iOS 7.1.2 update freezing on you? There's a reboot fix for that!

Apple released the iOS 7.1.2 update earlier today and it seems for some people trying to install via Settings > General > Software Update, things are freezing before they finish. Over-the-air (OTA), on-device updates are typically the easiest, fastest way to update, but freezes are the absolute exception to that rule. So, how can you fix?

The answer seems to be a hard reboot. Just hold down the Home button and Sleep/Wake button, just like you would to take a screenshot, only don't let go. Keep holding them down until the screen turns off and then comes back on again with the Apple logo.

When it's done, go to Settings > General > About and make sure you're on iOS 7.1.2. If not, repeat the update process.

If your iOS 7.1.2 update is frozen, if you're progress bar isn't showing any progress, give the hard reboot a try and let me know if it works for you. And if you come across a better solution, let me know about that too!

Rene Ritchie
Contributor

Rene Ritchie is one of the most respected Apple analysts in the business, reaching a combined audience of over 40 million readers a month. His YouTube channel, Vector, has over 90 thousand subscribers and 14 million views and his podcasts, including Debug, have been downloaded over 20 million times. He also regularly co-hosts MacBreak Weekly for the TWiT network and co-hosted CES Live! and Talk Mobile. Based in Montreal, Rene is a former director of product marketing, web developer, and graphic designer. He's authored several books and appeared on numerous television and radio segments to discuss Apple and the technology industry. When not working, he likes to cook, grapple, and spend time with his friends and family.

198 Comments
  • iOS 7.1.1 has been either rebooting or respringing a lot recently. So, during the update my phone went to black. I did a hard reboot and went back to Software Update and continued the update. I eventually was able to install the software update. I have a 64GB iPhone 5.
  • hello i hope you can help me , i tried the ios7.1.2 update but my phone stuck on the recovery mode , i tried to restore it but then i need a back up which is not working, i also tried to leave the phone for 15 minutes as i read somewhere that it comes out of this mode after 15 min but no use.. i can't afford to loose all the data on my iphone please give a solution, thank you
  • Try a wired connection to iTunes on your desktop/laptop.
  • Hi there I updated my iPhone 5 on Saturday everything was fine till later that night when my phone battery had dead then when I got it back on after charging it. It wouldn't let me do anything with it it's completely frozen n I can't use or turn it off!! Help me please it has all my wedding things on there which I need :-(
  • It worked for me. I waited about ten min after it froze and did a hard reset. Sent from the iMore App
  • Worked for me too. I set the update in motion overnight, in the morning I still saw a progress bar with about 25% progress. Did the two-finger salute, phone immediately rebooted, with 7.1.2 in place.
  • Hey just want to know if you lost the memory of your iphone
  • No memory loss. All data present.
    I did ensure I'd performed a back up beforehand to be safe, but it wasn't needed.
  • what is hard reset and reboot?
  • Thanks! I was really worried I had bricked my phone but the hard reset worked for me and no data lost.
  • Always reboot your iDevices BEFORE performing these iOS updates / upgrades to avoid these issues. iPhone 4s, iPod Touch, iPhone 5s & iPad Air received their updates with no problem here.
  • Correct. I got into this habit with my Mac, my AppleTV, and my iPad. A restart (reboot) before updating eliminates a lot of headaches. Restating clears registers, cleans up caches, gets rid of numerous gremlins that may have creeped in since the last restart. Today, I updated my Mac to 10.9.4, my iPad to 7.1.2, and my AppleTV to 6.2, all without a single hitch or glitch.
  • IKrupp is right, develop the habit of restarting the devise before updating the software. I had frozen my iPhone and resolved by hard booting. Thanks for posting the simple solution.
  • Thank you for this tip!
  • 4s. Was on 7.1.1. Backed up and rebooted prior to wired-from-iTunes (v11.4) attempt at update to 7.1.2. Stuck on the "verifying updated iPhone software" step for about an hour. Now that it's (as I type this) restarting, iTunes tells me it's gone from ~2GB free space to >5GB over utilized. And that things are being synced from iCloud -- which can be managed on the device. Except I have never used iCloud. Ejected it successfully, and it seems to be on 7.1.2 now... but that was the worst iOS point upgrade in my 4+ years on various iPhones. All the best engineers are clearly focused on iOS8 and the new devices. But seriously, that sucked.
