How can an iPad be unsupervised, if the configurator Mac which supervised it is lost?

Question

When supervising iPad 4 devices running IOS8 using Apple Configurator. What happens if the Mac running Apple Configurator blows up and the backups are lost? I understand that iPads can only be unsupervised using the Mac which originally supervised them.

Is it possible to restore the iPad to factory settings (thus removing the supervision) by putting it into recovery or DFU mode and reflashing IOS or would the iPads become expensive bricks?

Solution

After a bit of experimentation, I can report that I took a supervised iPad, connected it to a Windows PC with iTunes installed, and I was able to put the iPad in recovery mode and reimage it with iOS.

Comments

[dee]

I'm having trouble doing this. When my iPhone is in recovery mode, iTunes doesn't seem to recognize it (the device doesn't show up on iTunes).