon as Microsoft judges your PC ready to switch to version 24H2, it downloads and installs the update, unless you have done like me for a few weeks, to suspend the updates, but this is not a good thing to do.

As soon as the days are better between Apple Devices & Windows, I will not hesitate to let it be known here

I was indeed able to update my 10.5" iPad Pro (which won't run iOS 18) using the very latest Apple Devices software running on Windows 11 with all current updates installed. And then the same machine got hung up doing my iPhone 15. Is it a difference of iOS 17.* vs 18.*? iPad vs. iPhone? Dumb luck?

Anyway, my "recovery" laptop is running Windows 11, but I don't think it will get 24H2 automatically. It doesn't have TPM 2.0, but I followed the instructions to bypass that check and Windows 11 installed and works just as well as Windows 10 did. My daughter uses it for light-duty stuff, and I won't consider forcing 24H2 until this issue is behind me.

No, from the Microsoft Store, download the Apple Device application and try to install the update on your iPhone. I live in France and I know that since the Apple Device application exists on the Microsoft Store, we can no longer do updates from iTunes. We have to go through Apple Devices to update our iDevices.

I don't know, but this is a F*%king problem for me.

The standard iTunes installed from a standard .exe download will save the backup file into the roaming profile in the user's directory. We use a domain with roaming profile stored on the server. The backup is slow and overload the server HD allocated to this. Can't use the mklink because it's not a local path it's a network drive \\server\profiles\user\appdata... and since it's a user profile folder, permission is a nightmare to bypass. Admin can't create the link into a restricted permisson folder. and User can't run the command with elevated privilege.

So the Window Store version save the file to local path C:\users\name\local\apple...

I just decided for now, not to update the device, I only backup the old device, restore it into the new device without updating the device !

I don't have the Apple Device store app installed.

Have you tried uninstalling and reinstalling iTunes ?

Their support is trash like many other companies. They use individuals that can barely speak their own language let alone another.

It's definitely an issue with Windows 11. I restored the iPad using a laptop with Windows 10 installed.

As of Jan 13 2025, same here, iTunes crash when I try to update a iPhone 16 Plus 😣 on WinStore version on Win11 24H2

Those are corporate device, I don't have time for this $hit Apple !!

Can you give me the version of the Apple device installed on your machine please ?

Hi, Im getting same issue on my iPhoneXR, tried to restore by Win11 24H2.