  • Had the issue with my iPhone 5, so I decided to just do an iTunes update for my iPad 3. My iPad is now frozen during the update. I think Apple missed something with this one.
  • Another reason I never OTA, ha. I always restore as new from iTunes on my Mac.
  • Never had an issue with an OTA including 7.1.2. All is well.
  • OTA updated an iPhone 5 and 2 iPads. Not even a blink of a problem with any of them. Painless.
  • My iPhone 5 froze. Hard reboot fixed it.
  • I did an OTA with my 5S here. No problems whatsoever. I hope it stop the annoying popups asking me to sign into the iTunes store.
  • That's what I did when the phone reboot for the second time and stay half way before finishing. I just couldn't wait any longer and decide to do this same step "without reading this article first" Sent from the iMore App
  • OTA and both IPad Air and 5S froze. Both complete after hard reboot, but a bit unhappy with Apple. Someone didn't thoroughly QC this update.
  • OTA was fine for me on a VZW iphone 5. It did take a while though before it downloaded, longer than usual actually, but the install and reboot was fast.
  • 7.1.2 failed the first time for me. The second time, it rebooted during validation and now my iPad is bricked asking for an iTunes restore. And of course, iTunes fails with error 3014 during the restore. This is what i get for not checking to see if others had issues before upgrading.
  • Hi the same has hsppened to my iphone 5 today.. I was just wondering did u get your phone working and if so what did u do to fix this problem?
  • It took forever to verify for me and then I had a black screen for 5 mins and then it installed as usual. iPhone 5 16GB
  • In my case I did the update, it froze, I did the hard reboot, and then after it tried to validate again I had to connect to iTunes. Everything was fine (thanks iCloud!) but it was an inconvenience.
  • Several users on MacRumors were bricked also after upgrade so this isn't just me. Not sure if I'm allowed to link to that thread
  • The update bricked my iPad. It is currently getting restore via iTunes now.
  • It froze while trying to install on Tunes. Did it OTA instead with no problems.
  • Mine was fine but a friends froze. Did a hard reset and I had to attach to ITunes as it said it was in recovery mode. Sent from the iMore App
  • One iPhone 5s, one iPad Air, one iPad mini. All froze on update, even if I rebooted first. This could be bad for Apple if it's as common as it was for me. Not many will know how to recover even if it's easy.... Wow.
  • My update failed as well....iphone 5 is in recovery mode....pissed.
  • Had to do just that, but not for my iPhone but for my Apple TV
  • The update bricked my iPad Mini and I had to do a complete rebuild on it. Pissed! Todays updates did work well on my iPhone and Apple TV.
  • Hard reboot is confusing. Is it hard reset, an in all data is deleted and we start as if we just bought the device?
  • Press home button and off button down at the same time and hold until the phone is off and when its back on all will be ok. good luck
  • How can I do this if my lock/wake button is broken?
  • There is no reboot when you have an iPhone 4. Sent from the iMore App
  • My iPhone 4 had this problem. Holding both buttons down for a few seconds caused the required reboot and everything was ok.
  • Article (and comments?) miss an important step that I've instituted as a regular practice for each and every update, after getting stung with an update that wiped phone and I hadn't backed up recently. Oops. Never again:-
    1. Connect to itunes - sync with backup - disconnect
    2. Repeat (1). Thus there are now two backups on your computer as, well, backups.
    3. Start the update process as normal (learnt something here - adding a new step zero - hard reset before starting everything)
  • All went well with my update I used the Wifi in my office to update... Iphone 5s 16gb.
  • I had the hang while rebooting on my iPhone 5, failed with the progress bar at about 1/3 of the way after the reboot.
  • The reboot fixed it but I'm concerned about that problem.
  • This was the first OTA update that I've had an issue with. I immediately checked imore.com and here you are with the answers before I knew I had a problem! Hard reboot worked beautifully! Thanks!
  • Updated my 5S & iPad mini with retina display, both were done OTA and went smooth and very fast. Thank You Apple.
  • Both my iPhone 5 and wife's iPhone 5S locked up during update. Hard reboot allowed them to completed. My iPad Air LTE went through fine though. Have not attempted wife's iPad Air since it doesn't have space available at the moment (1.5GB needed for a 28MB update!?)
