why iphone 13 with ios 16 not accepting right passcode and became unavailable

why iphone 13 with ios 16 not accepting right passcode and became unavailable

iPhone 13, iOS 16

Posted on Sep 24, 2022 7:21 AM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Sep 24, 2022 1:06 PM

That cannot happen. The phone KNOWS the right passcode. It is stored in the Secure Enclave and can only be changed by entering the correct passcode, twice. Your device is the master, not you. And it’s why it is incumbent on every owner to make regular backups, for the situation where a wrong passcode is entered too many times.


Whether you accept the truth or not doesn’t matter. You need to follow the instructions to restore the phone. Note that the first approach below does not require a computer.


If your device 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.

13 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Sep 24, 2022 1:06 PM in response to appanparige

That cannot happen. The phone KNOWS the right passcode. It is stored in the Secure Enclave and can only be changed by entering the correct passcode, twice. Your device is the master, not you. And it’s why it is incumbent on every owner to make regular backups, for the situation where a wrong passcode is entered too many times.


Whether you accept the truth or not doesn’t matter. You need to follow the instructions to restore the phone. Note that the first approach below does not require a computer.


If your device 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.

Sep 24, 2022 7:24 AM in response to appanparige

If your device says unavailable, it does not believe you have entered the correct passcode. Why, we can't answer. Perhaps someone changed your passcode or you have entered the wrong one.


You can reset it since you are on iOS 16, by following the directions here --> How to remove your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch passcode without a computer - Apple Support


Oct 2, 2022 7:02 PM in response to Lawrence Finch

Actually, in this user’s defense: it absolutely can & did happen. I just updated iOS on my old iPhone XR for my son to start using. I had erased all content & settings, absolutely no settings remained from my use of the phone. I input his Apple ID, & linked it to FindMy, then immediately began updating iOS. During the initial phase of update, I opened the phone several times to check status without any use of a passcode. So I know for certain there was no passcode set up prior to the update. As soon as iOS 15.2 had installed, the phone began asking for a 6-digit passcode, which has never been set up on that device. Even when it was my primary device, I only had a 4-digit passcode set up on it. Some Google results stated that a few users were able to input generic codes such as “000000” or “123456” when this happened, but I was not one of the lucky ones.


I had originally been able to reach the Lock Screen showing the “erase iPhone” option located in the bottom right corner after the first few attempts at guessing the passcode it was asking for. Unfortunately the phone would not recognize me trying to select “erase iPhone”.


Currently I am in the process of erasing the device via MacBook. I was unable to erase iPhone via iCloud/FindMy because the device went offline after a few attempts of & will not connect to wifi again until it is unlocked. This is the second attempt at erasing via MacBook because as soon as the restore process completes, the device turns on & immediately shows the “iPhone Unavailable” screen once again.

Sep 24, 2022 8:19 AM in response to appanparige

I didnot change passcode and no one touched iphone also


Scenario: I used iphone at 3 PM IST and kept aside for 90 minutes


Then when i try to use at 4.30, device is asking passcode. Even after right passcode, still not allowing


Pathetic scenario: Now i have to erase after confirming with customer support


But wifi is not accepting now even though it is on and generally i disable mobile data. Due to this, device is offline and erase is also not happening from icloud website


Now, security lookout for 3 hours message came after entering passcode .( correct passcode only)


It is definitely software issue.




Sep 24, 2022 10:28 AM in response to lobsterghost1

Thanks for your reply.


I will follow directions as per mentioned.


But, if anyone faces this scenario where they did not have laptop in front then gone case. ( remote locations)


I request to have a detailed analysis on this such that noone should face this problem.


Please try to reproduce.


Please check my activity logs and observe any major areas affected related to authentication.





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why iphone 13 with ios 16 not accepting right passcode and became unavailable

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