"iPhone unavailable" message on lock screen

Guys this also happened to me. But the phone told me to wait 15 minutes. I waited the 15 minutes and the phone was able to unlock. I am not sure about all those steps performed with an apple tech.

I would like to know why it happened, though? To me it happened out of nowhere. The phone was working properly and had it in my pocket as i was cooking breakfast. Took out my phone to check weather, and said iPhone was unavailable. Then i rebooted the phone and when it came up it said iphone unavailable, wait 15 minutes.

these are my phone details:

phone model: Iphone XR

software: 15.3.1 (19D52)

coboli wrote:

I'm so sad my baby's photo because I forgot my iphone and can only erase everything! This is such a failure! I lost my photos for years! Time cannot flow backwards, and the same cannot be photographed again! I am so sad! I find it suffocating that the iphone doesn't have a forgot passcode option

Absolutely. It is critical to back up important stuff. Yes, time cannot flow backwards, but you would have also lost the photos if your phone was stolen, thrown under a bus, or dropped in a toilet. Apple gives you several ways to save valuable photos and other data:

• Sync to iCloud
• Back up to your computer
• Back up to iCloud (not the same as syncing) automatically every night
• Transfer the photos by cable to your computer

As well as many 3rd party sync solutions:

• Google photos
• Amazon photos
• Dropbox
• Box.com
• Livedrive
• Shutterfly
• Facebook

But you have to take the first step to protect your data. Apple can’t make you do it.

Hello JessandVi,

Thanks for choosing the Apple Support Communities. If we understand correctly, you are unable to update your iPhone due to a message that states "iPhone unavailable". We can understand why you'd reach out for a solution.

Have you tried unplugging the iPhone, plugging it back in, then updating again?

Also, here is a resource that can help.

Update your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch - Apple Support

Cheers!

i have the same iPhone unavailable screen but because I am VERY rural with no WiFi I can’t do backups very frequently. I’m outside on porch with my sons phone just to get one bar signal. What about someone like me who has no current backup because they don’t have WiFi or have close access to public wifi? I have very important items for court on my phone put on there in the past few days. My newest backup is still 6 months old. They’re just gone?

If your iPhone has iOS 15.2 or later installed, check out this link→How to reset your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch when you forgot your passcode - Apple Support. Otherwise:

See this Apple support link→If you forgot the passcode on your iPhone, or your iPhone is disabled - Apple Support

Or watch this companion video ⬇️

After restoring the phone using one of the methods above you can restore your most recent backup.

If your iPhone has iOS 15.2 or later installed, check out this link→How to reset your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch when you forgot your passcode - Apple Support. Otherwise:

See this Apple support link→If you forgot the passcode on your iPhone, or your iPhone is disabled - Apple Support

Or watch this companion video ⬇️

After restoring the phone using one of the methods above you can restore your most recent backup.

If your iPhone has iOS 15.2 or later installed, check out this link→How to reset your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch when you forgot your passcode - Apple Support. Otherwise:

See this Apple support link→If you forgot the passcode on your iPhone, or your iPhone is disabled - Apple Support

Or watch this companion video ⬇️

After restoring the phone using one of the methods above you can restore your most recent backup.

If you CAREFULLY follow the below instructions and your phone does not reset to factory settings and prompt you to set it up your phone is permanently broken and you should throw it away, or at least make a Genius Bar appointment to see if it can be fixed:

See this Apple support link→If you forgot the passcode on your iPhone, or your iPhone is disabled - Apple Support

Or watch this companion video ⬇️

Turn off Raise to Wake in Settings, Display & Brightness and turn off Tap to Wake in Settings, Accessibility, Touch to prevent it opening in your pocket or purse

Again here is the solution

You can sometimes remedy this without a computer if on iOS 15.2 or later by tapping on "erase iPhone" , but you will still need the Apple ID password. It will WIPE the phone, no choice!

How to remove your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch passcode without a computer - Apple Support

video

https://youtu.be/7s8-zLG9ySQ

 ios 15.1 and earlier:

If you've forgotten your iPhone passcode – Apple Support (UK)

1. If iPhone stated iPhone Unavailable (due to exceeded passcode attempts) - there is no way to get to updating it again (even with a restart).
2. When restarting the phone and then attaching the cable to a Mac upon the Apple Log in - My Mac doesn't discover the iPhone so it no longer will show up in Finder so I can do a hard reset.

What options are there to reset an iPhone that is locked out and the only option on the phone is an emergency call and due to the locked state my Mac won't recognise it. Not an issue with my Mac as when I plug in my other iPhone it comes up instantly in finder.

What happened was you “butt dialed” an incorrect passcode several times because the phone was in your pocket against your body.

If you really want to carry your $1,000 piece of delicate electronic equipment in your pocket carry it with the screen away from your body, or put it in a slip case.

I always carry my phone the same way sir. I was just trying to provide insights to what experienced and how I experienced it. But take it as you will sir.

to be even more clear, I have dialed my password mistakenly and I’ve had my phone locked for a minute. Never seen it say 15 minutes.

i think everyone carries their phone however they please. But good luck to everyone whose having this issue. Hopefully y’all can have it resolved sooner rather than later.

lepal24 wrote:

I always carry my phone the same way sir. I was just trying to provide insights to what experienced and how I experienced it. But take it as you will sir.

Well, if you carry it that way sometimes this will happen.

o be even more clear, I have dialed my password mistakenly and I’ve had my phone locked for a minute. Never seen it say 15 minutes.

If you enter several wrong passcodes the lockout time increases with each subsequent one. Typically one minute after 5 incorrect passwords, then it goes up from there with each subsequent incorrect passcode. There’s another thread about a 1 hour lockout, and I’ve seen some that say years, although recently Apple just disables the phone after more than 10 or so.

i think everyone carries their phone however they please. But good luck to everyone whose having this issue. Hopefully y’all can have it resolved sooner rather than later.

colm97 wrote:

Numerous people in this thread report the lockout when the phone is charging or on a bedside table, overnight, when automatic updates deploy, without the passcode being entered even a single time. That’s what happened to me.

True, however, I was answering a very specific question from someone who did not report that problem, and described a different scenario. Not all symptoms have the same root cause.

The problem happened to me this morning as well. I woke this morning, unplugged my iPhone XR from my adapter and then found my phone showed "iPhone Unavailable".

I went to Apple store Taipei 101 and consulted an assistant directly, but unfortunately, he knew nothing about the issue and told me that the only thing I can do is to reset my iPhone to factory default. However, I never backed up my iPhone data, so I am unable to restore my data.

I have numerous precious data in my iPhone and am eager to know know how I can fix this issue without resetting my phone to factory default.

Really hope to get the solution from Apple or anyone in community.