  • That was the first thing that I thought of doing when mine froze. It worked for me like a charm. Sent from the iMore App
  • iOS 7.1.2 update on my iPhone 5 has REALLY buggy lock screen for me. Keeps becoming unresponsive to swipes to unlock (yet will swipe to switch off fine). Getting really annoying, really fast...! Sent from the iMore App
  • Rene, love your work. This saved me this morning! Wouldn't have known what to do. Thanks for your help!
  • Worked for me too.
    iPhone 4, 16gig, Verizon. Locked up with about 25% left on the bar.
    I was busy with something else so I let it go for about 40 minutes before searching on the internet and coming across this solution.
    Thank you much!
  • iPad 2 64gig Verizon. Same problem as JamesShallen. Same solution worked for me. YAY! for iMore. Boo to Apple for buggy update. BUT, at least I am back up and running.
  • OTA worked great for the iPhone, and iPad mini retina. The iPad 3 froze installing the software. The line was 3/4th across. I let it sit for an hour. Never moved. After hard reset, it went to lock screen, and after checking, it was 7.1.2. Sent from the iMore App
  • How can I do this if my lock/wake button is broken?
  • My iPad 3 froze installing the software update. The line was only 1/4 across and didn't move for a couple of hours before I found this fix on the web.
    After the hard reset, it went to lock screen, and after checking, it was 7.1.2.
    Thanks
  • My iphone 4 has frozen in the middle of this update. However I can not reboot because the sleep/wake button broke recently. I have been using the accessibility screen button. Is there another way I can reset my phone?
  • I have the same problem and the sleep/wake button doens't work. It seems like the hard reset is the only solution. Are there other ways to reset the iphone and fix the problem?
  • Any solutions yet? I have a similar problem right now
  • Me too apparently if your iTunes is set up to the phone you can do a factory restore on that but unfortunately I don't have that computer any more... Out of options please help!
  • Any solutions? I have a similar problem right now
  • The problem resolved itself when my phone battery died. As soon as I plugged it into the charger everything came back. All appears to be ok.
  • I am having the same problem with the hard reboot, my lock button doesn't work. My phone was on 53% battery life before the update commenced. its now been four hours and I can still see the loading bar with the apple logo but I cant reboot or anything and I cant see how long I have to wait for the battery to die (normally its quite quick but its taking forever now!!!). Any tips?
  • Mine took about 24 hours for the battery to die....leave it unplugged then after the battery dies, plug into charger and it should restart. Good luck!
  • I had the OTA update freeze on both my iPhone 5 and iPad Mini w/ Retina Display. In both cases, a hard reboot fixed the problem and both devices report having iOS 7.1.2 installed. Everything seems to work normally, so hopefully the freeze up didn't cause any other problems. I always reboot my devices before updating to avoid problems, but forgot to do so this time. :(
  • Saw the update notice, went for it via OTA, 2 hours later its the apple logo with progress bar about 50%. Hard reset-ed and all seems ok, at least my phone is working. Don't tell me its happening to everyone!?
  • iPhone 4 completely wiped out so I plugged into iTunes. Now it is saying "iTunes has detected an iPhone in recovery mode. You must restore this iPhone before it can be used with iTunes". I'm not going to update my iPhone 5c yet due to that. Trying to avoid problems Sent from the iMore App
  • Thanks for the tip, had the update frozen on my 4s and did the hard reset which resulted in the update working after that. SV
  • Work for me too
  • Worked for me on a 5s. First time this has happened since my first, a 3G :( No data loss like some others in this thread - everything seems fine. Thanks Rene.
  • You are an Angel, thank you, I was getting worried for a while there after I had to send a phone back to apple after an update killed my old 4 a while ago.
  • Mine has been a true nightmare. I got an error during the installation. I then restarted it and then couldn't connect to the home wifi. I did the hard reboot two times. Still no wifi. I then reset the phone as a new phone. Now having to reinstall all of my apps and it still won't sign on to the wifi at home even though it sees it. I have been using the correct password.
  • Okay I done that reboot thing and I waited for the Apple logo but it did not show any settings, instead it keeps showing the ITunes symbol and a charger symbol as to say plug into iTunes. WWell suppose I am not by a laptop because mine is in the shop now, so what else can I do to fix this? I have the 4s
  • i have the exact same problem right now with my ipad 4... help ...i dont know what to do ...i am afraid of these hack sites and jail breaking and all that shit i just want my ipad to work....ugh... stupid update ...any advice is much appreciated
    thanks
    beth
  • My phone froze on the progress bar when i was trying to update, I tried this method of restarting it, it completely worked fantastic, phone turned back on in i'd say about a minute, with the new software on there and everything :)
  • worked :)
  • iPhone 5 hung while updating. Hard reboot also not helping. help! I am with no phone now.
