So after a few follow-ups with customer support, 2 visits to the Apple store, and having my devices checked by technicians, it was official that my M1 iPad Pro was bricked. After seeing a few more similar cases online in various forums, including this community, about other Apple silicon iPads having had the same issue, it became apparent that it is due to the iOS 18.1 update. Sadly, as I am out of warranty and have no Apple Care, I didn't get any further support, but an offer to replace the device for nearly half the price of buying the latest one. It's disappointing to see this happening with an Apple device, and when my usage was not the cause. I understand it's only the case for a few, I wish there was a fix for this and it's sad to see how a perfectly good piece of hardware is now having to go to waste. I do have the option of giving it back to Apple for free to recycle.
Never have I experienced this with Apple before on the device side of things.
What's shocking was when a specialist I connected over the phone was unaware that sometimes that software can cause hardware failure.
Thought I would share this update for anyone else having a similar issue. I love this ecosystem and I hope they will fix this issue moving forward and choose to support people when the software is clearly at fault.
