iOS 8.2 "The iPhone software update server could not be contacted". Bricked iPhone. Wonderful!

Question

iOS 8.2 "The iPhone software update server could not be contacted". Bricked iPhone. Wonderful!

I'm a long time Apple user. I've had every iPhone. Just updated to iOS 8.2 via OTA and now my device is bricked. After update the device just shows Apple logo for 10 seconds and disappears. I got it into 'iTunes connect mode' but latest version of iTunes just has a notice saying the software update server could not be contacted. Has this happened to anyone else? I'm hoping it's just the servers are getting hammered, I'd hate to think the iPhone is bricked.

MacBook Pro with Retina display, OS X Mavericks (10.9.3), 2.3GHz i7, 512 SSD, 16GB RAM

Posted on Mar 9, 2015 1:31 PM

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Answer 1

anypats

Level 7

21,357 points

Mar 9, 2015 1:34 PM in response to Chris McFetridge

I updated my iPhone 6 and iPad mini 2 without incident.

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Answer 2

Mar 9, 2015 1:37 PM in response to anypats

Yeah, my iPad Mini 2 updated fine. Just the iPhone 5s, which is my primary mobile device. Did you do it via iTunes or OTA?

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Answer 3

anypats

Level 7

21,357 points

Mar 9, 2015 1:44 PM in response to Chris McFetridge

Both of mine were OTA

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Answer 4

lkrupp

Level 7

22,129 points

Mar 9, 2015 1:59 PM in response to Chris McFetridge

The update servers are ALWAYS swamped on release day. It’s always best to wait a few days and let the high traffic die down.

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Answer 5

Fraxie

Level 1

26 points

Mar 10, 2015 6:48 AM in response to Chris McFetridge

I started my update on my iPhone 6, and I also have a fancy brick. There's the iTunes connect indicator on the phone. iTunes says I need to restore. My iPad Air updated without any problems.

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Answer 6

Mar 10, 2015 6:53 AM in response to Fraxie

Sorry you experienced that Fraxie. I finally figured out a way to fix it if you're still having difficulties. Get your iPhone into recovery mode (home and power button together for some time until the iTunes logo appears) then plug into iTunes. It'll detect the device and give you TWO options - one for update and one for restore. Regrettably the update option didn't do anything for me, I tried it a few times. I had to restore the device to factory settings then recover from iCloud backup. So much for the old Apple motto "it just works"... From looking at a few forums it seems to effect OTA 8.2 updates . Hope you get it sorted.

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