Q: iPad 2 iOS 9.3 can't activate

Same here, iPad 2 bricked after installing 9.3. No access to activation servers on it's own nor via iTunes. Waiting for a fix, aside from recovery/backup.

I have the same issue and I agree, they should have never released it when it was obviously not tested. And they wonder why they lose so many customers. We now have multiple useless items after this 9.3 update. Very frustrating!!

I have the same problem:

iPad2 updated OTA can't activate after update to iOS 9.3

and iTunes says the same sentence

Same problem here.  iPad2 - error message says cannot activate iPad because the activation server is temporarily unavailable

Ditto, iPad 2 is failing to activate after latest iOS update 9.3 over wi-fi: "Could Not Activate iPad". It's now been 18 hours since I installed the update and still unable to activate.

It's just turned into a brick.

I've tried restarting the device several times, to no avail, I just get the same activation failure message afterwards during boot when trying to activate it.

Using USB to connect to iTunes on PC just shows "iTunes was unable to verify your device", even after disconnecting, reconnecting, etc.

It's been over a year since I manually made a backup to the PC as I use the iPad as a standalone device and rarely connect it to my PC, neither device share anything in common, so am extremely reluctant to 'restore' the device. Given Apple's "it just works" mantra, I assumed it backed up the device before installing.

Not happy!

having the same issue! several attempts calls Apple Support Team! this ***** yo

i've the same problem. Please fix it

Try these instructions

I have exactly same situation. iPhone 5 and 6s no problem at all, but on the iPad2 it is not possible to find the server for the activation. Same message using iTunes.

Support does not know what to do

Same here, updating ipad2, response is server busy try again.  I hope Apple makes this a simple fix for us tech challenged seniors.  My wife is furious since she cannot play words with friends!

My iPad 2 has the same issue.  Tried 3 tiimes to activate vai iTunes, which won't recognize my device, even though the icon shows at the top and it is backed up in iTunes.  .Also tried resetting 3 times  with no result.     My iPad is not connected to iCloud but heard of someone on another forum that this person was able to  activate via iClooud. 

I I then resorted to two 15+ mijute waits for a tech at Apple.  Finally talked to a very nice tech, who listened patiently, and reported they have had a number of calls with this issue.  He reported that the activation team is working on it and referred my issue up the line to a supervisor who was equally nice, and is supposed to called me back this afternoon.  So far no calls.

I'm very frustrated.  My old device is definitely out of warranty, but since this is an Apple issue I reeived on my iPad, I was told by both techs that it would be taken care of. 

Anyone else got the answer ???

carolyn

Same problem.. Got no back up whatsoever.. The only way to solve the problem now is put the iPad in DFU mode and restore. There's no way to back up once it's stuck at this activation error..iPad 2, OTA from iOS 9.2.1.

This is a known problem/glitch.

Apple, I believe, has acknowledge this issue with activation server difficulties with certain iPad models and have stated that they are working on this issue and that it will be resolved as soon as possible

Happened to me yesterday. Also iPad 2. Spent 2 h on hold to Apple Support and still could not get through. While on hold started to look online for solutions. First, tried activating via iTunes. That did not work - it said that it could not recognise my iPad. So I went for restore mode restart next. For that turn off your iPad, connect the USB wire to you Mac first, then hold the 'Home button' and plug the cable into your iPad. Keep holding the 'Home' button until the "Connect to iTunes" screen appears. At this point release the 'Home' button and iTunes should come up at your computer with a message telling you that there was a problem with your iPad and you can either 'Update' or 'Restore' it. I chose the 'Update' first and it started to download the Update software and then went through with the update. Then it said that the update has completed successfully. But I had the same activation problem as before. So I went through the procedure again, only this time I chose the 'Restore' option. It still should update it to iOS 9.3 but you lose all your data and get a fresh iPad. It went through the process and I still get the same activation problem. So I went through the same process one more time, only this time during the restore I disconnected the cable. iTunes said that there was an error and I got a frozen apple on my iPad which would not respond to anything. So I am thinking this time I bricked it for sure, I can't even turn it off now. But somehow in about 5-10 min it turned off by itself. So having nothing to lose I went through the 'Restore' process one more time and, would you believe it, I have a new iPad 2 with iOS 9.3. You will have to go through the full setup again or you can now restore your old iPad from a backup, if you were smart enough to back it up on iTunes recently (I wasn't). All the apps you can restore, but do you really need all that crap? You'd be surprised how much of the stuff you downloaded you never use and were to lazy to uninstall. I got over 15 Gb of extra memory (on a 32 Gb iPad) and it runs much faster then before. So that cleaning alone makes it worthwhile. Thank you Apple for a crappy update!

I had the same issue and the way to fix it is doing a ipad restore. Now works perfectly