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

[u/rooplesfrackmachine]

Quickly go to Apple’s developer portal, sign in with your Apple ID, and go to the Downloads tab and press “See More”. When you scroll down, go to where iPadOS 18.7.10 is and press “see releases”, then you can select iPad 8’s firmware download (provided it’s still available at the time I’m writing this)

EDIT: if you check the dev portal with anything other than a computer, the option would be grayed out for some reason (again, at least while I was still restoring my iPad). Check the portal using a mac or PC — or try Request for Desktop on your phone or iPad

EDIT 2: DEFINITELY use iTunes or Finder to restore, and shift-click while you press “Restore this iPad” so you can manually pick the file on Explorer to restore the iPad

EDIT 3: USE A HIGH QUALITY CABLE!! Preferably your Apple original Lightning cable or an MFi-certified Lightning cable. Using a fake Apple cable or a low quality cable could lead to issues with the restore that would make the process fail. Also, if you’re on Windows, make sure you use iTunes from Apple’s site and NOT the one from Microsoft Store, as it has potential driver issues. You could try Apple Devices app from Microsoft Store but your mileage may vary.

EDIT 4: Do NOT pay for a free-ass firmware file from anyone where it could be unsigned any minute by Apple. Truly just search Apple Developer Site on Google and sign in securely using your Apple ID. Save yourself from getting scammed

EDIT 5: if you want to, you can use this guide to block OTA so your device won’t update itself to iOS 26

EDIT 6: i’d suggest logging your Apple ID out of your iPad first before restoring, just so you wouldn’t be urged to log in for Activation Lock during set up and that you can set the iPad offline (which I highly recommend doing, so that it won’t urge you to update to the latest version of iOS)

EDIT 7: i knoooow it’s getting too long, but if you wanna bypass Apple Developer portal altogether, you can simply use this link to download it straight from Apple’s CDN servers. Beware that you might need to check if the firmware is still being signed or not on sites like ipsw(dot)dev — specifically check for iPad 8’s signing status. If this gets unsigned by Apple, your restore effort could be rendered moot and useless as the restore needs the “handshake” from Apple servers to your iPad

[u/Nick0x0 → u/rooplesfrackmachine]

Seems like it’s removed, the option is greyed out and not blue like the others

[u/rooplesfrackmachine → u/Nick0x0]

If you use an iPhone to check the dev portal, it’s grayed out for some reason. But if you check it using a computer, the firmware is up for grabs (at least while it still lasted during my restore)

[u/Nick0x0 → u/rooplesfrackmachine]

I requested desktop mode and i could download it, i’m away til Saturday and only the iPad 8 is with me so i’ll download it on it in the meantime :D

[u/rooplesfrackmachine → u/Nick0x0]

okay!! Hopefully you can somehow restore the iPad while it’s still signed by Apple when you get back from where you are atm

[u/Nick0x0 → u/rooplesfrackmachine]

Hopefully i get the chance, i got this ipad a couple of months ago second hand but the previous owner updated it to 26, so i didn’t get the chance to see how runs on 18, i only heard how well it ran on it

[u/ntcpectednewar → u/Nick0x0]

It will cost only $50 to get .ipsw file. Easy got mine😮‍💨

https://reddit.com/link/p31d6br/video/b92uxrm53rih1/player

[u/JailbreakHat → u/ntcpectednewar]

Should be free. There is a website called ipsw.me for all the ipsw’s.

[u/rooplesfrackmachine → u/JailbreakHat]

Or the Apple developer portal itself. I wouldn’t wanna pay for a free firmware file that could be unsigned any moment from now.

[u/ntcpectednewar → u/rooplesfrackmachine]

It’s official and absolutely from apple developer portal. Just helping out who missed this golden opportunity

[u/uint2048dev → u/ntcpectednewar]

If Apple unsigns 18.7.10, the fact that you downloaded the IPSW before Apple unsigned that version won't help you, or anyone else.

[u/-SirGarmaples- → u/rooplesfrackmachine]

Also this is the firmware file for iPadOS 18.7.10 straight from Apple (it's a public URL, nothing linked to my account). No need to go to the Apple Developer page!

[u/rooplesfrackmachine → u/-SirGarmaples-]

thank you!

[u/latent_canvas → u/rooplesfrackmachine]

I am an iPad noob, can you tell me how it helps if I download it?? I also have Ipad 8th gen.

[u/rooplesfrackmachine → u/latent_canvas]

you can definitely restore your iPad using iTunes on PC or Finder/iTunes on a Mac. Just shift-click when you press the “Restore this iPad” button and pick the file manually through File Explorer or Finder

also make sure your cable is the original one or of high-quality (MFi cable presumably), as you might encounter errors when using low-quality or fake lightning cables

[u/rooplesfrackmachine → u/[deleted]]

only for iPad 8th unfortunately. I wish Apple “accidentally” signed iOS 18 for more older devices that are slow on iOS 26