By Michael | Last Updated
“My iPhone 12 pro got a screen saying iPhone is unavailable. This iPhone has been updated to the newest iOS. I did not know what happened to my iPhone while I was sleeping. Please help!”
To protect the privacy of our devices, we often set up a digital passcode as the first line of defence for our iPhones. However, when you forget your iPhone passcode or mistakenly touch the unlock button on your iPhone several times, this line of defence also keeps you out of the iPhone,such as "iPhone unavailable". What do you do when your iphone says iphone unavailable? In this article , you will get useful methods to unlock the locked iPhone.
You may be trying to figure out "what does it mean when my iphone says iphone unavailable". iPhone unavailable means you can't access your iPhone until you enter the correct password, it doesn't mean the iPhone is obsolete. In addition, enter incorrect passcode several times will also prompt you with "iPhone is disabled" or "Security Lockout" .
Why iPhone unavailable message appears on the screen? After the several incorrect passwords, this message comes to stop you from guessing the right passcodes for a while. You still have the opportunity to try to unlock your device by entering the correct passcode before it is completely locked. The amount of time on the iPhone unavailable screen depends on how many times you enter the wrong passcode. Here are the time periods before the iPhone was fully locked.
▪ Incorrect password entered 5 times - iPhone unavailable, please try again in 1 minute
▪ Incorrect password entered 7 times - iPhone unavailable, please try again in 5 minutes
▪ Incorrect password entered 8 times - iPhone unavailable, please try again in 15 minutes
▪ Incorrect password entered 9 times - iPhone unavailable, please try again in 1 hour
▪ Incorrect password entered 10 times - iPhone unavailable, now you have to reset or erase the device to fix the iPhone unavailable. No timer shows on the screen.
For the iPhone which has been updated to iOS 15.2 or later version, iPhone unavailable message will come if the user entered the wrong password for eight times. After the night wrong attempts, the security lockout message will be on. At the same time, Apple provides an option to erase iPhone with the Apple ID password if an Apple ID account is used on the iPhone. However, for the iPhone users whose iOS version is lower than 15.2, they will only get the Emergency button at the bottom after several wrong password attempts.
You can directly bypass iPhone unavailable screen with the below steps:
Step 1: On iPhone Unavailable-try again in 15 minutes or Security Lockout-try again in 15 minutes screen, go to tap the Erase iPhone button at the bottom.
Step 2: Tap Erase iPhone on Erase All Contents & Settings screen.
Step 3: Input the Apple ID password and then the iPhone will be erased immediately. When the process is complete, you can set up the iPhone as a new device.
Tips: For the iPhone with iOS 17 or later system, the Erase iPhone option on iPhone Unavailable screen is replaced by Forgot Passcode? option. And you need to tap Start iPhone Reset in the next screen. Then enter the Apple ID passcode to erase iPhone.
How to fix an iPhone unavailable without Apple ID or iTunes? If you realize the potential dangers of losing your phone and having an easy-to-guess passcode and decide to upgrade your iPhone's passcode to an alphanumeric one, you may quickly forget the combination.
Apple has added a "Forgot Passcode" feature in iOS 17 that allows you to change your passcode by entering your old passcode if you can't remember your new one within 72 hours of resetting your passcode.
Step 1: Enter the wrong passcode continuously until the iPhone security lockout mode is triggered.
Step 2: Tap the "Forgot Passcode" button at the bottom right corner and then tap "Enter Previous Passcode".
Step 3: Enter the previous passcode, set a new passcode for the device, and verify it, you can use the newly created passcode to unlock your iPhone. if you prefer other passcode types instead of the six-digit passcode, click "Passcode Options".
If there is no option to erase iPhone on iPhone unavailable screen, you can use iSunshare iPhone Passcode Genius to unlock an unavailable/disabled iPhone without any passcode. The detailed steps are listed below:
Step 1: Launch iPhone Passcode Genius on a Windows/Mac computer and click the Unlock Lock Screen module.
Step 2: Click the Start button. Then put the iPhone into recovery mode and make it connected with your computer. Click the Next button to continue.
Step 3: iPhone Passcode Genius will match the latest iOS firmware for you. It is up to you to save the download firmware to any location on your computer. And then, click the Download button to proceed.
Step 4: Minutes later, the firmware is downloaded and verified. Now you can click the Unlock button to begin unlocking.
Step 5: Finally, your iPhone passcode is removed and all data on iPhone is wiping off.
iTunes (Finder in Mac)is one of the best solutions to restore unavailable iPhone to factory settings in recovery mode if your unavailable iPhone could be detected by your Windows or Mac computer. Here Windows computer is set as an example.
Step 1: Make your iPhone enter recovery mode and then connect it to your computer.
Step 2:iTunes will launch automatically with the Restore option. Click the Restore button on the pop-out prompt.
Step 3: Hit on Restore and Update button to go ahead.
Step 4: Click the Next and then the Agree button on the iPhone Software Update pop-out windows.
Step 5: In no time, iTunes start downloading the latest iOS on your device. And it will be installed after downloading. When this process ends, you will get the successful restore prompt. Meanwhile, your iPhone will be restarted and display the Hello screen.
If you want to use Find My iPhone to bypass iPhone unavailable screen, you need to make sure that Find My iPhone function has been enabled on the unavailable iPhone before it becomes unavailable.
Step 1: Sign into iCloud.com with your Apple ID and then go to click on Find iPhone option.
Step 2:Hit on All Devices on the top bar and choose your unavailable iPhone from the drop-down menu.
Step 3: Click on Erase iPhone option and then the Erase option to wipe all contents and settings on the unavailable iPhone. Minutes later, you will get an erased iPhone.
When the iPhone is locked with iPhone unavailable screen, you can try the above methods to unlock it easily. Is there any way to unlock the unavailable iPhone without losing data? Yes, Apple has made this possible after the release of iOS 17. But you need to have the previous passcode and change it within 72 hours. Besides, if you keep the habit of backing up iPhone data regularly, you can restore the iPhone data after it is unlocked.
