My iPhone says "Security Lockout" and won't let me enter a password to get in; how do I open my phone without erasing it?
iPhone XR, iOS 15
That can happen if there are too many passcode attempts. It will actually delay when the next passcode attempt can be made, increasing the interval after a few times. Eventually it will say security lockout, and no longer give an option to enter a passcode. The only way it's ever coming back again is if it gets erased and the Apple ID credentials are entered.
I've heard of a few of these (especially iPhone Unavailable) especially with malfunctioning touchscreens where it's just randomly entering the passcode without human input. If you don't have the option to enter the passcode after waiting, it's probably not coming back and the best you can hope for is to erase and recover from a backup.
Mine has now been in lock out mode on 2 occasions in last few weeks when I wake up. So not due to incorrect entry of security code. Is this a bug with the current software version?
No, it’s probably a hardware failure. Unless someone is playing with your phone while you’re asleep.
Ugh! Happened to me a couple of weeks ago! Really only 2 reasonable choices
Security Lockout on iPhone