  • iPhone 5, 64GB, D/L'ed 7.1.2 via wifi. Screen went to half dim at about 1/3 on the progress bar.
    Thought, uh-oh. I haven't backed this up in an age (because the computer and Itunes it was synched to died, and I have to move the data and iPhone sync to another computer).
    Googled the update number and your site came up. The simple hard reboot fix did it.
    So far no damage noticed, but I did learn my lesson.
    Maxim: Backup twice , then Reboot before any OS upgrade on any device.
    Now I'd better Google how to get my iPhones sync to change its allegiance from a dead computer to my working laptop without losing data on either the phone ot the iTunes again.
    Moving ITunes data to a new location without losing anything confuses the heck out of me still..
    Thanks for your good work!
    Bob
  • It worked! Thank you!
  • Connect to itunes? I did it but now it take forever! What should I do now? Pls help.
  • Hard reboot worked for me too. I waited about 15 minutes before I did the reset.
  • I did the update through Itunes and all my data just disappeared and there was a 3 months back recovery data...
    Photos,Vids, Voicerecs, Whatsapps...everything just gone and I cant restore it using my last backup which i did right before installing this new update...It stops in the middle(around 40%) and its says that it could not create a backup or smth...
    I got this update which has not changed anything "at all" but lost all the important files...
    Would be just lifesaver if anyone could help. Thanks=(
  • Perfect! Thank you!
  • My update was absolutely flawless on my iPhone 5c!
  • Thank you so much worked perfectly
  • Had the same problem today when I tried to update my iPhone 5 64GB from 7.1.1 to 7.1.2. OTA update got to about 3/4 of the way on the displayed progressed bar and iPhone remained frozen in that state for over a hour before I decided that the update was probably corrupted. Did a hard reset with the power and home button and the iPhone rebooted itself and I checked the About information and it said the iOS was now 7.1.2...don't know how it happened or completed itself but I've double checked by trying to update via OTA and it says the software is up to date. Seems like a lot of people are having problems with this 7.1.2 update and I don't know if Apple realises that there's so many people having problems just trying to update. Anyways, if anyone experiences the same problem with their iphone freezing then leave it for awhile to hopefully let it complete the update in the background regardless of what the display shows and then do a hard reset and hopefully your iphone will update as normal like mine. :)
  • It worked for me. In an earlier update it happened as well. So for me is the second time and in both occasions the hard reboot worked fine. No information was lost and the the software was updated.
  • Not working for my iPhone 5S. After several attempts to restore via iTunes, hard resets and even an MacBook Pro update, the iTunes message keeps showing "The iPhone could not be restored. An unknown error occurred (1669)". In other words, my iPhone is dead and cannot use it.
  • Same thing. Locked 2/3 through the progress bar. Waited 15 minute with no change and then did the hard boot. Came back with the upgraded software version. I hope this is not a sign of things to come from Apple. This is the first lockup I've ever had during a software upgrade!
  • The reboot fixed it! My iPhone 5s is up and running on iOS 7.1.2!
  • AppleSoft at it again. CRAPPY update. Phone wont shut down now it only reboots when trying to power down and won't recognize in PC iTunes program to restore!>!>!
  • Worked perfectly! Thanks!
  • What if your home button doesnt work??
  • My home button didn't work but I tried it later and it was ok , so try again . Hope this helps . If not someone said wait till the battery runs down and when you recharge it come back to normal. Best of luck
  • I am having the same problem with the hard reboot, my lock button doesn't work. My phone was on 53% battery life before the update commenced. its now been four hours and I can still see the loading bar with the apple logo but I cant reboot or anything and I cant see how long I have to wait for the battery to die (normally its quite quick but its taking forever now!!!). Any tips?
  • Update sent my phone straight into recovery mode. Dumped some 200 photos that didn't back up overnight. I'm entering hour two of restoring everything from iCloud backup. Easily my worst update experience since 4.1.
  • This absolutely works perfectly... I just flipped over from the Blackberry world about 3 months ago, and this is my first real hiccup - glad this suggestion was so easily found by Google's search engine. Thank you.
