ANY ONE KNOW WHAT IS ERROR 3 IN ITUNES WHEN I TRY TO RESTORE IPHONE 5 TO IOS 7 IT STUCKS IN THE END AND AFTER 30 MIN THIS COME OUT "UNKNOWN ERROR 3" CAN SOME ONE HELP ME PLZ

GUYS.......

I have been in contact with a few AppleCare Senior Advisors, and one AppleCare IOS Senior Advisor. I spent a good 3 hours last night on the phone with them, they are now aware of this problem. We are working on a solution to a fix, as the engineers are now on board with this. I will keep you all updated with the findings. Stay tuned.

I repeatedly had error code 3 as well as multiple other ones depending on which method I was trying to restore my third-generation iPad. Took it to an Apple Store last week and they replaced it with a new unit but same generation. Pretty sure they know something is up… But **** frustrating to say the least.

I wanted to let everyone know that when I did the freezer trick, I was dealing with an ipad that was not covered under warranty and I had nothing to lose by putting it in the freezer. If you have a brand new ipad air and error code 3 happens, I would probably make an appontment at a genius bar and get your problem resolved face to face with them. I do not think I would have frozen my ipad if it was under warranty even though the freezer trick did work.

I have an iPad 3 as well and I updated to 7.0.4 over the air and it failed. Tried restoring it from my Mac several times with error code (3). I tried my roommates Windows computer and it failed with error code (3). I called Apple Support and they tried to walk me through the restore process and it failed with error code (3). They said the error code had something to do with the network settings on my computer, which doesn't make a whole lot of sense. I took my AT&T SIM card out of the iPad and tried restoring and it and still got error code (3). The lady from Apple support didn't seem to be aware of this error code at all, which is kind of disappointing. I have an appointment at a Genius Bar on Monday, so hopefully they can either get it fixed or give me a replacement. These things are too expensive to only last a year and a half! In the meantime, my iPad is in the freezer. I'm really hoping this works. It sounds crazy, but it does make sense.

After trying the freezer, the restore got much farther than it had ever gotten, but it still failed and gave me error code (8) this time. Couldn't find any information online for this error code :/ I'm going to try it again and see what happens.

I had to create an account here just to say thanks to Kenneth for the freezer trick.

Makes sense that the only way to shut off a chip is by removing all sources of energy, be it thermal or electrical.

In my case, I stuck the phone in the freezer for about 3 minutes, right in front of the freezer's vent blasting on the phone (not recommended because you could trigger the moisture sensor paper and void your warranty) - but it worked like a charm.

Glad my freezer "physics" is working for the majority of those who try it and that my 25 years in semiconductors still can help others. As pointed out, only attempt "freezer physics" if you are no longer under warranty and you have already visited an Apple Genius bar and they have not offered you a free replacement (has anyone gotten an out-of-warranty free replacment yet?). Some of you many have "damp" freezers so I do strongly recommend the paper towels and rice in the freezer bag.

Apple is aware of this issue and I am hoping they will either come out with an updated 7.0.4 that will attempt to "fix" the issue by lengthing the erase/write cycle operation, if as I suspect that is the issue, or issue orders to replace Error 3 issues for free when verified by an Apple Genius, regardless of warranty status. I'm not holding my breath on them "doing the right thing" though, but we can hope.

i had to create a username because it seemed like this is the only thread that is active on the error 3 situation. ive been iphone less for about 1 month now and i get the error 5. Iphone 5 ios 7.0 tried to update to 7.0.4 and i got the error 3 (while stuck on DFU mode). tried everything even the freezer method for 30 mins and still nothing. chatted with apple technicians and still nothing. i purchased the phone in the US but i am a international student studying medicine over seas. seems that the iphone 5 does not have a international warranty and the next time i go back i am over my warranty. so in essence in **** out of luck. i kind of feel at ease when i read that apple technicians are finally aware of the problem and are at least listening. all i have to say this was a really bad experience for me as a long time apple/ iphone user and it ***** that my iphone 5 is just sitting in its box. hope we get a solution fix asap i miss my iphone!!!

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Apple replaced my iPad 3 for $150. I don't think I should have had to pay anything considering it was all because of a software update, but I thought $150 was worth getting my almost $800 iPad back. The guy at the apple store said something in the iPad must have been failing before the update and that the update finished it off. He said it was probably the internal storage. Either way, I'm glad to have my iPad back. Thanks for suggesting the freezer trick. I wish it would've worked for me, but it sounds like I had bigger issues going on :/

