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Level 1

34 points

iOS 13 update bricked my iPhone SE

Yesterday, my iPhone (running iOS 10.3.3 at that time) offered me to update to the new iOS 13 release.

I started the update. After the download had succeeded, the usual progress bar was shown. Then the boot screen with the Apple logo appeared. I thought all is good, but I was wrong.

My device is stuck in a boot loop. The Apple logo is shown, then after 30 seconds (or so) the screen turns black for a second. Then the cycle repeats.

That's sad.

I'm now trying to recover it using "DFU" mode.

iPhone SE

Posted on Sep 19, 2019 9:47 PM

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43 replies

DanTheMan000 Author

Level 1

34 points

Nov 12, 2019 11:13 AM in response to DanTheMan000

I had sent the device to OnTrack for data recovery, however, they checked the device and said, they won't be able to help me for the time being. They added that they might have a solution in about half a year when engineering has new tools at hand.

Nov 16, 2019 5:45 PM in response to DanTheMan000

Hi Dan,

I also recently updated my iPhone 6s from iOS 10 to iOS 13 and my device is also stuck in a boot loop. Similarly, I also had issues with my backup so I'm in the same quandary. I wanted to check if you've had any luck with anything yet?

Nov 16, 2019 7:44 PM in response to PizzaEnthusiast

I should mention that I upgraded directly from 10.x to 13.2. I tried using Recovery mode and iTunes to 'Update' to 13.1.2, 13.1.3, 13.2, and 13.2.2, but the boot loop issue still persists. The phone seems to get ~30 seconds into booting with the Apple logo on the screen before rebooting again each time.

DanTheMan000 Author

Level 1

34 points

Nov 17, 2019 8:50 AM in response to PizzaEnthusiast

Hi Pizzaman, thanks for getting involved. Obviously we suffer the same issue.

To my knowledge, no solution exists, yet.

Apple store, Apple support, all failed me.

It's a real pity that Apple does not provide a service to fix these issues. As I said, I'd happy to pay for this kind of service even though it was Apple that caused the issue in the first place.

Nov 24, 2019 10:32 PM in response to DanTheMan000

Hi Dan,

I just wanted to give you a quick update. I tried iOS 13.3 beta 2 and beta 3, and both still suffer the same issue. It looks like the iOS 10.x to iOS 13.x direct upgrade is still not supported/working.

DanTheMan000 Author

Level 1

34 points

Nov 25, 2019 12:59 PM in response to PizzaEnthusiast

Hi PizzaEnthusiast,

that's bad news. As Apple is not providing a fix or at least some support for this issue, I believe we'll have to resort to external help from mobile device security researchers. However, as I reported before, OnTrack is still working on their "tools" to make the data accessible again. So I have yet to find the professionals capable for the job.

Thanks for your report. Let's keep in touch.

lazyuki

Level 1

4 points

Dec 21, 2019 6:31 PM in response to DanTheMan000

I have the exact same issue on my iPad mini 4 which was running 10.3.3. It was bricked trying to update to 13.3. Habitat for humanity should thank Apple for creating all the bricks to build the houses. Such a noble cause.

DanTheMan000 Author

Level 1

34 points

Dec 23, 2019 8:04 AM in response to A-CAKE

A-CAKE wrote:

My iPad Pro died thanks to this update.

Hi A-Cake,

if you iPad suffers from the same problem as my iPhone SE, then it's not technically "dead". To this regard, the word "bricked" in the thread's title is a little bit exaggerated. This is because I'm sure that I could restore my iPhone SE and bring it back to life. However, this would erase all data on it (what I would hate to do). I believe this holds true for your device, too.

Dec 23, 2019 7:44 PM in response to DanTheMan000

Hi A-CAKE,

Which version were you updating from? Dan is correct- this issue prevents the device from booting without erasing the contents but the device could still function by starting fresh.

Thanks Dan for keeping up with this thread. I tried 13.3.1 beta 1 with the same results- still hoping for a fix for this in a future build.

titu114

Level 1

4 points

Jan 2, 2020 7:43 AM in response to DanTheMan000

Hi all

day before yesterday I just update the official ios13 on my iPhone 6s and the phone is at boot loop problem. Visited two service center but none provided any support and have no clue of the problem.only answer was restore it.never expected such update to make customer suffer such like this. please provide fix for this problem.

Thanks

Jan 8, 2020 10:23 PM in response to DanTheMan000

Same thing has happened to me on an iPhone 7. I've tried updating and restoring following all the published instructions and nothing works. it just ends up in the same state: stuck on apple screen and when connected to a computer it dings every few minutes as if it has just been plugged in to a power source. I imagine it is in an infinite loading/restart loop.

Jan 18, 2020 2:01 PM in response to DanTheMan000

Really wish I'd seen this thread this morning before I decided to update my iPhone SE from iOS 10 to iOS 13.3.

Im now stuck in the same reboot loop.

Following your thread in the hope of seeing a positive solution... thank you for continuing to share your findings.

DanTheMan000 Author

Level 1

34 points

Jan 19, 2020 7:49 AM in response to vivienfromcroydon

Hi vivienfromcroydon ,

Thank you for contributing to this thread (and for reposting - as your earlier submission vanished due to reasons I do not understand).

There's new hope. There are indications that the upcoming iOS release 13.3.1 will resolve the issue - at least for some owners.

Mac_slide

Level 3

605 points

Jan 19, 2020 8:52 AM in response to DanTheMan000

One further thing in addition to what the other two posters said.

I had a new iPhone 6, and updated back then over wifi and some thing corrupted the core files and nothing I did and none of the steps they walked me through worked - only thing worked was for apple store to install below the iOS level, And restore my phone from backup,

DanTheMan000 Author

Level 1

34 points

Jan 19, 2020 12:32 PM in response to DanTheMan000

Hi all,

a quick note: be extra careful when updating an iPhone in recovery mode.

I just wanted to update my iPhone (that was still stuck in boot loop) to the latest iOS 13.3. As several times before, I put the iPhone in recovery mode, iTunes opened automatically to state that there's a problem with my iPhone and that it requires to be updated or restored and, of course, I clicked on "update". Then the usual warning message appeared that I'd need to restore the iPhone if the update failed. iTunes downloaded the new iOS. During the download, the iPhone suddenly left recovery mode and started to boot. So I put it back in recovery mode. After iTunes finished downloading, it started to update my iPhone, or so I thought. In the message pane at the top, it showed "Restoring iPhone software". I thought "that's strange" and I should have aborted this process immedately by rebooting my iPhone but I didn't grasp what was going on. Just when the "Hello" appeared on the screen of my phone I realized that something had gone terribly wrong.

So, my iPhone was restored instead of updated.

This wiped all data from my phone and also all my hope of recovering my data. 😢

PS: of course, it's now out of the boot loop, but that's not what I wanted.

iOS 13 update bricked my iPhone SE