  • Hi thank you so much for your advice on how to recover from the frozen update! Pressing the home and snooze button as if your are taking a picture worked! I dont think im ever guna attempt to update again! Panic over
  • Good advice, however can anyone recommend what to do with a broken lock button? Home button still works however my screen is still frozen on loading the update and can't put your advice into practice without the lock button. Apple drive me nuts, they don't even help you when it's there fault this is all happening!
  • I had the same problem. Solution was to let the battery go dead to turn the phone off, then plug in the charger to turn it back on. All fixed.
  • It didn't work, it just told me to connect to itunes. It happend to me while I was in school, I really needed it for school >:(
  • I'm happy to have found this page- was ready to restore when I realized I just needed to hold both buttons and do a hard restart. Whew, that saved a lot of problems. Thanks everybody!
  • I have an issue with my iphone 5 update of software. My power button is spoilt. Thus i cant power shut down my phone. Is there any other way to solve this issue? My phone has been hanged since last night when i tried to update the ios. :(
  • The remedy worked fine for my iPhone4, Model MC605AE/A, Carrier STC 16.0 in Saudi Arabia. I was really worried of getting corrupted my device. I faced this glitch in updating the iOS on my phone first time in the 3 years I have been using it. This has put a scar and quastion mark on the credibility of the Apple.
  • Thanks for this ! It worked for my iPhone 4, I was worried at the beginning but then I googled to see if I could find a solution and then I found this.... Thanks again!
  • I started to update to 7.1.2 and it froze on me in the startup screen.. my Power button is broke... WHAT CAN I DO???? :(
  • same problem with me ! someone help!
  • Me too and it won't hook up it iTunes
  • iPhone 4--made me connect to iTunes and recover. Still doing that. Pain in the ass. Everything was fine on my iPad 2.
  • what do i do if my buttons don't work properly :(
  • Worked for me. Thanks!!
  • Ipad4, update 7.1.2 froze. I have tried to hard reboot many times and nothing. It will come up with black screen and an iTunes circle but won't allow me to do anything. Then it turns off. How many times should I reboot. Or what else can I do.
  • thank you :) worked for me to :))
  • if i update the software on my iphone for ios 7.1.2 what will happen to my pictures or songs in my iphone plz help
  • It worked for me, hard reboot and done (upgrade frozen at about a third of the progress, after hard reboot, upgrade was completed).
  • totally froze on me (OTA) didn't have a clue and been fiddling with this all day, connected to comp, (backed-up/ deleted all my photos, damn) accepted defeat than googled to this post immediately and totally worked for me everyday is a skhool day THANK YOU SO MUCH easy if/ when you know how :-DDD
  • It bricked my iPhone 5. twice it stopped in middle of update and got stuck and 2x I did hard reboot. It kept telling me I had to update so third time it bricked my flipping phone. Ridiculous Apple, this is absolutely poor quality for a update that was supped to fix bugs, it created them instead!
  • Thank you so so so much, you saved me almost $300. My iPad was frozen from an update and I called apple, they asked me to pay $300 for technical support!! I didn't believe that!!!Then I googled this problem and this article came up. Within 5 minutes me iPad was back
    Your weird to normal. Thank you so so much, you save me $300 today
  • Thank you SO much for providing this information! My phone had been stuck loading for about 9 hours. Your trick worked and the software is showing as up to date. Thank You!
  • Thank you very much, you saved my holiday! I was able to restart my iPad mini thanks to you!
  • Finally got around to updating this morning and my iPhone 5s 64gb froze with about 35% progress. I scratched my head and said to myself, I will just go to iMore and see if this a common issue. I found this post and Rene's instructions saved my day! Thanks Rene! You rock!
  • you rock!! i did it with my iphone..thanks God and thanks to you...really like this post :))
    thanks a lot :))
  • my phone've been froze about 4 hours with the bar status is not moving forward, its just the final step that restore the data on iphone and then stucked,,,at first my friend told me to do so but i still surf the internet to look is it correct and safe, then found this post, and i believed in him and you, thank God.. this is really helpfull :)
  • Hey! Happened to me, after ~15 minutes I started googling :)
    Read your post, did it and all is well on my side now. So yeah, works
  • Worst case scenario if the IOS 7.1.2 doesn't let you restore due to "not eligible for this build" edit the host file by taking out any thing with .gps.apple it worked for me :)
  • Hello!! My iphone 4s froze mid update and my sleep/wake button doesn't work. When I plug it into my itunes it doesn't respond.. what can I do?! HELP!!
