How to unlock a disabled iPhone 4s. What to do if your device is locked and the error “iPhone, iPad or iPod touch is disabled, connect to iTunes. Why does the error “Apple device is disabled or blocked, connect to iTu” appear?
The army of smartphone fans is growing day by day; the more devices are used every day, the more problems arise with them. In today’s article, we will analyze the situation when an iPhone (any model) asks to connect to iTunes and does not turn on.
The problem is common and well known to servicemen; fixing it takes about half an hour of work and 1500-2000 rubles of money. In order not to waste the family budget, we will try to turn on the iPhone on our own, at home.
Causes
There are many reasons, it is difficult to systematize them, but several popular ones can be identified:
- The firmware crashes - this is precisely why the iPhone 5, 6, 7 models do not turn on, iTunes and the cord are on fire. We'll look at how to reflash the device in the next section.
- A hardware error, as a result of which some system files were deleted or corrupted, again, flashing will help. Experts call it “iPhone stuck on a cord.”
- The error may occur after falling onto a hard surface.
- Water gets inside the device.
What should you do if your iPhone seems to be loading, but won’t turn on, displays a “string” and asks you to connect to iTunes? Let's look at the options for solving the problem below.
Solution
To turn on a broken iPhone, follow the steps strictly according to the instructions. If you don’t understand something, at the end of the article there will be video instructions on how to turn on an iPhone of any model through the official iTunes software if it does not turn on. The instructions apply to all models of Apple smartphones, 4, 5, 5S, 6, 6 plus, 7, 7 plus.
- Download a program called iTunes from the official Apple website (link).
- Install iTunes and download the firmware for your iPhone model.
- Turn off the iPhone and connect it to the computer using the standard cable included (can be replaced with a good copy).
- Press the “HOME” and “POWER” buttons together for 5 seconds and wait about 10 seconds.
- After 10 seconds, release “POWER” (aka lock), but leave “HOME” pressed!
- After some time, iTunes will display a message about DFU mode, now we can proceed to restoring the firmware.
- In iTunes, find the “Restore” button and hold down “Shift” and press it.
- In the window that appears, select the previously downloaded file with the extension .ipsw and confirm the choice.
- The firmware recovery process has begun, now we are waiting for completion.
You need to remember that when flashing, all data will be erased. If you don't have a backup or you stored all your photos on a dead device without using iCloud, it won't be possible to restore them. In this case, you need to immediately contact authorized service centers, they will help you, but they will ask for good money for the work.
Possible difficulties
If errors occur during the flashing process, for example a warning appears with error No. 9, then the situation is much worse. Most likely, an important microcircuit inside the phone is damaged; it is unlikely that you can fix it yourself. In this case, you will have to contact a repairman, since without special equipment it is not possible to re-solder the microcircuit. Although our craftsmen have learned to do this too, I’ll leave a video about re-soldering a microcircuit with your own hands, in case it comes in handy for someone.
It happens that other types of problems arise when the iPhone does not turn on, a daisy appears on the screen and nothing happens. Most likely you will have to reflash the device, but first we’ll try to do a hard reboot, maybe it will help. Don’t be alarmed, there’s nothing complicated or scary; you won’t even lose data, as if you decide to reflash your iPhone.
Instructions on how to do a hard reboot, if the iPhone does not turn on, the iTunes icon and cable appear on the screen
- Press and hold the lock button and the home button
- We wait about 5-10 seconds
- There is a chance that phone glitches will disappear
- If it doesn’t help, look at the previous section and repeat everything according to the instructions.
conclusions
After several attempts, your smartphone still doesn’t come to life? In this case, the optimal solution would be to turn to experienced specialists, although this will not be free, you will protect yourself from the risk of completely “bricking” an expensive device. What to do when the iPhone 5 s does not turn on and in an ultimatum form demands to connect to iTunes, you now know, read carefully and watch the video, in 90% of cases this will solve the problem.
Video instruction
One of the undoubted advantages of Apple devices is that the set password will prevent unwanted persons from accessing your personal information, even if the device is lost or stolen. However, if you suddenly forgot the password for the device, such protection can play a cruel joke on you, which means that the device can only be unlocked using iTunes.
If you forgot the password for your iPod, iPad or iPod that does not have or does not use Touch ID, after several incorrect entry attempts the device will be locked for a certain period of time, and with each new unsuccessful attempt this time will increase.
In the end, things can get to the point where the device is completely blocked, displaying an error message to the user: “iPad is disabled. Connect to iTunes." How to unlock in this case? One thing is clear - you can’t do it without the help of iTunes.
Method 1: Reset the password attempt counter
Please note that you can unlock your device only on a computer with iTunes installed on which trust was previously established between the device and iTunes, i.e. Previously, you had to manage your Apple device on this computer.
1. Connect your device to your computer using a USB cable, and then launch iTunes. When the program detects your gadget, click on the icon with the image of your device in the upper area of the window.
2. You will be taken to the management window for your Apple device. Click on the “Synchronize” button and wait for the process to complete. As a rule, this step is enough to reset the counter, but if the device is still blocked, move on.
