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

i tried freezer tricks, wrapped my ipad3 with a small towel and put it in ziplock, into the freezer about 40mins, remove asap and connect to my laptop, turned out ipad3 low battery (battery symbol popped up on ipad screen) and spend few mins already charging (and ipad getting warmer each secs), so after that plug into laptop again, try restoring...and failed...

i guess my mistakes was not charging my ipad (but how to know since i cannot switch on ipad at all), and did not turn off my windows firewall and antivirus..

again i have to do it all over again later and will update...this is so frustrating..

never ever will i update ios again

I finally got over to the apple store. After 2 DFU attempts, an attempt on a different computer and a long conversation about error 3 with the genius bar and store manager they replaced my OW ipad. They had not heard of error 3 yet so I showed them this website. They were intrigued. I got a new referb and they didnt charge me the replacement fee. It was also still on iOS 6. However when I went to backup the game I have played for the last two years I could only back it up from an iOS 7 backup. So I had to update the new refurb to iOS7. I sure hope it doesnt happen again. Anyway so happy I got a new ipad without paying the replacement fee. For those of you that the freezer trick did not work it is worth a shot going to the genius bar. The referb also came with 90 day warranty! 🙂

Lol more problems I went into the appdata and found the crash reports but none from trying to recover my ipad i think because itunes actually isnt even recognizing it as my ipad it just calls it "Ipad" the most recent crash report i have is from 12-24-13 and its an instagram crash log so somewhere my itunes is not recognizing my ipad at all. I'm sorry for all the trouble and I am extremely greatful for the help you have given so far, Im just trying to avoid a 3 hour drive to an apple store to try and have them fix it or get a new one.

Hi Tjzoo,

Have you tried all the other techniques listed on this thread also? If "Yes", then your only other option right now is to talk with an Apple Genius for a possible replacement. Sorry the supporters on this thread were not able to help you with a solution at this time. Keep checking back.

Thank you so much! The "freezer procedure" worked the first time for me. Sounds insane to put your phone in the freezer. My wife opened the freezer and asked if that was my phone in there, I said "yup", haha. Anyway, I consider myself pretty knowledgeable about electronic devices and not being able to defeat this Error Code (3) really got me down. I was even looking into buying a new phone at a premium, non-contract price since I'm not due for an upgrade until September...crazy.

Very relieved to have my phone back and I have you and your 25 years of experience to thank, kennethyoung. I appreciate you taking the time to post your solution for others. You rock!

Hey..

I tried the solution which u gave but my phone battery drained out because of it and i could not start the restore just after taking it out of the freezer.

Should i first completely charge it and then put in the freezer ?

I have tried all the kinds of IOS 7.0.4 updates which are available on the internet.

On 99% this error pops up on the itunes.

Then when i started restore after charging the battery it again showed me error(3).

Hi raghavkedia,

Yes fully charge your device

Unplug from power, turn off (if possible), allow to cool for 30 minutes

Put in freezer in ziplock bag with paper towel wrapped around 1/2 cup dry rice

Leave in freezer for 40 minutes

Remove from freezer and IMMEDIATELY start Restore process

If you still get Error (3), repeat 40 minutes in freezer, and, if possible, start Restore process with your device remaining in freezer (keeps the Flash chips cool a bit longer as the Restore process can take several minutes, and the Flash chips may get too warm to sucessfully erase, which is where the Restore process is failing on Error (3)).

If you still get Error (3) aftwr this second freezer attempt, and you have already visited the Apple Genius Bar, shown them this thread, and they still won't replace your device for no charge, hang in there and keep watching this thread for additional solutions to this issue.

Hello All,

Has there been any successful attempts with an iPhone(5) using the "freezer fix"?

I've attempted to perform the freezer fix with my iPhone(5) it didn't work. However, I will try once more with my device fully charged and reply with the results.

i tried freezer trick twice and failed..dont know what went wrong..already fully charged my ipad, wait abit to cool it down first and put inside the freezer for 40mins,..1st attempt battery was out and wasting time doing recharge and ipad got warmer then..on a 2nd attempt, all is perfect i guess...firewall off, antivirus off, ipad fully charged, but still doesnt work..i put timer during restore process, took about ~16mins.. do u think ipad already getting warm? plus on 2nd attempt during restoring process i didnt put inside the freezer..i thot the problem was my battery.. hmmm

Hi silverstri,

Yes within 16 minutes the Flash chips are warming up a lot, even if the case is quite cold. You appear to have one of the more severe cases of Error (3) so you may not be successful, but if you can attempt a restore while the device is still in the freezer, this has proven to be successful in one case.

If your device fails again, try your Apple Genius (again), show them this thread, and keep following this thread for other solutions that are being investigated.

Hello Mr. Young,

Today when i read the forum here, I followed your advice to "freeze" my iPhone 5. At first it worked for about 2 hours then it went to "searching" mode again. I put it back in the freezer after 40 minutes, it showed AT&T LTE then after 20 minutes, searching again.

I went to apple yesterday but they wanted me to pay $269 to swap to a new one without telling me what or why my phone was acting up. My phone is over its warranty by 77 days.

I don't know what to do with my phone anymore.. :(

I wish iPhone would replace my phone instead because I didn't do anything to the phone and it's their system that is in error here.

What You need to do is call Apple directly. Ask to speak with an iOS supervisor. Tell him or her your problems, and let them know there are many others with this issue. Work with them as much as you can. I myself had the same problem, but I worked with Apple for nearly 2 months straight on fixing this issue. My phone was over a year out of warranty and they sent me a new one, not a refurbishment. You have to be persistent on this issue. I know kennethyoung got a replacement also. Just keep hammering them and refer them to this thread...good luck and report back on what they will and won't do for you.

I called Apple store chestnut location here in SF and asked for a manager but they were on the floor so the person who took my call said she would take my number so the manager can call me back. I told her that my phone might not work anymore as it is the one with the problem so she asked for my email address instead. I gave it to her. I have informed her of my problem with the phone, firmware, error 3 and that other people are having the issues as me and being discussed here in the apple community. No response from the manager yet. :(.

Call this number and follow the prompts, and then ask to speak with an iOS supervisor. 1-800-275-2273

The managers in the Apple store will not be able to help you out at this point...call the number and go forth. Tell the supervisor your issues and work with them as much as you can. They may even ask you to send some log files. Do everything they ask, and be nice the whole time. Let them know when this all started, whether it was a software update or whatnot. Give ALL DETAILS!!

Please let us know your update 🙂

Hi glennascaul,

Congratulations and thank ypu for sharing! Antivirus software on PC's has been reported to corrupt iOS download or install process in some way that the Apple install process does not catch. Your success is a great reminder to those following this thread who use PC's to follow your lead. They may also need to blow away the iOS cached download after turning off the antivirus to be sure it wasn't corrupted.