Q: Stuck on white screen saying slide to update but wont let me slide

I've had the identical experience, with my 32G 4S.  It's now on a White Screen of Death, and iTunes won't recognize it. Glad I didn't install it on my iPad. (It is working for my iPhone 6.) Help, Apple, please!

To get out of the white screen freeze I had to put my phone in repair mode and in iTunes use restore and upgrade. this worked.

How do you put your iPhone into repair mode???

To put your device into recovery mode, follow these steps:

1. Turn off your device and leave it off.
2. Plug in your device's USB cable to a computer with iTunes.
3. Hold down the Home button on your device as you connect the USB cable. ...
4. When you see this screen, release the Home button.

sorry Recovery mode... not repair mode.. but it worked.. I had to use my icloud to restore my apps and music

I'm having the same problem except I see no where that it was successful or slide to do anything. my phone literally is just on a white screen and wont let me do anything. I tried to reset it. and I plugged it into my computer and reset it to try to reset it to factory default and it wont even do that... my computer is downloading it and it says its going to take 43 hours, and the it stops half way through and says there was a problem with ios 9. I CAN CLEARLY SEE THAT AS MY PHONE IS NOT WORKING APPLE. like what the actually **** am I supposed to do.

i have the same issue. who can tell me anyway to fix the problem. i am hopeless now.

Same problem here, and NONE of the aforementioned fixes are working.  Recovery mode doesn't work.  Restore doesn't work.  I have a brand new MacBook Pro, running the most current version of iTunes, from which I've tried EVERY Apple support article suggestion, and nothing is working.

Like many others, I'm in the tough spot where the 5S is out of warranty, was working fine, and iOS 9 has now rendered it a brick. 

agree this is ridicules i have so much information how ill get it all back im so mad on Apple this is f...ing unacceptable at all

I have also tried all the above tricks and it has done nothing.

just wondering how many of you have a problem with the iso9 that are installing it on a 5s or older?

mine is a 5s

I have the iPhone 6, and I took it to my carrier and they said to go the the apple store we have here. so I did, and I went to the store and they had no ******* idea what was going on, and told me I would have to buy a new phone..... I have apple care but i'm waiting for them to call my mother, because I'm in university and this is the only phone I have so I cant call from it. I really don't want to have to use my apple care to fix a problem that I didn't even ******* do, this is ridiculous. when you call apple they say it'll be about 2 minutes before they call, yeah its been about 15 minutes of me waiting for them to call, like just ******* ridiculous

I have a 4s, and I have the terminal "slide-to-update" crash.

I've spent 10 hours so far, trying every fix that all the iGurus have come up with.  So far, 1) all my data, photos, etc. are believed to have been deleted, and 2) my phone is a brick with a glaring "slide to update" screen.  As far as I can tell, it's unlikely I'll even be able to get my photos etc. from iCloud backup, as I've read that ios9 won't allow that from older ios versions.

Interesting - probably thousands of us are stuck with Apple devices (iPads, iPad minis, Macs, etc. - there are countless reports of ALL of these (newer and older) having the identical problem, yet...not a word from Apple.  Surely, the hundreds of furious users with bricked devices on this Apple forum (supposedly, monitored by Apple staff) should be a clue that there is a VERY big problem.

If it was just a minor hickup, I could live with it until a fix was offered.  BUT - when a crucial (and expensive) device is rendered completely inert by a software glitch, timely recognition of the problem & assurance that Apple is working on a fix, is more than merely a nice-to-have.

Doing without a phone of any kind for several months until they come out with 9.0.1 or something is NOT an option.

So, Apple - what's your response?!?!

Try this article:  http://www.uswitch.com/mobiles/news/2015/09/ios_9_slide_to_upgrade_problem_hits_ iphone_owners/

One lo-fi, hassle-free suggestion is pressing the power button. Apparently this takes a few tries, but can unlock the phone. If you're lucky, you’ll then be presented with a black screen and the update starts seconds later.

We’ve also heard murmurings that the problem is related to the version of iOS you were running before you started the update. Apparently, if it’s too early, say 7.0, the ‘slide to update’ problem ensues.

If that sounds like you, it appears your best bet is to downgrade to iOS 8.4.1 and then update to iOS 9. There’s a proper walkthrough right here: iOS 9 fix.

I've followed the instructions to restore the iPhone (4S). It seems each time I get just a little further in the process (just saw the new iOS 9 wallpaper on the screen, for a split second), but has each time gone back to the dreaded 'slide to upgrade' screen which won't let me slide.

For info, I was running 8.3 on my 4S, and it's stuck on the blasted 'slide to upgrade' screen.

I have a slightly different problem, i have a iphone 5, and I have just tried updating it, and a lode of 'code' came up on the update screen, it now is a white blank screen, but with rounded black edges and nothing is happening. I had the same issue when I did the last update, except it went from the code on the screen, to the so called 'red screen of death'. It is rather frustrating that nothing is happening, my phone is just stuck on this screen, my lock button doesnt work either, but that hasnt been working for a year now, so i dont think that has had any affect on it. It took just under an hour on the settings section to prepare the update as well.