My mother woke up her iPad mini 4 wifi+cellular and instead of home screen what appeared was a black screen with a lightning connector with an arrow pointing to the iTunes logo. What does this mean? Is it asking to sync to iTunes? But how do we do this without a PC or laptop?
iPad Mini, iOS 9, iPad mini 4 wifi+cellular
The device is in Recovery Mode. You will need to connect the device to a computer with iTunes. If you don't have one, you will need to either borrow one, or make an appointment at the Genius Bar of the nearest Apple store and ask for assistance. Information about Recovery Mode can be found in this support document. If you can't update or restore your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch - Apple Support
Device is definitely in recovery mode. In this scenario you have three options. If Find my iPad is on you can go to iCloud.com and erase the device. If you have iTunes you can connect the device to your computer. This will prompt you with a message saying there was an issue with your device and it will need to be updated or restored. Updating the software might get you out of recovery mode otherwise you will need to restore it.
You can always try turning it off and on or try a hard reset by holding down the sleep button and the home button at the same time until it restarts.
frozen screen shows lightning connector with arrow pointing to iTunes logo
