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User profile for user: bgaviator
bgaviator Author
User level: Level 1
83 points

iPhone unavailable at this time error message…

Long time iPhone user. Had something happen with my iPhone 12 Pro yesterday I’ve never experienced.

I was trying to access my bank’s app using Face ID but for some reason Face ID wouldn’t pop up when selecting the option on the app to sign-in.

So I tried doing a hard reboot of the iPhone. Upon the iPhone restarting, I’m pretty sure it didn’t ask me for my passcode, which is weird because it always does after a restart. After my phone went back into the Home Screen lock and I went to get into my phone again I was greeted with a message that said “iPhone unavailable at this time, try again in 1 hour”.

I have NEVER seen this kind of message before so it was freaking me out. So I clicked the power button to turn off the screen. I then pressed the power button again. This time same message, but now it said 3 hours!!! Wtf?!?

so I waited a bit and tried again. This time it said “1 minute”. So I waited the 1 minute…and then the phone let me enter my passcode and everything worked fine after that. Incredibly bizarre behavior. From my research it says this message happens when you’ve entered an incorrect passcode too many times and your phone locks you out…but I never entered any incorrect passcodes!

ios 16.3 btw.

iPhone 12 Pro

Posted on Feb 6, 2023 1:57 PM

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2 replies
User profile for user: JJRASC
JJRASC
User level: Community Specialist

Feb 8, 2023 8:49 AM in response to bgaviator

Hello bgaviator, 

Thank you for posting to the Apple Support Communities. 


You are right that this message will only typically show if you have attempted to unlock your device too many times. Since the issue is no longer occurring, it would be suggested to complete the following steps to avoid any issues or data loss going forward: 



You can also find helpful information in the following Apple Support article: If you forgot your iPhone passcode. 


All the best! 

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User profile for user: Iam2023
Iam2023
User level: Level 1
8 points

Feb 9, 2023 11:42 PM in response to bgaviator

This just happened to me today. I tried switching phone off and it didn’t help. It probably took about 10 mins for it to resolve and let me use my phone. I was also worried. Not really good enough when iPhones are meant to be top of the range, never had this happen with any phone before, iPhone or not. Don’t think I will be sticking with iPhone for next phone as too be honest I am suspicious they “make them not work”. Not that I had not entered any incorrect passcode, this happened first thing in the morning.

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iPhone unavailable at this time error message…

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