iPadOS 17.5.1 Problems Impacting iPad Users

iPad, iPad mini, iPad Air, and iPad Pro users have reported a variety of iPadOS 17.5.1 problems on forums and social media in the week plus since the update’s release.

On May 20th, Apple pushed iPadOS 17.5.1 to iPad users. The point upgrade is rather small and it delivers a fix for a bug where photos that experienced database corruption could reappear in the Photos library even if they were deleted.

It also, according to iPad users, delivered bugs, glitches, and performance issues. Not surprising given that every iPadOS update Apple releases causes problems for someone, somewhere.

We’re highlighting some of those problems today in an effort to bring awareness to those currently struggling on iPadOS 17.5.1 and those debating a move to the latest version of iPadOS 17.

Thus far, we haven’t heard about any widespread issues impacting thousands of iPad users, the issues we’ve seen are more isolated, but they are a nuisance nonetheless.

Here are some of the iPadOS 17.5.1 issues iPad users have been dealing with in May:

• iPads randomly turning themselves back on
• Photos have disappeared
• Issues with magazines in Apple News+
• Problems with Apple Pencil
• Issues scrolling between home screens
• Problems updating apps
• Issues with monitors and extended display
• Smart board issues
• App Store issues with Screen Time
• Email bugs
• Connectivity issues with AirPods
• Installation issues

Given that iPadOS 17.5.1 is just over a week old, we expect to see more issues emerge as iPad users download the software and as iPadOS 17.5.1 users put more mileage on their devices.

Unfortunately, Apple hasn’t confirmed the next version of iPadOS so it’s unclear when new firmware will roll out. It’s also unclear if it will fix any of the issues iPad users are reporting.

We should see iPadOS 17.6 enter beta testing soon ahead of a public release in the summer.

Given that Apple recently closed the downgrade path back to iPadOS 17.5, a new beta will give iPadOS 17.5.1 users the ability to move off of the software in an effort to improve performance.

While we wait, iPadOS 17.5.1 users running into trouble should seek out manual fixes. Many of the issues plaguing the software should be fixable.

Users unable to find a permanent fix should contact Apple Support for help.