In the lower area of the window, click the button "Synchronize" .
3. As soon as iTunes starts syncing with your device, you will need to cancel it by clicking the cross icon in the top area of the program.
After completing these steps, the counter for incorrect password entries will be reset, which means you have several more attempts to enter the password to unlock the device.
Method 2: Restore from Backup
This method is applicable only if a copy of iTunes was created on your computer through the iTunes program, not protected by a password (in this case, the “Find My iPhone” function must be disabled on the iPhone itself).
To restore from an existing backup on your computer, open the device management menu on the tab "Review" .
In the block "Backups" check the box next to “This PC” and then click the button "Restore from copy" .
Unfortunately, you won't be able to reset your password any other way, because... Apple devices have a high level of protection against theft and hacking. If you have your own recommendations on how to unlock an iPhone via iTunes, share them in the comments.
Using password protection allows you to reliably protect data on iPhone smartphones from access by unauthorized persons. And this protection works until the user forgets his password - in which case the protection turns into misadventures in regaining access to his device. And when you try to guess the password, the message “iPhone is disabled, connect to iTunes” appears - how to unlock the device when this error occurs?
The message “iPhone is disabled, connect to iTunes” appears on the screens of iOS devices for a reason – it is the result of an incorrect password entry. Password protection is actively used to prevent unauthorized persons from accessing information stored on a smartphone. At work, iPhones can be picked up by colleagues, and at home by small children.
Sometimes, after the intervention of someone else’s hands, settings in iPhone smartphones are lost, shortcuts disappear, unnecessary programs appear - all this only causes irritation, but not delight. Every patience has its limits. Therefore, users who are tired of the actions of other people often protect the data stored on their smartphones using passwords. If you want to log in, enter your password.
A lot has been written about what a good password should be:
- The password should be complex, but memorable for the iPhone owner;
- The password must not contain personal information. For example, you should not set important dates as passwords;
- The password must not consist of a sequence of numbers. For example, passwords “1234” or “0000” do not count as security at all.
By setting some complex combinations of numbers to log into the system, users often forget the passwords they created. When multiple attempts are made to guess the password, the message “iPhone is disabled, connect to iTunes” appears on the smartphone screen. A similar message will appear if some unauthorized person tries to guess the password - after several attempts, the iPhone will lock and require connection to iTunes.
The protection system in iPhone smartphones is built on the principle of “neither yourself nor people.” That is, the device denies access to data, requiring it to be restored from a backup using iTunes.
An error requiring you to connect to iTunes does not occur after the first incorrect attempt to enter your password. To begin with, the user is given as many as six attempts, after which the iPhone will be locked for one minute, giving time to come to his senses and remember the password (or just quit this idea). After a few more attempts, the iPhone is completely blocked, which is an excellent obstacle to further guessing the password for logging into the system and accessing data.
Unlocking with iTunes
The procedure that we will describe in our instructions has nothing to do with unlocking. In fact, this is a complete reset to the original factory settings followed by restoring data from a backup. This implies the following fact - if you use password protection, be sure to create backup copies and store data in iCloud and other cloud services.
This requirement is mandatory - tomorrow, when your brainless colleague decides to rummage through your smartphone and locks it by repeatedly entering the wrong password, you will have to recover your data. And you can just give your colleague a slap on the wrist.
Before you begin the recovery procedure, you need to connect your iPhone to a computer running iTunes. If iTunes does not ask you to enter a password, go to the “Browse” tab, go down to the “Backups” section and start backing up. We select “This computer” as the backup storage location - only in this case will we create a complete copy, including not only settings, but also multimedia files.
After this we perform the following steps:
- Completely turn off the power to the smartphone;
- Launch iTunes on your computer and connect your smartphone to your PC;
- Press and hold the power/lock button and the Home button on your smartphone for 10 seconds;
- After 10 seconds, release the power/lock button, continue to hold “Home” for another 10 seconds;
- Release the Home button.
When iTunes detects an iPhone connected in recovery mode, it will prompt you to perform the recovery procedure. Click on the “Restore” button and leave the smartphone alone. Now you need to wait for the procedure to complete and begin extracting data from the backup. To do this, you need to start your smartphone in normal mode, select the latest backup and download it to your iPhone.
Please note that iPhones running the latest operating system do not allow backups to be made while locked. In this case, you will have to rely on having the most recent backup made before the device was locked.
Unlocking via Find My iPhone
You don't have access to your computer with iTunes, but want to unlock it and continue using your iPhone? In this case You should count on the Find My iPhone function and the availability of saved data in the iCloud cloud service– contacts, photos, reminders, notes, calendar data, application data and much more are saved here. If you don’t have a computer with a full backup at hand, this will be enough to work with the iPhone.
In order to reset the password request, you need to log into iCloud from any other computer or tablet, log in with your Apple ID, select your iPhone and remotely erase data. After this, we perform the initial setup of the smartphone, log in with Apple ID and gain access to our data, files, contacts and other personal information. You can restore the rest of the data later, from a backup stored on your personal computer (for example, on your home or work computer).
