Q: 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 have tried everything! Read every article I could find, searched hours and hours online for info....not a **** thing. Everyone keeps refering me to a few documents like TS3694 and some others. They dont work. This is some serious bs!!!! Thought maybe it was a ios 7.0.2 issue, so I waited untill 7.0.3 came out and tried to restore with that, and in every way possible. dfu, recovery, even tried using redsnow just to go in and boot....nothing....apple people dont even know *** error code 3 is. Some people are saying its a hardware issue....but how? this all happened when upgrading to 7.0.2

All this thing does now is get stuck at the restoring firmware part of the restore, and its the very last 2%.....

f'in ******...no one can help....least if I cant use it as a phone anymore let me atleast get the software running so i can use it for a ipod, not a paper weight.

Mine has the exact same problem, last 2% or so the error pops up. Now I can't even boot the thing up. It s***s... big time... any solution for this? Is it because of IOS 7? Coz mine started out from that too... mine is iPad mini...

Just to update :

I tried updating my other ipad mini to see if its itunes or something else might be the problem. And that one has no problem at all. Its working fine. So now I am really at my ends meet with this dead one. Its jus the unlucky one to go through this...

I have the same problem with an iPhone 5. The status bar did not recognize the network (indicated "searching ...") so I decided to upgrade the IOS. Download the version 7.0.2 and the update appeared to me the "unknown error (3)". Now I can not get the device in recovery mode. Probe placing the device in DFU mode, but neither finished the update.
Among many attempts, appeared the version 7.0.3, which also download, but gives the same error.
As Apple staff informs me, has to be a bug in the device.
Someone found a solution?? or all devices have failed?

Regards

Has anyone here tried uninstalling and reinstalling iTunes? Making a new user account and installing iTunes there?  Theres always something left to try.

I have the same problem. Now i can´t recover my iphone 5. Thi su..ks big time?? Wake up Apple!!!!

Hi guys, After quite a while trying to fix the Iphone, i finally took it to the Apple store, The iphone is bricked and Apple said it was going to cost 149 Pound to fix, which happens to be more then an Iphone 4 is worth. Unfortunatly i was no longer covered by warrenty. I would contact Apple and try and get it repaired for free if you are covered by warrenty. There is currently no fix for bricked iphone with error 3/-3. Please ignore people that say this error does not exist, as im sure we are all very aware that it does.

well, my iPad has the same error and I am slowly trying everything possible. If my product is bricked I am finally done with Apple and will be getting a surface Pro. This is completely unacceptable. The update seems to proceed fine until the last few percent and then the same error message 3 repeatedly.

I had the same problem with an iphone 4 when updating to ios 7. I tried custom firmware (5.1.1) and other official ios .ispw with no resolve plus other various solutions including several versions of itunes and the latest version. Usually get error 3194 or code 11. To my surprise after I switched computers from my windows 7 x64 laptop to my 32-bit desktop, it came out as code 3 on the latest itunes restore attempt. So I attempted to restore from the computer lab at my college and THANK HEAVENS it WORKED!! I don't know if it is computer specific or something else I'm no expert.

No sure if it helps but I suggest using different computers, it worked for me. Oh and if it does, DO NOT UPDATE AGAIN, I updated to ios 7.0.3 and it crashed AGAIN on my laptop. Back to the computer lab. Sighhhh

SOMEBODY CAN FIX IT??? I have the same problem. Cant restore and try uninstalling and reinstalling itunes and still have the trouble. I mean I SEE MANY GUYS HERE with the exactly same problem.... NO ONE CAN SOLVE IT??? WE NEED HELP !!! My iphone is dead !!!

GUYS I FINALLY FIX IT. Using my old macbook with the newest version of itunes and waiting a lot, but now my iphone is ALIVE ! I have another trouble now. Itunes say: "were sorry we are unable to continue with your activation at this time". Buy I hope this is easiest to fix.

I just tried to update my iPad 3 from 7.0.3 to 7.0.4 and it failed and I am getting the same "error (3)" which I can find nothing about. Multiple attempts at doing a restore failed. All updates are on my MBA and I rebooted and I tried two differenct 30 pin cables plugged directly into my MBA. Nothing worked on multiple attempts. Under extended warrenty so I'm making a Genius appointment and giving it to them to resolve or replace. Not updating anything else in my household to 7.0.4, although I did my iPhone 5 first to 7.0.4 with no issues.

UPDATE: I went to Apple Genius bar this evening. They also tried a DFU Restore and still got "Error (3)". They also claimed to have no idea what "Error (3)" was and that they knew less than we do as developers about that kind of stuff.

So, I put my 25 years of Semiconductor experience to work. I suspect that Error code (3) is likely a "write verify error" from the storage Flash that is generated during the install process. This would happen if a "bit" of the Flash "got stuck" as a "1" or a "0" either because of a "slow write" or a "slow erase". This is common in Flash technology. The "fix" is to "make the chips cold" as "cold" semiconductors will both "write" and "erase" easier than "warm" Flash semiconductors.

To verify, I put my iPad 3 in the freezer (should use a freezer bag to prevent moisture, but I didn't) for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes I removed from the freezer, plugged in my 30 pin cable immediately and started a regular Restore. IT WORKED! I then restored all my apps from the prior day's backup. A few did not restore sucessfully, so I had to manually delete and reinstall. All went fine and my iPad is running iOS 7.0.4.

I love physics! The problem could repeat itself in the future, but then again it may not. If this works for you, and I suspect it will, you can repeat the "freeze" process again. It won't work for years, but it will extend your iPhone/iPad life for a while.

Good luck all!

I hope your right about this Kennetyoung. I have been without my iphone 5 for almost a month since I got my error (3) after trying to update to 7.0.2. Good thing I had my old Iphone 4 still laying around or i'd be phoneless. I tried every thing I have read on this site with no luck so hopefully this is the magic solution. Ive tried updating itunes (mac). Ive tried different USB ports, Ive tried using a different computer and all its different USB ports. The only thing I wasnt able to try was using a different cord since i only have the 1 Lightning cable it came with. Keeping my fingers crossed...

Let me know how it works out.

You may get an different error message during the "update", I did, which basically just stated that there may be something wrong with your iPad/iPhone and to contact Apple, but you should see the "Hello" in all languages screen on your iPad/iPhone when the process is finished. Be patient. It may take up to an hour to complete, depending on your device. I went an watched TV and when I came back, I saw "Hello" cycling on my iPad after I touched the Home button.