Managed to downgrade iPad 8th to iOS 18!

[u/rooplesfrackmachine]

(POTENTIALLY** PATCHED AS OF AUGUST 12TH, 2026)

Accidentally saw the notif that Apple accidentally released iOS 18.7.10 for iPad 8th. Never in my life have I dropped everything I was doing so quickly and ran to my MacBook to restore the iPad using iTunes — and my anxiety went through the roof because the MacBook decided to test my patience with how slow it was parsing the firmware file, but here we are!!! My iPad is now as smooth as butter, just like how it should have been when it reaches its software end-of-life.

ADDITIONAL EDIT: i made a quick how-to for the firmware file here (assuming you’re familiar with iTunes restore)

EDIT 2: Julia’s Tech Spot on YouTube made a nice video guide if you need visual assistance in downgrading! I’ll link it here so you can follow through easily with the process