9 Things to Do Before Installing iPadOS 14.8.1

Downloading Apple’s new iPadOS 14.8.1 update might be tempting, but there are some steps you should take before you move your device to the company’s latest software.

Apple’s rolled out a new iPadOS 14 update to iPad users. iPadOS 14.8.1 is now available to download if you own a compatible iPad, iPad Air, iPad Pro, or iPad mini. The software brings important security patches to these devices.

If you’re moving your iPad from iPadOS 14.8 to iPadOS 14.8.1 you get the shortest list of changes and the smallest download size. If you’re moving up from an older version of iPadOS, your iPadOS 14.8.1 update will be more substantial. That’s because the features and fixes from the updates you skipped are baked into the firmware.

iPadOS 14.8.1 is an important upgrade and most of you will want to install the software today or at some point in the near future. That said, it’s difficult to predict how the software will run on your iPad. And that’s precisely why you’ll want to prepare yourself, and your device, for the move. A little prep work prior to initiating the installation should help you avoid serious issues.

If you do run into issues on iPadOS 14.8.1 note that you can’t downgrade your iPad’s software to an older version of iPadOS. Apple isn’t signing on iPadOS 14.8.

Unfortunately, the company has also stopped signing on iPadOS 14.7.1, iPadOS 14.7, iPadOS 14.6, iPadOS 14.5,1 iPadOS 14.5, iPadOS 14.4.2, iPadOS 14.4.1, iPadOS 14.4, iPadOS 14.3, iPadOS 14.2, iPadOS 14.1, iPadOS 14.0.1 and iPadOS 14.0 so there’s no way back to those versions of iPadOS 14 either.

So if you’re having a great experience on iPadOS 14.8 or below, you’ll want to approach the iPadOS 14.8.1 update with caution. Once you move to it, there’s no going back.

With that in mind, we want to take you through the best way to prepare for iPadOS 14.8.1. We recommend spending 30 minutes, or more, prepping for the move.

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