If you haven’t already updated your 9.7-inch iPad Pro to iOS 9.3.2, then you might want to wait. Some users are being plagued by a mysterious error that renders their device completely unusable after installing Apple’s latest software.
Everything Apple put out used to “just work,” but in recent years, every software update seems to have shipped with bugs — and some have been pretty significant. This “error 56” issue affecting some iPad Pros is one of those.
It appears to be affecting the 9.7-inch iPad Pro only, and not all users are seeing it. Many of those who have were able to resolve the problem simply by plugging their device into iTunes. But for some, there is no fix, and now their iPad is little more than a paperweight.
According to Apple’s support documentation, error 56 is a hardware issue, and it’s reminiscent of the dreaded error 53, which recently bricked a whole bunch of iOS devices that had previously been repaired by third-parties.
Apple was able to fix that with another update, and it will almost certainly be able to do the same again this time around. But for now, there are a growing group of iPad Pro owners out there who are unable to use their devices at all.
With that being the case, it’s probably best you steer clear of this update for now if you own a 9.7-inch iPad Pro. As soon as we get a response from Apple, we’ll be sure to update you.