iOS 26 update taking over 2 hours on new iPhone 15

temporaryannoyance wrote:

I left it going overnight (plugged in) and it is still the same! How am I ever going to be able to use my new phone if it won't let me use it without doing this update?

Force Restart your iPhone, then do the update using your computer (Finder on Mac or Apple Devices on Windows).

Here's how to Force Restart your iPhone --> Force restart iPhone - Apple Support

Here's how to update using your computer --> Update your iPhone or iPad - Apple Support

temporaryannoyance wrote:

can i do that with a new phone like this, that has not yet been set up?

Yes, you can. I actually updated the iOS on both our iPhone 17 Pro and 17 Pro Max before I ever set them up using Finder on my MacBook Pro. Then I used QuickStart to move the data from our phones over to the new phones.

How do we know it ever will complete? At this part - the Install - I don't even have a progress bar, just one of those good ol' circles of death. How can one tell if it's actually doing anything or just stuck and never going to get anywhere??

temporaryannoyance wrote:

I left it going overnight (plugged in) and it is still the same! How am I ever going to be able to use my new phone if it won't let me use it without doing this update?

Good wifi, not from a phone Hotspot

Battery 50%+ charge and on charge

Ok so I tried this advice and ended up stuck in a repeating loop where I couldn't get into the phone at all. I had to return the phone and get another one.

The other one arrived today and the same thing is happening with the Software Update - it's been over 2 hours. It won't let me set up the phone without installing iOS 26, but it doesn't seem able to install it.

Has ANYONE with a refurbished iPhone SE 2nd gen successfully gotten through this process? I am feeling close to despair here. (Oh and I can't use my old phone while this is going on because this is part of the process where it's replicating everything from my old phone and it's just waiting for the Software Update to finish; can't use any other apps while this is happening).

You can continue when the update is complete.

I left it going overnight (plugged in) and it is still the same! How am I ever going to be able to use my new phone if it won't let me use it without doing this update?

can i do that with a new phone like this, that has not yet been set up?

It's on good wifi and plugged in.