Got same problem on Sunday after iPhone 5 stopped picking up carier's signal and was in "searching" mode. Carrier suggested I restore and like everyone else on here it failed. Apple techs got me to try restore again, then in DFU mode and still failed. I tried on two different Macbooks with different operating systems (one was OS Mav) and same error code. The tech consulted "senior" experts who advised they didn't know what the problem was but they'd noticed it emerging on these forums over recent weeks. They think it's hardware related. Tech said "Lucky you're still under warranty" and booked me into a Genius Bar. They swapped the phone, thank you Apple!! I have 73 days left on my warranty and I'm extending it for another year. I will always extend my warranty on iPhones in future as this phone is my business and not having it for 2 days was painful. If it was out of warranty it would have been an expensive fix. I didn't have iOS 7 on the phone when it failed, I was still rocking iOS 6 because I didn't like the 7 interface. Funny how this is suddenly happening and the number affected is growing. Has to be driven by software updates in my opinion or carrier software updates.

likely that this is purposeful ... All with the same problem: finding the phone ... decided to restore and locks the device. Very strange! I used to force the purchase of new equipment. Eagerly awaiting a solution to this. And the worst thing is to see the number of people who consult this problem 9600 users and only 60 people post their questions and solutions. Have to get an idea of the number of people who are having this problem. This apple is getting burned ...

Been working with everyone from Apple on this. There is no word yet, and I haven't gotten anything back from the engineers yet. Apple has requested files from me which have been sent, so its just a matter of waiting and seeing if they can figure out what is causing this error. Again, I will keep you all updated. Have a Happy Holiday everyone!!

UPDATE ON ERROR 3:

I got a call from "Darren", one of the Stanford CA Apple Store Managers late Tuesdau. He told me that based on my "feedback" that my "case" had been escalated to Tier 2 which apparently brings some of the Apple Care engineers that look for "strange new things" into the mix.

Darren said they would be happy to replace my iPad 3 (16GB w/Verizon LTE) for free (with a factory certified refurb). We chatted a bit and he appeared to indicate that the Apple Care engineers wanted my machine to evaluate it.

For those of you not aware, Apple reportedly has a "bounty" of sorts for Apple Genius's, mostly in play when new devices come out, to grab and return Apple devices that have unique failure modes. This is smart on Apple's part as it give the manufacturing and software engineers a chance to catch manufacturing "corner cases" so they can tweak the manufacturing line or software, minimizing future customer returns. Looks like "Error 3" might be one of those "corner cases" they might be wanting to jump on (hopefully).

I don't know what this means for everyone else having Error 3 issues, but if the problem is a Flash erase/write verify issue as my "Freezer Physics" strongly suggests, there is a possibility that Apple can modify the eraser/write verify alogorithm to solve the issue, or even add in a test for "weak Flash bits" and "map out" bad bits (puts "weak" bits into an unusable address location), to solve the problem. The Apple software guys are smart. I believe they can totally fix this with a software tweak. I suggest waiting a few days and visiting and Apple Genius bar again. I don't know what they might do, but "IF" they issue some sort of a quiet replacement for devices with Error 3, you might luck out. I'm not hopeful they will do this, but they already pleasantly surprised me once.

Keep in mind "BE NICE" when you meet with your Apple Genius (I was both times). "Sundown" (my Genius tonight, no kidding on his name, a cool guy!) was fast and efficient. He grabbed my replacement device from Darren, moved my Verizon sim card over to it, had me finger sign on his iPad the swap, and I was on my way. These guys and gals deal with angry people all day who want a new device for free after dropping it into a toilet, or some such, so being NICE can go a long way.

I'll report if I hear more. For those who don't have luck with their Apple Genius, and my "Freezer Physics" didn't solve your "Error 3", hang in there. I am now hopeful that Apple engineering is going to dig into this and come up with a software fix. Don't expect it to hit with 7.1.0, which is already in beta with us Developers, but maybe the release after that, "IF" they find a software solution. From another report on this thread, they're also looking at log files, so there is action going on.

When you get your Apple Genius post meeting email survey, be sure to mention Error 3. The more they see that, the better. Plus, maybe your Apple store manager will see it and ask you to bring in your device for a free replacement if the Apple Care engineers continut to gather up some different Error 3 samples for evaluation.

Let us all know what happens with your device no matter how long it takes. Persistance sometimes can pay off for all.

Feel as though I have tried almost everything on my iphone 5 ios 7.0.4 ...starting to wonder if there will ever be a fix.

I tried DFU mode.

I tried Tinyumbrella 7.0.2.

I tried Redsn0w 0.9.15b3.

I tried Recboot.

I tried editing host file.

I tried removing host file. (put host file back after)

I even tried the "freezer fix".

Next up is IOS 7.0.1 which is taking forever to download.

Everywhere I've googled people are saying not even Apple can fix it.

Nothing. Why did I ever restore this phone. 😟

These methods are similiar to mine. My collegue I also upgraded to 7.0 and eventually bricked it. He has a backup up phone and I don't. So I eventually downgraded his iphone 4 to 6.1.3 (I know downgrading is bad, but I REALLY NEED A PHONE) after so many methods including the freezer technique, it was a last resort. If you saved shsh blobs (not sure if you know what that means) then you can downgrade. Just a suggestion. If your phoneless like I was.