"iPhone unavailable" message on lock screen

There is no solution that will save the data on the phone. That’s why Apple gives you multiple ways to sync and back up the data on your phone, including automatic nightly backups. But Apple can only provide the tools, they can’t make people use them. The time for backups is before disaster strikes; after is too late.

Read the post right above the one you just made.

I have had this problem twice now - the phone simply does this or a hard reset while charging. It's a total PIA because when you restore it, all sort of things need to be reauthorised or have vanished. What Apple person allowed this remote wipe/lock feature to be rolled out without testing that it wouldn't self trigger while simply charging and unattended is a mystery. But it's a sign of arrogance on Apple's part that they rolled it out as an update without proper testing.

This has nothing to do with entering the wrong password - the phone just goes locked by itself, with no manual inputs, while charging. And Apple's approach seems to be to deny the problem.

By the way, anyone asking if you backed up recently is a person without a sense of self preservation...

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.

Also having the same problem today. My daughter’s phone got “security locked” while charging, and “iPhone unavailable” after restarting the phone. No options for erase or enter passcode or face id. Just that message and Emergency button at the bottom.

tried connecting it to imac but cannot be detected. Phone just vibrates.

We have the exact same problem. Daughter plugged in her phone before bed and when we woke the phone says "iPhone Unavailable" will only options being "Emergency" and "Erase Phone". No attempts to log in and we didn't have anything running when she went to bed

Hello. I have the same situation! I forgot the passcode for my iPhone but I tried several times restoring with my apple ID, it wouldn't let me. Then I tried erasing everything & restoring from my pc but instead of letting me start my iPhone again it shows me " iPhone unavailable " there's nothing else no restore with apple id or emergency option. I'm stuck i don't know what to do from here my phone has been locked please help me.

My iPhone 12 pro got a screen saying iPhone unavailable. I called apple support and they confirmed they cannot help out and the only way is to reset the phone due to security reasons.

Apple should be able to verify all the details they require to confirm the identity and unlock the phone. This issue never happened on the previous IOS

I am requesting apple to please help out with a better solution rather than wiping off the entire phone

I'm having the same issue as you. Someone in our house tried to open my phone while I was sleeping, and now it only says "iphone unavailable" on the screen, but it doesn't have a timer. I followed the directions on Google to put it in recovery mode, connect to your computer or mac, and then tap recover after that. But every time I do that, it takes at least 5 hours for it to update. Abd it says error when I'm done updating. Someone please help :)

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.

[Edited by Moderator]

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.

Woke up to this no one was here to try to get into my phone i know my passcode nor tried entering it only woke up to error then just waited and it went back into mode without asking for a passcode strange iphone 13max problem

I have exactly the same problem

Yup same here. Anyone have a fix?

my iphone is lock