  • Yayyy ...thanks man!! U saved my money.. I was about to go to some servc center for that and never knew abt the hard boot thing too..thanks buddy for the info
  • So what do I do if I have an iPhone 5 w/the sleep/wake button that doesn't work and isn't repaired yet? :(
  • Hello
    I did my update for software this morning at it froze, I thought here we go a trip to the O2 store, but thought I would see if there was any info first on how to solve this issue and I came across this page, so thank you buddy it does work and my iPhone 5 is working again. :-)
  • My on off button doesn't work so how can I reboot my phone?
  • the home botton doesnt work on my phone.....
    what should i do now?
  • I have hard-rebooted my phone several times, and it still goes back to the image meaning Connect to iTunes. I can't use my phone at all.
  • Hey did you fix this mine is now doing the exact same thing. I dont have a computer to plug it into either :(
  • My sleep/wake button hasn't worked for a long time. So what's the fix now? Phone has been frozen for hours! Thanks!
  • My iphone 4s went blank to screen with itunes icon n cable. When connecting to itunes it needs recovery. N insteas of detecting an iphone its detecting my ipad to sync with. Where r APPLE solution to it? Hard reboot doesnt seems do much to it. Its been dead for the last 4 hours. How would u able to tell if the battery dries out? To try reset the home button again. Help pls anyone.
  • i have ipad3 wifi/gsm
    after update 7.1.2 with wifi ipad reboot and show usb cable and cant power on, only show usb cable, i try to restore with itunes but i have error 1 and cant do anythink, only usb cable in my ipad.
    any help to solve this problem ?
    thx
  • While updating My iPad 4 running 7.1.1 to 7.1.2 it just froze and went to the "plug lightning connector to iTunes" screen. I've had two major back surgeries and do not have access to my iMac. I am basically screwed aren't I??? Sent from the iMore App
  • I've tried the "screenshot" reboot numerous times. Right now I'm just trying to let the battery completely die.
    -
    That is the only idea I have or conceivable option given my current situation of not being able to access my iMac.
    -
    I had approximately 35gb of research pics and pdf's in iBooks that I I didn't have on my iPhone.
    -
    I backed up daily to my 55gb iCloud account.
    -
    I'm so frustrated I haven't had the mental energy to even think about it. Sent from the iMore App
  • My home button no longer works
    I downloaded the shadow button
    How can I do a hard reboot
    I'm stuck in update
  • hi i have the same problem, did you manage to find a solution??
  • Can you download ios 7.1.2 if you don't have the ios 7, every time I try I finished and then says error please help
  • it's not working on my iPad.... Do you have another solution for this problem?
  • My iphone 4S is frozen on the connect to itunes screen. I cannot hard boot it or anything. Apple wants $120 to fix this and I simply cannot afford that. Plus I got chewed out for it being my fault that I downloaded it. Please help,nothing is working.
  • THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! My iPod was frozen for at least six hours until I read this!
  • Hi Sir, After my Iphone 4S done with the updates patches to 7.1.2 reboot freeze.
    I tried your step hold down power and button until it reboot, it works for me. Thanks!
  • so how do I do a hard reset when my top button doesn't work? will allowing the battery to die and recharging fix it?
  • hi did you manage to find a solution, i have the same problem?
  • Thank you! It worked perfectly. I spent all day thinking it was my internet provider's fault!
  • My iPhone 4s froze when I started to update to the new iOS. I too followed your advice and did a hard reset. I did not loose any data. Thanks heaps..
  • it's been over 24 hours of ordeal, my iPhone 5s displays the 'connect-to-iTunes' (http://swapmyapp.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/HT1808-connect_to_itunes...) screen for 30 seconds and goes off to a black screen. Pressing the home+power buttons only brings back the logo (http://img.bhs4.com/fa/d/fadb5a19251a6e934ece57fb5ae52c9e4867eb0c_large.jpg) for 5 odd seconds before it goes back to the connect-to-iTunes screen yet again. Connecting to iTunes on my laptop (Windows 7 Prof) does not help as its no longer recognizing it on the top right bar. I then ran through a couple of hours of Youtube+apple site+internet research with not much luck. Not sure I am getting anywhere. Any help to reboot from scratch (I am at a point I am fine with getting a factory reset with data loss) is appreciated.
  • Mine has just done the same thing! Please let me know if/how you fixed it :(
  • The fix for the iOS 7.2 upgrade freeze worked like a charm.
