Why is my ios 15.0.2 update stuck on verifying update...

My 2nd gen 12.9 iPad Pro with Cellular hung on direct upgrades without a mothership with 15.0.1, 15.0.2, & 15.1, stuck at 15.0 so while trying again hanging on 15.1 did some searching & found this.

Unbelievable but only just popped out the empty SIM card tray, no reset, no restart, no file deleting, BAMM!!! Off it goes to that dark place of Apple’s logo with the upgrade bar moving like the short end of a burning fuse, and I’m now at iPadOS 15.1, thank you very much…

Just had the exact same issues with Apple constantly advising to restore the whole iPad over and over again for 15.0.1 and also 15.0.2 but weirdly enough removing the empty SIM card tray when it's stuck on Verifying Update worked. Utterly bizarre fix but it works...

nomad2b wrote:

Unbelievable but only just popped out the empty SIM card tray, no reset, no restart, no file deleting, BAMM!!! Off it goes to that dark place of Apple’s logo with the upgrade bar moving like the short end of a burning fuse, and I’m now at iPadOS 15.1, thank you very much…

You are welcome. I’m glad the workaround works for you too.

I had the same problem and found a work around posted on a non apple forum that worked for me.

I don't have cellular on my ipad so no sim card.

the work around was to take an old sim card out of a iphone and install it on my ipad. Not activated

The ipad restarted on its' own and installed IOS 15.2. Seems to me working fine now.

Oh - before trying this i went to the Apple "Genius" Bar. They wanted to reset the ipad to factory settings wiping out all my work aps etc. Very unimpressed.

Hope this works for you

Yep. Who knows what the heck the science is behind this but I popped out my empty SIM tray on my iPad Pro 2nd Gen and 15.0.2 finished loading in about 10 minutes.

Hey CuriousTechy,

It sounds like you're having an issue updating your iPad. We can understand wanting to get that resolved. We want to help.

We'd recommend trying the steps in this article: If your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch won’t update

Thanks!

Strangely enough, removing the sim tray worked for me during the “verifying update” stage on iPad Pro 12.9 2nd gen. Nothing else worked but this did.

Agree with the last reply. I had the same problem, stuck on verifying update removed the tray and reinserted two minutes later the updated finalised. Did not need a restart.

Old sim card from a deactivated device worked for me too. Many thanks.

removal of the empty SIM tray also worked for me too. I was willing to try anything

There are issues with update of some iPad models to iPadOS 15.0.1/15.0.2.

For affected WiFi+Cellular models of iPad, such as yours, many are reporting that removal of the SIM tray from the iPad will allow the verification and installation process to compete. Other reports suggest that installing a SIM card (whether actove or not) also permits the update process to complete.

You may need to restart the update process, but removing the SIM tray from the iPad is simple and costs nothing to try.

Remove or switch the SIM card in your iPhone - Apple Support

Hi, I have the same issue on my iPad Pro 10.5 wifi only, unable to update IOS 15.0.2 stuck on verifying update for the longest time.... pls help anyone?

Anyone have this issue with the ipad pro wifi version only (no SIM card to pop out). still not able to update to IOS15.1, stuck at verifying.... appreciate some help pls.

Hi. I had the same issue to update my iPad (12.9" Gen2 WiFi) to 15.0.1 and 15.0.2.

I got crazy, because non of the solutions, which I found on official pages worked. I deleted the updates from the iPad several times and restarted. Clearing the cache etc... Nothing worked.

Then I found this hint and just added an old SIM card to the iPad and the update to 15.0.2 worked immediately, after deleting the old update file and restarting the update.

For me it did. I took the SIM cards out of my iPhone. Placed it in the iPad and the update worked as anticipated. I updated through iTunes on my PC. I did not use over-the-air updating. I only needed to readjust the numbers/email addresses under "Send and Receive" in iMessage settings and "Your phone can be reached at" settings in FaceTime.