Receiving an error code (1109) in the middle of the restore on iPhone 11

I have resolved the issue. It appears to be a problem with ISPs or routers preventing connections to Apple servers. While restoring from the Apple Devices app, you need to be connected to a mobile hotspot. It worked for me, and I hope it helps you as well.

We encountered this exact issue yesterday. My partner locked herself out of her iPhone 13, and we encountered error 1109 about halfway through the restore.

Mobile signal coverage is terrible where we live (rural England) so we couldn't try the hotspot method.

We tried:

VPN - It didn't work.

via iTunes - It didn't recognise the device.

via Apple Devices - Recognised but errored at halfway.

Eventually, I changed the DNS to Google (8.8.8.8 / 8.8.4.4) and tried again... and it worked.

I have no idea whether or not changing the DNS solved it or it if was just plain dumb luck but this did it.

So final working method for us was:

Windows 11

USB A to Lightning (non-official cable)

Connected via WiFi

VPN Off

DNS to 8.8.8.8 / 8.8.4.4

So after 4 hours of messing around it was finally done.

Apple, you guys are awesome, but this whole process is terrible and seems to be affecting so many users, ya need to do better.

Hi all,

I rarely contribute to these forums but I feel compelled to today after losing 4-5 hours of my day off trying to solve this infuriating problem.

My issue arose after downloading Apple Music and Apple Devices on my PC running Windows 11. I wanted to sync my iPhone 14 Music with my PC's new Apple Music - it had been ages since I did this but clearly iTunes for Windows cannot do anything music-wise any more. Anyway...while on Apple Devices for the syncing I saw an option to update my iPhone's iOS software. I clicked it without thinking and what an error that was! Once it got underway, it started rebooting my phone and on the status bar it got pas the stages such as firmware but when it got to software it paused, thought about it then rejected the process with this famous error message and number.

Unsure what else to do, I performed a hard reset, tried it again same issue.

"The iphone could not be restored. Unknown error occurred (1109). 06B4.0000"

I am currently in Qatar and usually do everything via NordVPN so I turned that off on my PC, no joy. I tried the Apple Support page suggestions for this error - turned off my AVG antivirus software. No joy again. Tried deleting cookies, browsing history etc, restarted the PC, hard reset the phone again...still no joy!

I came on here and tried the method suggested of changing the DNS. Still no joy.

Thank you so much for the person who recommended the github website - looking through there, I saw the option of using 3uTools. I tried this method first (copied and pasted from https://github.com/nooneknowspeter/iOS-issues?tab=readme-ov-file):

3u Tools Method

• Install 3uTools
• Connect your phone and enter the Pro Scan section on 3uTools
• It will prompt you to go into DFU with valid instructions
• Add the ipsw file and install

I got very hopeful following these steps - but it got halfway through then I received a new error code: unable to restore idevice(-75)

So back to Google this new one, and I came across a thread from this support thread (copied and pasted from ERROR: Unable to restore iDevice(-75). - Apple Community)

(Quoting Community user bra-itchy)

Just like alway iPhone never provides enough to solve the problem they create.. so I had to Beat around till I found the solution... and fortunately I did ... that error is mostly vague and sometimes revolves around insufficient power.. buh what they don’t tell u is when making a restoration your battery health is also verified.. and if it’s subpar you could keep getting this obnoxious error code... buh thank God for 3utools

Assuming u know what u are doing and are already in recovery or dfu mode

1. connect to the computer where voltage is sufficient

2. ⁠open 3utools and select Smart Flash (It on the top bar at the time of when I was typing this)

3. ⁠select quick flash and check the “Fix battery health” box. Of course you’d have to either download or import your required firmware to proceed..

4. ⁠This it, click flash and sit back and watch yet another genius fix apples “cough cough” intentional problems “cough cough”

Your welcome

Aaaand it finally worked!!

As long as you have a recent back-up of your iPhone on your iCloud to use once you eventually get back onto your phone, this method may well work for you too.