  • Thanks for the fix. It worked wonderfully.
  • What if my lock button is broken? Do I just wait until the battery dies and the phone turns off?
  • Thank you so much for this simple fix. Worked great!
    I have a 32GB 5S. This was the first update on my new phone (OTA update to 7.1.2).
    I left it updating for a few hours, came back and the progress bar showed only ~2/3 complete.
    Gave it another half hour, no change, so I resorted to google which brought me here...
    I had run a back up before I started the update, but I hadn't rebooted first - thanks for that tip too (I must try and remember that one for next time!).
    So, I did the hard reboot...
    Checked my settings and I'm now on 7.1.2; all up to date!
    No loss of data, everything is fine.
    Thank you.
  • ok i have a challenge. my phone has been frozen for over an hour now while trying to update. i cant do a reboot because my sleep/wake button is broke. i tried to do use the method using itunes, but it keeps saying it cant connect because the device is passcode protected. what do i do?
  • my progress bar wasn't showing any progress. The hard reboot worked and I was running 7.1.2. Thank you!
  • Hi,
    I got a notofication for this update on my iPad. I see the red symbol over the settings icon and under 'general' it also says there's an update available. So I enter 'general' wehere the update details are shown. Only... no button of any sorts to actually install it, so it's just sitting there. I have iPad2 with IOS7 running (and one update after that..) Do I have to do a hard reboot also? Will my data be lost?
  • Ii just did the update on my brand spanking new 4s and im now stuck on the connect to itunes screen.. I dont have a computer, only a work laptop i cant put itunes on. Ive never has to use it as i download my music via itunes on my phone. I need my phone back! The hard reset doesnt work. The apple logo comes up, screen goes black and then the connect to itunes logo reappears. HELP!!!!!
  • Thanks it worked quickly and finished the install both on my iphone 4S and on my ipad!
  • Hi, any one can help me? my problem i try to update my IPAD MINI 16GB with cellular to IOS 7.1.2 through my PC/Loptop, but suddenly now its not work it look like freezing, and if you turn it on, you can on screen a cable draw plus arrow and itunes with logo, i'll try already to reboot but it dosn't work what should i do? Please Help Me?
  • Hi, any one can help me? my problem i try to update my IPAD MINI 16GB with cellular to IOS 7.1.2 through my PC/Loptop, but suddenly now its not work it look like freezing, and if you turn it on, you can on screen a cable draw plus arrow and itunes with logo, i'll try already to reboot but it dosn't work what should i do? Please Help Me?
  • Had the same situation on my iPhone 5c ended up connecting to iTunes was forced to do a factory reset now all my pics and everything is gone totally sucks didn't have enough memory to back it up a while ago if anyone knows of how to retrieve the non backed up photos that'd be amazing
  • my iphone 5s got stuck in "restoring firmware" process in itunes showing error 3014 while restoring it to 7.1.2. Help please
  • Perfect and simple. Thank you!
  • my iphone 5s got stuck in "restoring firmware" process in itunes showing error 3014 3004 while restoring it to 7.1.2.
    host file edited, Changed cable and also computer.
    Help please
  • hi, i'd be rather surprise if there's a solution to my case. My iPhone 5 freezes during the update installation. HOWEVER, the lock button is not in function (Apple's manufacture issue and my serial number is eligible for the free repair). Is there anything else I could do? I have tried to connect to iTunes on my computer, but does not connect...
  • I went to download the new update, but iTunes is saying I need to restore my iPhone 5c. I don't have the phone backed up. Help?
  • Hi Rene, Thank you so much! I had just updated the software when my iPhone 5 froze. Whilst making an appointment with the Apple store, I thought why not check online for a solution as surely I am not the only one with that issue. Luckily I came across this great site. I held the buttons you suggested and VOILA it "unfroze" and the normal screen appeared. It's all working fine again and I am really grateful as it saves me a lot of hassle plus a trip to the store. Thx again.
    Simone :-)
  • Thank you very much for the tip. It worked perfectly.
  • My phone has been on the Apple icon thing with the 'loading' line thing on it all day (5pm-now), and the sound of your reboot method sounds really useful! The problem is, my lock button doesn't work :'( is there another way i could reboot it or..? Please help!
