How To Fix Unable to Activate, An Update Is Required To Activate Your iPhone

So, The iPhone Will Not iPhone Because It Needs A Buggy Update? Okay.

Okay, so I know the title was a bit of a mouthful, but… honestly what else would you title an article that is about trying to resolve a problem with your phone when you have no signal and a shutdown button that tells you to update your device? Only it does not update your device, nor does it activate it after getting one of the recent updates from Apple?

Okay, So What Is Going On With My Phone?

Besides a very questionable title, what is going on with some people’s phones? Well, in short, people are getting prompted to update their phones in order to activate them, okay, standard stuff. However, the problem arises when that update fails, and the phone practically falls apart (metaphorically) because the update keeps failing.

Sounds really serious, is there anything that can be done to fix this issue for users? My answer would be… potentially. However, we will cross that potentially when we get to the end of the list of solutions. For now, let us begin listing off those potential helpful tools, shall we?

So, How Do We Fix This Problem?

Well, first off, let us first attempt to fix the problem by turning off the device and restarting it after a minute or two has passed. Yes, it is cliched, and most people probably have tried this method first above everything else, but it is still a suggestion I should make.

However, if that method fails, time for surgery! Moreover, by surgery, I mean simply removing the SIM card from the back of the phone, waiting a minute or two, and then sliding the card back into place. If the first method does not work, you can remove the card from its socket once more and then turn off your phone and now put it back in and restarting it

If working with the SIM card does not resolve the issue, the next idea I have is to go to your computer, turn it on (if its not on already), open up iTunes and update it (if its not already), connect your phone to your computer with a USB cable and try to update it from that perspective.

Now, if this method does not work, we are going to attempt to do something similar now.

The next attempt to make when remedying this situation is to keep your phone connected to your computer and leave iTunes up. We are going to force restart your phone from this interface and hope it wakes the phone up in order to get us through our first error.

Now, there are a few different ways to restart your phone, it is all depending on which generation you own since Apple thought it would be a great idea to change how the interface works for practically every generation, but me complaining about that will not change the more significant issue here.

However, once you have discovered the method of restarting your phone from iTunes (regardless of the method needed to get to this stage), you should see two different options in front of you. These options have their respective abilities, but you are going to go with the first option.

Moreover, that option is going to be the update option. Once you have selected this option; please follow the onscreen instructions as they appear before you, as the instructions are more than capable of taking you the rest of the way from here, my friends.

That Is Great And All, But What Should We Do If This Option Fails Us, As Well?

Sadly, if this option fails to yield the results we want, then the only other recommendation I have is to set up an appointment with Apple’s customer support and let them take the wheel from here.

I always hate the idea of leaving articles as “if nothing else works, call the help desk,” because it always feels like I am failing those who read these pages looking for help, but sometimes it is ultimately out of my hands to assist even with these tips.

Despite that, Apple’s customer support is excellent for what they offer. If these tips or ideals do not yield satisfactory results, then I am sure one of their agents can help point you in the right direction, my friends.

Final Thoughts And Opinions.

Once again, I do hope this article of ours provides some clarity and insight for anyone suffering from this issue. It is always frustrating when these errors happen because often it feels impossible to fix them at times; however, I ask that you never give up on trying to solve these problems yourself, because, who knows, you might discover something new.