New iPhone 15 stuck on iOS 18 Update

An update after 24 hours: This may save time for others. I waited overnight to see what else iCloud would sync over to the new phone. Nothing. And all backup/sync settings are on. A check of my new phone revealed that while that clock was spinning away for hours, things were getting moved. But transferring tens of thousands of gigs via Bluetooth is like draining a swimming pool through a funnel. Had I known then what I know now, I would have let the phones keep syncing, even though it would have probably taken 10-20 hours. Lesson learned. So I looked into rerunning Quick Start and it can only be done when resetting the phone! Oh well. But before I reset the new phone I upgraded it to ios 18 to eliminate that complication during migration. That took about 45 minutes. I then reset the new iPhone and selected the option to KEEP the eSIM configuration. I also did the phone sync with a cable rather than via Bluetooth. Let me tell you, this is the only way to go! It took 5 minutes to migrate all data and apps to the new phone. WiFi would have been great too, but Quick Start does not let you configure WiFi before it starts migrating data.

It’s an unfortunate coincidence that iOS 18 came out just at this point in time, so that any new phone migration also involves an upgrade along with moving apps/data, which just takes a really long time. I should mention that I’m not any type of iPhone geek, but I am a retired IT professional. It was a pain for me, so I don’t know how regular people deal with this stuff.

I've spent the last week on this issue and it even rendered one iPhone 14 unrepairable. With the help of Apple Support, I figured it out today. First, you have to setup your new phone as a new phone, NOT by using your old phone. Once you go through the initial setup, you have to download iOS18. Only took about 45 minutes compared to the hours I waited thinking it was gonna load before. I sympathize with each of you that waited over night only to wake up to a still downloading phone. No bueno. After, iOS18 is downloaded, you have to go into settings and reset the phone. I reset all settings but kept the eSims. After the phone resets, you go through the initial setup again, but this time you can use your old phone to setup and transfer data. This data transfer was 30 minutes from the old phone, easy peasy. I did this twice and it worked, once on my wife's phone and once on my father-in-law's. I **** near cried after it worked the first time. Thanks to the Apple lady that helped me and I hope this helps you guys. Good luck.

I called T-mobile, and they transferred me to Apple care folks. The suggestion they made was to try restoring a backup from iCloud instead of direct transfer from the old phone. I gave that a shot and it ended up finally going through after two failed attempts to transfer from the old phone directly. Hope this helps others too and hope you have a recent backup to go that route 🙂

After 4 hours waiting I cancelled the software update on my old phone, then forced a restart on the new phone. When it started up I chose the option not to sync with any other devices. It finished the new phone setup and let me log into my wifi. The phone was now ready to use. I checked the software level and just stared the 17.7 upgrade. It ran normally and in a reasonable amount of time. I may hold off on ios 18 until I manually sync things up from my old phone. But at least my new phone is usable.

Just like many other ppl in thread, I also faced this issue. After trying for 2-3 hours it worked for me without upgrading to ios 18. Normally when you try to setup new iphone 15 using old iphone, during the setup process you will get an option to upgrade to ios18 on new phone & it gets stuck in verifying stage of ios 18.

What worked for me is disable internet connectivity on your old phone (both wifi & cellular). You would sill see the popup in out old phone to setup the new phone (obviously you need to keep both phone alongside ). Now it would show you a message saying, no internet connectivity, select the option to continue the setup process on old phone. Now there is no popup comes to install ios18 on new phone during setup of new phone.

Hope this helps.

Confirming this is true for me as well. Transferring from old iphone 12 to new iphone 12 (had an extra as backup in case you wonder why 12 lol) and would hang for hours. Tech support couldn't get it and then finally i saw this thread . I Went to Settings-General-Erase all content on new phone. Went through new setup without transferring anything from old device or icloud. Once set up, i installed ios 18. After that, I went back to Erase all content again. Did the startup process all over and this time, instead of the transfer stalling on the ios 18 update, it progressed to the data transfer between the phones. After an afternoon wasted waiting, playing around, and 3 tech support chats (as they kept getting disconnected), the issue was resolved from this thread. And it took less than an hour. Sooooo Grateful!!

My wife and I were setting up our new phones and she chose to transfer from her iCloud and I tried the phone to phone transfer. Mine froze during the iOS download while hers went smooth. That’s exactly how I had to do it. I tried to do the phone to phone transfer initially and it froze spinning its wheels for 2 hours before a did a reset on the new iphone15 and chose to download from my iCloud instead. Worked good.

After my phone hung during the transfer/update, I did the same by doing the initial setup without transfering old phone data. The iOS18 installation took about 20 minutes. Then I did the reset but kept the eSims. At this point you just go through the normal transfer of data without having to update the iOS.

I upgraded from iphone12 to iphone15. After 5 hours of failed attempts I finally reset my new iphone15, powered it off and then checked my iPhone 12 for updates to find iOS 18 was available to update. So I updated my 12 to iOS 18 then powered the new 15 up and started the transfer again. This time it worked effortlessly and quickly. Hope this helps those transferring from iPhone 12 to iPhone 15

This worked on my wife’s phone, but the wording confused me a little bit. This person says to reset your phone. So that’s what I did. Hit reset. You actually need to hit erase all content and settings so once it’s done its thing you get back to the start screen when you turn your phone on for the first time. So yes you are resetting your phone, but you don’t actually click reset you click erase all content and settings

I’m sorry to hear about the trouble you’re experiencing with your new iPhone 15! These methods may help you

1. Restart Your iPhone

Quickly press and release Volume Up, then Volume Down, and hold the Side button until the Apple logo appears.

2. Check Wi-Fi

Ensure your Wi-Fi is strong and stable. Switch networks if needed.

3. Try Third-Party Tools

Use a third-party tool to repair the update process without losing data.

4. Use Recovery Mode

Connect to a computer, force restart, and hold the Side button until the Recovery screen shows. Choose Update when prompted. How to Use Recovery Mode- Apple Support

5.Contact Apple Support

If it’s still stuck, reach out to Apple Support or visit a store.

I might found a solution. For me it worked to Shut Down the new iPhone 15 Pro, and then on Power on it went directly to Transferring Data to iPhone. I was transferring from an iPhone 11.

po_victory's suggestion to set up as new phone then update to ios 18.1 before erasing device worked for me. Afterwhich, you just transfer the data either thru cloud or direct from phone.

thank you.

What happens when you try?

Can you post a screenshot of the whole screen, it could reveal why you aren't able to update.

Make sure you:

• Are using a WiFi connection (not a hotspot).

• You have an active cell signal (You need both WiFi and cellular service to perform the upgrade).

• Are not using a VPN connection.

• Have your battery charged at least 50%. Better yet, keep it plugged in during the update.

• Do not have power save mode turned on.

• Do not have a beta version installed.

• You have at least 10 gigs of storage available.

Click on this link on what to do if you can't update your phone -

If your iPhone or iPad won't update – Apple Support (UK)

I can confirm this also worked for me. "Shut Down the new iPhone 15 Pro, and then on Power on it went directly to Transferring Data to iPhone."

Thanks!