I am never touching Apple Apps via the Microsoft store again!!!! Apple - you really need to resolve this, I have wasted hours of my precious free time on this today. And now I have to sign back into all my apps, reset my wallet up etc etc. :-(

Same issue here with multiple device models. I determined on iOS 18.0.1 that the issue was a mismatch in the SHA256 checksums of the various ipsw files, indicating some sort of corruption (I downloaded them multiple times). Today I have downloaded iOS 18.1 ipsw files for multiple device models (XR, 11, 12, 14 & 15) and the checksums appear to match for this version, but I just had an iPhone 12 fail restore with error 1109. I manage a large fleet of Supervised DEP devices and am regularly restoring them, so this is proving very frustrating. Apple Devices 1.5.0.160 (1.1280.40963.0) and Windows 11 Pro Version 23H2. Never used to have problems using iTunes for over a decade and only switched to Apple Devices when iTunes would not detect an iPhone 15.

This is a workaround and not a solution to this problem as not every iPhone user is going to have an Android device lying around to use as a hotspot. I’ll probably end up escalating this to Apple Engineering via our company account and hopefully get a better solution for us all.

Me too on a Intune supervised iPhone 14. I am using iTunes on a Windows 11 Pro laptop.

Connection with the apple servers is not smooth. I have to click many times "update" and "restore" until it gets the download started.

"There was a problem downloading the software for the iPhone "devicename". The network connection was reset. Make sure you networking settings are correct and your network connection is active, or try again later."

I have been getting errors 2002 and 1109.

After the first failed restore attempt, the serial number is not displayed anymore (n/a).

Connecting the iPhone to the laptop or turning it on always displays the recovery mode screen on the iPhone with the support.apple.com/iphone/restore at the top, the laptop icon at the middle and the lighting cable with an arrow towards the laptop at the bottom.

iTunes was not responsive a few times I had to close it with task manager.

I repaired the app via Windows settings, installed apps. Did not seem to help.

After failed restore attempt 2, I uninstalled the app, restarted the laptop and installed it again from the Microsoft Store.

So far no changes in behaviour.

Another workaround I've found that worked was using a VPN to update the iPhone using Apple Devices.

In my case, I used PIA (Private Internet Access) on my Windows 11 PC and reattempted to update my iPhone 15 Pro to 18.1, after that never once saw any error code appear, especially the 1109 error while the update was installing.

I figured this would be useful for folks that don't have a Wi-Fi Hot-Spot available to them to connect to to work around this silly issue.

My ISP is Xfinity and I'm wondering if other folks are using Xfinity as well while encountering this error.

I hope this helps

I should also add, while I have had issues with restore of iOS 18.0.1 and 18.1, I have no issues restoring the same devices to iOS 17.7, which fortunately is still being signed by Apple for the moment. So there definitely seems to be a problem with iOS 18 ipsw files.

I had this issue with an iPhone 15 whilst doing a restore using Apple Devices on a PC after I forgot the passcode to the phone. After going through this thread and macobserver, I finally successfully restored the phone by doing the following:

1. connected my PC to a hotspot from another phone
2. restart Apple Devices
3. forced restart on my iphone and connected the phone to my PC using a usb-c to usb-a cable (the usb-c to usb-c that came with the phone does work for the restore as at this post)
4. Followed the restore prompt instructions on Apple Devices
5. With a lot of prayers after more than 7 attempts, the restore was successful and I can now use my iPhone

I wasn't able to use iTunes as suggested by others; it didn't give me the restore/update option.

Hope this helps someone that like me, switch off when instructions start to get a bit technical.

Also, I found a workaround for this yesterday. I reinstalled iTunes instead of using the Apple Devices app. iTunes was not detecting iPhone 15 devices when the Apple-issued USB-C to USB-C cable was in use, which is why I originally switched to the Apple Devices app, as this was detecting iPhone 15 devices when the Apple-issued USB-C to USB-C cable was in use. However I purchased both a generic USB-C to USB-A data cable AND a USB-C Socket to USB-A Plug Adaptor (thankfully my non-Apple PC still has USB-A ports), and when using either, iTunes was now able to detect the iPhone 15 and update/restore/DFU to iOS 18.1 via ipsw file works without issue. So the issue is definitely with the Apple Devices app with respect to the device update/restore/DFU error 1109 and also, iTunes cannot detect devices connected via the Apple-issued USB-C to USB-C cable (or perhaps USB-C to USB-C cables generally, although it can detect earlier devices connected via Lighting to USB-C cable), at least with my PC under both Windows 11 and Windows 10 before that. Hope this helps somebody :)

I had exactly same issue with downgrade from 18.1 to 18.0.1, error code was shown 1109. For many times it got stocked DFU mode forever and can't update nor restore, until I tried to connect through my alternate android phone (suggested by Lacatusuuuu), somehow I was able to restore but not update, finally got out of this **** hole!!! Thank god!!!