  • It's okay! I let my phone run out of charge, its fully updated now :)
  • thanks worked for me =)
  • I'm barley updating my phone to iOS 7.1.2 and I tried to do it today and my phone was on "verifying update" for a long time so I just turned off my phone and held the power button then, when I tried to turn it back on, the phone said "connect to iTunes" and I thought my phone has been reseted. Is there any possible way I can keep all my pictures and contacts because I didn't back the up in iCloud?
  • I'm trying to update my wife's 5C, and itunes on my win 7 home premium keeps getting about 1/3 of the way downloading iOS 7.1.2 and stops. Ota won't work (doesn't download) either. Any ideas?
    I had no problems with the update ota on my 5S
  • Thank you - this solution worked perfectly!
  • Iphone update frozen, and broken sleep/wake button. Should I just let the battery die?
  • a few days ago, i have tried and successfull to jb IOS 7.1.2 (Pangu), all the features from cydia running well and smooth. a few cydia apps and resources running properly and good without any problem. (please backup to icloud before jb) Today i face a big problem after i restart my iphone. my iphone was freeze on the the boot apple logo startup.
    The solution what i did is:
    1. Connect the USB to the PC and sync to itunes (v11.3). 2. Hold down the device's Home button + on/off button simultaneously about 15 seconds untill iphone screen appeared to 'recovery mode' icon. 9http://km.support.apple.com/library/APPLE/APPLECARE_ALLGEOS/HT1808/HT180...) 3. From windows itunes, Click 'Restore' again to confirm that you want to restore your device to factory settings This will take about 1 hrs to complete. Itunes will verify the restore with apple. 4. done. 5. If step No.3 failed to complete, pls return and do again step No. 2.
  • Worked perfectly for my iPad mini. Thank you.
  • My iPhone froze during this update last night. I figured out myself to do the hard reboot and now it's updated to iOS 7.1.2 and works fine.
  • I have updated my ipad device to 7.1.2. Now I am unable to install ipa. Please help.
  • I'm unable to do a hard reboot because the top button of my phone is broken. Is there another way to do this?
  • Even though the larger picture is IOS 8 still Apple rolled out this update which is very much appreciated and are posiitive signs that Apple just dont ignore anything!One of the important fix I found out in IOS7.1.2 is that While querying for contacts when device was locked, Siri listed the possible choices and an option ‘More’ .Using ‘More’ anyone with access to device could view All Contacts list without device asking for password.This is fixed now. Find more information on IOS7.1.2 here- http://www.techuntold.com/ios-update-7-1-2/
  • I tried updating this version and there is a white screen with the apple logo frozen for 3-4 hours now. I tried connecting to itunes on my laptop but for it to work, it said I had to respond from my phone. Since its frozen, I can't. I've tried waiting for the battery to drain and maybe turn off but that hasn't worked either. Can someone pleease help?
  • Hi I tried updating and it froze and now I would like to reboot only the button on the top of my phone hasn't worked in months so I can't is there any other way to reboot?
  • I can't reboot because my sleep/awake/on/off button or whatever it is called isn't working either… I can't press it like I normally should and it isn't working. Is there any option at all to get it off frozen mode?
  • I was updating my iPhone 5 and it froze, it been like that all day. I can't connect it to itunes because i have a chromebook and you cant download itunes on a chromebook. Does anybody know what i can do?
  • If your Iphone 5 freezes up while installing any updates there is a solution. I did research and could not find any answer so I had to figure it out on my own. All you need to do is hold down on all buttons and it will reset (volume up and down, reset button and the wake button. I hope this helps cause it worked for me!
  • Thanks, you saved me!
  • hi just would like to know if the upgrade from IOS 4.3.5 to IOS 7.1.2, how much is the upgrading fee or free of charge?
  • hi just would like to know if the upgrade from IOS 4.3.5 to IOS 7.1.2, how much is the upgrading fee or free of charge?
  • Hey, i tried installing the IOS 7.1.2 but it kept showing the charger symbol and itunes. i tried doing steps you said that press the home button and sleep/wake button, and when it turns black then shows the apple logo it kept coming back to charge and itunes symbol. what can i do?
  • Hi.Iphone 4s update.
  • What can I do?
  • Is it bad to reset my phone after installing a bunch of apps that made it slow more than a few times
  • I updated my ipad then it froze i let it die now im chargin it and hoping it will turn on what should i do
  • iPhone 5 locked up on update. This worked for me. Thanks!
  • Hey Michaelallan Probadora! What's your take? Leave a comment.I think ill see it first,before i say what i've got