I saw an old comment like this and now, three years later, mine is doing the same thing. Seriously, trying to move from an iPhone 11 to an iPhone 13 and it has been spinning on the software update, saying 'Install Now' for hours. I rebooted the phone and tried a second time, stuck at the same place.
iPhone 11, iOS 16
Now that I got the new iphone up to 16.6.1 it took less than ten minutes to do the setup and transfer everything. If anyone else runs into this...
1 - set up the new phone as if it is just a brand new phone - don't transfer anything
2 - go to settings and download / install the latest updates
3 - factory reset the phone
4 - when it reboots, choose to transfer from your old phone or restore a backup
Maybe it is my wi-fi (but it's never been a problem before), or some kind of resource contention, but somehow it couldn't seem to handle doing the update and transfer at the same time.
Now that I got the new iphone up to 16.6.1 it took less than ten minutes to do the setup and transfer everything. If anyone else runs into this...
1 - set up the new phone as if it is just a brand new phone - don't transfer anything
2 - go to settings and download / install the latest updates
3 - factory reset the phone
4 - when it reboots, choose to transfer from your old phone or restore a backup
Maybe it is my wi-fi (but it's never been a problem before), or some kind of resource contention, but somehow it couldn't seem to handle doing the update and transfer at the same time.
In that case, see if there’s a remedy for you here.
If your iPhone or iPad won't update - Apple Support
I know this is an old post, but I resurrected it when trying to set up my iPhone 15pro. I switched from iPhone XR and had this very issue. We accidentally found a solution. We gave up on all options we read and had support of our carrier and Apple to no use. Well. We woke up to the phone completely updated. We had given up on it last night, turned it off and put it in the box ready to take back today. But checked it just in case, and voila!
so, my point is, follow the above steps but just know for some phones it takes literally all night. Also of note!! If the phone you’re updating FROM (aka for us it was the XR) has a newer iOS update than the upgrade (in our case the 15 pro), it’s what causes it to get stuck. So you should use the above listed directions if not transferring data on the new phone first, just set up without transfer and do the update- which again, could take all night. Then set to factory (click keep eSIM card option) and you’re set to transfer!
I had been stuck for hours at the software update step as well, trying to set up my iPhone 15 Pro with my previous iPhone 13 Pro.
Yes, those are not the issues, but thanks. I found some suggestions that say to set it up as a new phone, then upgrade to 16.6.1 and THEN transfer your apps and data. I'm doing the update now and it seems to be working, rather than spinning. Not sure then how to transfer the stuff from the old phone but I'll work on that next!
You should have a well charged battery and be using strong Wi-Fi (no VPN, no Hotspot, no anti-virus).
Just let it walk you through the wizard and don't say that you are transferring anything. Maybe you are already stuck because you chose transfer at first - I would do the factory reset on the new phone and start over.
Janet_T63 wrote:
Seriously, trying to move from an iPhone 11 to an iPhone 13 and it has been spinning on the software update, saying 'Install Now' for hours.
In hindsight, I should have asked several clarifying questions about this:
Glad you got it resolved. Enjoy your Apple gear.
You're not alone. Got a brand new iphone, and during set up I am forced to install IOS17 (that's if you chose to transfer from existing phone) but it just hangs. Using your method right now and so far so good!
Thank you! It was stuck for hours and this cleared it right up!
It worked for me tonight. I spend almost 5 hours trying everything under the sun to try and get it to transfer and nothing worked. I found this article and followed the steps and it worked flawlessly. I wish I had found this sooner.
Thanks for the info. I tried this twice before finding your post. Really dissapointed in Apple, Looks like this problem has existed at least 2 months with hundreds of people reporting it here alone and still no fix. Not what you expect when you pay a premium for Apple products.
I have an Apple 8Plus. I’ve always had my software update set to ON & it automatically sets the new software. However looking at it I believe it has not reset . It is showing as IOS 16.7.2. It’s not updating. WhT should I do to fix this issue?
Tried this and no luck.
Just had new iPhone 14, transfer from iPhone 12 got stuck on software update. So as per this thread, set up as new phone, then update, still stuck. Then did factory reset and then set up again as new phone. Stuck on update again (always “preparing update”). Been like this for 6 hours.
I had the same issue transferring a new ipad, and this worked great. Thanks!
iPhone software update stuck on Install Now
