Phone stuck on apple logo after iOS 9 update.

Just for the record, it is not best practice to revert back to previous iOS versions. This is not because Apple wants everyone to be using the latest and greatest and try to force you into upgrading. The main reason is that these iOS updates contain many changes as it pertains to your security and privacy. These updates address things Apple is doing to keep our information and devices more secure.

Referenced Article:

About the security content of iOS 9

If you're having issues updating to iOS 9 (9.02) please reference these articles:

If you can't update or restore your iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch

Resolve issues with an over-the-air iOS update

If you're still having trouble don't hesitate at all to reach out to AppleCare! They are there to help!

AppleCare: 1-800-APL-CARE (getsupport.apple.com)

Yea Apple support isn't good for anything lol, They don't realize you could roll back if they're still signing the iOS, but no more signing for 8.4.1. Nothing seems to work if going from 8.4.1 to any of the iOS 9 and you want to keep the backup.

It is best practice when you do an iOS update on Sunday night, and Monday morning your phone is still not working and you rely on your phone for work, for keeping in touch with the general contractor who is remodeling a closet in your house while you are at work, and for being available for contact by the companies delivering the two freight shipments you're receiving that day for your garage remodel.

Yes, this was the day my iPhone decided not to work with iOS 9. I did not have any option but to revert to 8.4.1 as quickly as possible and now, it seems, even that is no longer an option. Getting attitude from the AppleCare rep for my "unauthorized rollback" was not the sort of thing that went over well with me, by that point, as you can imagine.

I love my iPhone but this fiasco with the iOS 9 upgrade is no fun. Hopefully it is fixed soon. At this point, I'm tempted to just wipe the phone and start with a clean install. At least it seems that method is working for most or all.

I'm sure Apple will fix it eventually. It's not like I can't stay on 8.4.1 and use the phone as is. First-world problems, and all.

I can guarantee that Apple will not fix that issue. One of the things I also tried was using icloud to backup my data and restore from icloud, that was a no go as well. I think by far this was the iOS with the most issues.

Can you confirm the exact steps you've done so far? You mentioned that you restored in iTunes but it still got stuck on the Apple logo. Are you placing the iPhone into recovery mode (i.e., Connect to iTunes Screen) and choosing the update option in iTunes when the message pops up indicating that iTunes has detected an iPhone in recovery mode? This will "hopefully" allow you to reinstall the iOS without having to restore (erase) your iPhone.

This article has the steps:

If you can't update or restore your iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch

My apologies if you've already tried these steps unsuccessfully, however, I just wanted to make sure these were the ones you followed.

Best of luck!

Is it «best practice» to sit in front of a bricked device?

If the update does not work and you don't want to lose your data, reverting to the previous version is the only option left.

And hoping for an update that fixes the problem.

In my case I was able to restore my iPhone using 8.4.1. On 9.0.x restoring ended up in a bricked iPhone.

So to me there clearly seems to be a bug in iOS 9.

I use my iPhone/iPad on a professional basis.

In that case starting with zero is not an option.

It would mean a huge loss and result in hours of work.

qmp: If you could please explain what your initial issue was and the exact steps you've performed so far someone here would be glad to help you. Have you reverted back to iOS 8.4.1 and still have your data? Can you elaborate a bit on "the update does not work", did you receive any specific error messages when attempting to update your iOS device to iOS 9.0.2?

Thanks!

Hi bren_nan

Thanks for trying to be helpful.

But I think I've tried everything possible.

Basically i did this:

1. Backup on 8.4.1
2. Update to 9.0.x

After the reboot, the device get's stuck at the apple logo and does not show a sign of movement in the progress bar, even after hours of waiting.

Resetting the iPhone brings me into a reboot loop.

So I tried this:

1. Reset device
2. update to 9.0.x
3. restore backup

Same result

Next using backup from iCloud

Same thing.

Whenever I reverted to 8.4.1 I was able to correctly restore my iPhone.

So the backup is OK.

But not with 9.0.x.

I once got it a bit further by continuously doing a restore backup cycle.

That got me to the point where I had most of my data back with iOS 9.

But the iPhone refused to show up in iTunes.

And the App Store was no longer working.

So I am now on 8.4.1 again. Leaving for vacation tomorrow and at least I can take a working phone with me.

Bren_nan,

My first attempt was an OTA update (while plugged in to a charger). I did not watch the update and did not know it had failed until some time later when I went to check on the phone and it was stuck at the apple screen (this is the boot screen - the screen WITHOUT a progress bar under the logo). I waited awhile, then decided to restart the phone. After restart, I got the screen that tells you to plug the phone into iTunes. I did so, and iTunes told me the phone was in recovery mode. It gave me the option to attempt to re-load the software and restore using my latest backup (which was over a month old - my fault). This led to the same issue - stuck on the Apple logo - reboot phone - plug into iTunes - repeat. The process never got to the point where the phone actually booted into iOS 9. I tried loading iOS 9 this way maybe 3 times. I then finally gave up and reverted to 8.4.1. When 9.0.1 came out, I tried again (using iTunes) and got the same issue. This time, I actually let the phone sit overnight on the Apple logo, thinking maybe it just needed a REALLY long time to boot. In the morning, it was still on the Apple logo. That was the last time I tried... I've been running 8.4.1 since then (last weekend).

I have managed to fix this issue on my own phone backup and am now on iOS9 with minimal data loss.

So I have had the exact same issue that everyone here has been describing. My phone would get stuck on the apple logo during the update and if i restarted it the phone would enter a reboot loop. I tried various permutations with iOS9 and it would always end up getting stuck as soon as I tried to restore the backup, so I downgraded to 8.4.1 and that worked without any issues. I had come to the conclusion that it was due to something in my backup that iOS9 didn't like. I have had an iPhone since the first gen and have carried my backup with me through all of my phones so there is a lot of old legacy stuff. Also, I used to jailbreak my phone so I suspected that may have left something in my backup even though i haven't jailbroken my phone for many years now.

This morning I had a bit of time to spend on trying to solve this problem. I made an encrypted backup in iTunes and opened it up in iBackupBot (free app) to have a look around. I found various files in there that were last modified in 2008 🙂 and a few other files related to past jailbreaks. I deleted a few of those files (leaving app data alone) and then tried to restore from this modified backup onto iOS9. To my surprise this worked for me on my first attempt and the restore went through without any issues with no data loss.

If anyone else is going to attempt this, i'd highly recommend you make a backup of the backup before modifying it. I only modified the "System Files" directory of the backup. I'm suspecting one of the files I deleted from my backup was holding up the restore previously, but I don't know which one exactly unfortunately.

I don't know why this has come up now as I was on the public betas for ios9 and didn't have any of these issues, it was only when I moved back to the stable releases did this issue occur. For anyone that doesn't want to wait for Apple to fix this, give this a go if you're comfortable with navigating within iPhone backups.

DO you remember which file you have deleted ?

I Took the same steps with my device however I received a replacement for a battery issue on 10/4. Resulting in the inability to restore to 8.4.1 as it is no longer signed. I sense many are having this icloud restore issue so I wanted to post here. Luckily, my local store had a phone on 8.4.1 to give to me. Good luck to others with this issue - your iCloud restore is not corrupt; something is wrong in the update software.

I have this exact problem....guess who is getting ready to switch over to samsung after years and years with Apple...

I finally managed to resolve the issue. I went to the Apple service center and they restored my iphone 6+ by first going to DFU mode. Its working fine now. Hope this might help others https://www.theiphonewiki.com/wiki/DFU_Mode