OH MY GOODNESS !!! VPN SOLVED MY PROBLEMS.

Bought iPhone 16, brand new. Opens it, it demands update, connects iPhone with cable to Win 11 PC, uses Apple Devices and then all hells brakes loose. Update does not work... after 12 hours of trying to solve the problem, still various issues.

I was 100% sure that there is nothing that can help me anymore. I used several cables, 6 different port, 2 different PCs, 6 different WLANs and Ethernets, did put all antivirus + firewalls down, changed DNS to 8.8.8.8/8.8.4.4 Reninstalled iTunes, iCloud, Apple Devices SEVERAL TIMES, repaired them, updated several drivers. NOTHING WORKED!!!

I was panicking. I read terms&conditions and was sure my 1000€ went down the drain, because Company that sold the iPhone said there is NO refunds because the phone is unusable.

AND THEN I BUMP INTO THIS TEXT and I try VPN, put that VPN on (FSecure, Total) and everything worked smoothly like babys bum.

I can't stress how thankful I am for this post the I bumped into !!!!

If you use Windows, DO NOT USE ANY PROGRAMS TO UPDATE ANY Apple devies. Never. If you have no other ways to update those devices BUY MAC to update them!!

Sorry for ranting but I am so relieved. Apple Support is calling me tomorrow. Certainly will not cancel the appointment. Will tell everyone there this VPN trick that helped me.

Happy days :D

I had the same problem (both on an iPhone (iPhone 12) and an iPad (iPad 8th generation)), I used different computers but I could not solve it.

When we talked to Apple Support, they asked me to do / did not check the following;

1. The PC you are using must be Windows 10 and above,

2. The latest version of iTunes or the Apple Devices application must be installed and you must do this installation from the official Microsoft Store application,

3. There should be no restrictions on the Internet connection you are using and there should be no additional protocols such as VPN,

4. The cable you are using must be an original Apple cable.

I tried everything written above completely and on three different PCs, but I kept getting the error.

The error occurs in two different ways,

1. If you do it in iTunes, the restore starts and after a while iTunes suddenly closes; the process stops.

2. If you do it in the Apple Devices application, the restore starts and after a while it gives this error; the process stops.

After experiencing this several times, I decided to do this process on a Mac as a last resort and completed the process on Mac without any problems.

I think this problem is currently caused by a bug in Windows computers accessing Apple servers or writing data to Apple devices, and this may also be related to the latest iOS / iPadOS.

If you continue to experience this problem, I recommend using a Mac computer for the fastest and most accurate solution.

I hope it was helpful.

Thanks for this but unfortunately has not worked for me. I’ve tried hotspots on two iPhones and with and without a VPN enabled on each. I’ve also tried with and without the same VPN on the laptop itself. Same error in all cases.

Later I did also do a ipconfig /release and ipconfig /renew plus a ipconfig /flushdns. Probably a two or three Windows restarts too during the whole session.

I kept getting the message "the network connection was reset", I kept insisting, closing iTunes, disconnecting the iPhone cable, turning it off, connecting it again, turning it off while connected, then setting it again in recovery mode. I wanted to try and put in it DFU mode but it seems I did not succeed even once as I never saw in iTune "phone in DFU mode" nor a permanent black screen on the device Complete Guide: How to Activate DFU Mode on iPhone for Efficient iOS Recovery.

Other variables I played with were using different USB-A and C ports, non-Apple lightning cable and original Apple lightning cable.

My internet connection was good all the time, wifi.

Eventually, after many, many attempts, one download completed correctly again and it did restore the iPhone without failing at about 50-55% bar progress like the previous times. It was finally back 'alive' again at the Hello OOBE stage and out of the recovery mode.

Loads of perserverance. I began investigating whether using ipsw files (I did not know that existed) could be applicable as fix in production but in the end it was not necessary.