Q: Cannot Activate iPad IOS 9.3

Same issue here with iPad 2 wifi + 3G (no sim card)

In looking at every post so far, it seems no one has mentioned going to the Apple Store. Well, I just did and even they couldn't get my ipad 2 past the activation stage either. 

His advice was either:

1) wait a few weeks before trying again (as ipad 2 activation complaints pile up, they'll get to fixing it)

2) do a fresh factory restore with or without last backup restore

I Cant get mine into dfu mode the apple icon comes on straight away. Any tips for getting to dfu stage. I watched the clip and followed the steps several times

Apple staff does not answer here as this is a community forum.

This issue is only related to iOS 9.3 software upgrade which at the moment affecting iPad 2 wifi + 3G devices, not sure if any other affected so I'm not sure how you figured that date out as iOS 9.3 was only released a few days ago.. If you want Apple's opinion on this bug, drop AppleCare a call or visit an Apple Retail Store.

I'm informed that this issue has already been raised to the Apple Engineers and they're looking into fixing it. Technically I don't see any other way to fix this other than releasing an update to the iTunes app on the PC/Mac which will bypass the activation problem or unless they figure out a way to fix on the Activation server end eventually.

Apple has reset it's update via iTunes.

if you reinstall via iTunes, it will now reinstall 9.2

It's now going into my third day being unable to activate iPad 2 64GB wifi+3G after iOS 9.3 update, and being unable to use it. I can't use it for work or anything. I don't wish to carry out a restore as I would lose data. I'm unable to get to an Apple store as there isn't one in my locality and I have no transport.

Used a PC to access iCloud.com and managed to remove iPad2 from 'Find My iPad' - as per these instructions: http://support.apple.com/en-us/HT206203 - but problem still persists when trying to activate the iPad.

Really angry. Why is there no 'sticky' or acknowledgement from Apple about the issue?

• Connect iPad to Computer with USB cord
• Turn off your iPad by holding the off button until turn off slider appears. Slide it off and wait a minute or two for it to shut down.
• Press and Hold “Home” and “On” button at the same time. Keep holding until the Apple Logo appears.
• Release "On" Button 3-4 seconds after the Apple logo appears, but keep holding Home button.
• Look for iTunes Connection logo – if the picture of a cord connecting to iTunes appears on your device screen, you’ve been successful!
• In iTunes, Select "Restore" – this option should appear in the iTunes screen next to “Check for Update”
• Be AWARE - By restoring, Apple will restore your phone to the settings/data from the last time you backed it up. It will also automatically update you to the latest iOS 9.3 software
• If you haven’t backed up your data – you may be able to do so inside iTunes by scrolling down to the backup options before restoring.
• You can also try updating through iTunes instead of restoring first to see if it will work. This is done by pressing the “Check for Update” button.

Apple is aware of this problem, getting to an Apple Store at this point is not really helpful as they can't do anything about it as well. If you can't afford losing data then wait out for an update.

let this be a lesson on not to perform any sotware update/upgrade as soon as it's released. Wait out a few weeks to a month and you'll run into similar threads like this and you'll be glad you didn't go ahead with the update/upgrade.

or better, do a backup before every update/upgrade so for any such issue you can restore without worrying of data loss.

Terry, this worked for me. I tried all of the other techniques, and this is the only option.

Thank You

Yep same here had to downgrade to 9.2.1 as per TerryLittle's instructions , I also removed the sim card & the iPad from Find my phone via a browser link to iCloud.

Managed to restore from the iCloud backup & not a full PC backup as well which was a bonus, took hours though as some apps seemed to hang forever while downloading.

Earlier reported my bricked iPad2 with 9.3. God bless California! the bricked iPad2 refused to connect with my MacBook Pro in Recovery Mode (DFU somehow does not 'operate' currently). With rising frustration and equally wasted time, remembered I had a spare Windows 10 laptop which was now configured for iTunes (64bit fresh installation on Win10, fresh update files were downloaded from Apple server) and wallah! Recovery Mode worked. Now my iPad2 is running 9.2.1 and Apple agrees that its up-to-date.

Well somehow my MacBook Pro still does not like my iPad2.

Thanks for this easy fix. Spent an hour on Apple Chat and then told a more senior adviser would phone me tomorrow. Well done Apple Community.

I spoke to the local Apple store tech and they said that the update caused a problem with the Ipad 2. They are  working on the problem and it could take weeks. Why did they offer the update before fixing the problem. I think they just want you to by the latest Ipad. Like many IPad users I cant wait weeks for them to fix the problem.

Will apple give me an updated ipad at a discounted price due to their problems. I doubt it.

C´mon Apple - lots of well paid tech and programmers - fix the problem and replace the QA staff! This is not acceptable.

This WORKED FOR ME!!

I had the same problem for two days.  Finally, it's fixed!  Basically I used Find My Phone, erased the data on on the iPad and restored it from a Backup.  Pretty simple.

The iPad was stuck on this message: “Could Not Activate iPad.  Your iPad could not be activated because the activation server is temporarily unavailable.  Try connecting your iPad to iTunes to activate it, or try again in a couple of minutes."

I also tried connecting to iTunes.  But iTunes could not recognize the iPad and suggested that I go to an Apple Store!

Details;;;;;;

After looking around the internet for a couple of days, I found a reference to turning off the "Find My Phone" feature.  So, I went to iCloud.com, signed into my account and used the "Find My Phone" application.  It found the iPad with no problem.  I directed the application to erase the data on the iPad. 

After that I connected it to iTunes and iTunes recognized the iPad this time.  I restored the iPad from a backup.  Unfortunately, it was not a recent Backup.  The Backup from just before the upgrade to 9.3 was corrupted.  For some reason that I do not understand, the most recent backup available was from Sept. 2015.  But, it worked fine.  I now have iOS 9.3 and just need to update some of the Apps (delete old ones and add new ones) and tweak some personal settings like Wallpaper. A small PITA but better than having an iPad Brick!

IMPORTANT!!!

I had to delete the old version 9.3 update file from the iTunes folder manually.

Before doing this iTunes kept defaulting to 9.3 over 9.2.1.

Use the DFU recovery mode, then select UPDATE.

(http://www.imore.com/how-to-iphone-ipad-dfu-mode)

The file will be somewhere similar to this (on PC)

C:\Users\[YourProfile]\AppData\Roaming\Apple Computer\iTunes\iPad Software Updates

(some info here... http://www.iphonefaq.org/archives/97320)

None of these options have worked.

Resolve iOS update and restore errors in iTunes - Apple Support