This method will only work if Find My iPhone is enabled on your iPhone. It is also necessary to have an Internet connection - through this connection, the iPhone will receive a command to remotely erase data.
The amount of personal data on mobile devices is constantly growing. Previously, apart from the address book, SMS and photos, there was nothing interesting on the phone. Now it stores social network profiles, bank cards, email correspondence and much more that I would like to protect from prying eyes.
Setting a password is the simplest, but at the same time quite problematic method of protection. Ten incorrect input attempts will lead to a complete locking of the device, and a notification will appear on the screen: “iPhone is disabled, connect to iTunes.” How to unlock a smartphone after it appears, we will understand in this material.
In case of loss or theft, Apple has provided protection in its devices that does not allow password locking to be bypassed using so-called brute force. The “brute force” method consists of gaining access by selecting a combination. For example, for a standard four-digit code their number is 10,000, and for an enhanced six-digit code - one million. Let's see how it works.
- The first time the smartphone is locked for one minute after the password is entered incorrectly six times in a row.
- Subsequent attempts can be made at intervals of 5 and 15 minutes. After the ninth time, the iPhone is blocked for one hour. During this time, you can try to write to relatives who may know the password or remember it themselves.
- If the last attempt fails, the smartphone is permanently blocked. It is useless to write to Apple technical support and ask to return access to the device. The company does not store information about passwords and therefore cannot help in this situation.
As you can see, accidentally locking your phone is not that easy. In total, this will require at least an hour and a half of active action.
Unlock
Despite the “menacing” appearance of the notification that appeared, nothing terrible actually happened. All you need is a computer with iTunes installed and a little luck. Older versions of iOS allowed the attempt counter to be reset. Thus, by connecting an iPhone 4S or 5S to a PC, it was possible to ultimately unlock the device by sequentially selecting combinations. In modern firmware, this “loophole” has been eliminated for security reasons. The only option left is to restore from a backup.
Using a Backup
If you have a habit of regularly backing up your iPhone contents, you can breathe a sigh of relief. When you perform a restore procedure from a locally stored backup, the old password is automatically reset.
- We connect the smartphone to the computer using a USB cable. At default settings, iTunes will automatically open the device management page. If this does not happen, click on the button indicated by the arrow. In the drop-down menu, select the iPhone to which access has been lost.
- Go to the “Backups” section. The area indicated by the arrow lists previously performed backups. If local is present in the list, click on the button marked with a frame.
- A small pop-up window will appear. By default, the system always selects the latest copy for recovery. Losing a small amount of data is inevitable even with regular backups, but it is still better than completely erasing it.
Recovery Mode
Not everyone creates local copies; many successfully use automatic data synchronization via the iCloud cloud. However, when your iPhone gets locked because you entered the password incorrectly, you will still have to resort to iTunes.
- We connect the device to the PC and use the forced recovery mode, provided in case of serious firmware failures. For iPhone X and Series 8, the transition to it is as follows. On the left side, briefly press the volume up and then down buttons. After that, on the right side, press and hold the power button until the picture shown in the screenshot appears, displaying the iTunes logo and the Lightning cable connector.
- iPhone 7 owners need to briefly press the Volume Down button and then hold the Power key.
- Users of 6S and earlier models need to simultaneously press the Home key and turn off the power while holding them there.
- After successfully transferring the smartphone to DFU mode, in the iTunes window, click the button indicated in the screenshot.
- A pop-up window will appear with information about the consequences of your actions and controls. Press the middle button on it.
As a result of the performed actions, the program will automatically update the connected device to the latest version of the OS, simultaneously erasing all data from it and resetting the access password. After this, the smartphone can be restored from a cloud copy or configured as new.
Auto erase
If desired, you can configure the function to automatically erase data after ten unsuccessful attempts. As a result, you can solve two problems at once: protect your personal data in case you lose your device and prevent it from being blocked if you forget the access code.
- Open the settings and look for the area indicated by the frame in the screenshot.
- Enter the access password to the protected OS section.
- Scroll the page that opens down to the very end. Turn the automatic erase switch to the on position.
With iCloud backup configured, this setting will save time on recovery and eliminate the need for using a computer.
Possible problems
The unlocking operation does not always go as smoothly as described above. In some cases, errors may occur. Let's look at a few of the most common ones.
"Find iPhone"
Restoring from a local backup is not possible if the Find My iPhone feature is enabled, which is one of the main security measures in case the device is lost. Thanks to its use, search by geolocation and remote erasure of data become available. In our case, the appearance of such a notification means that you will have to use DFU mode to unlock.
After completing the forced recovery, you can restore user data from a local or cloud copy.
iTunes doesn't recognize iPhone
In some cases, iTunes cannot recognize the iPhone when we try to connect to the PC via a USB cable. In the Windows operating system, an error with code 0xe8000015 appears. Sometimes it is accompanied by additional text information about receiving an incorrect response from the device. Typically, this behavior is due to a mismatch between the iTunes release and the iPhone firmware, which means you missed a major update.
- Call the “About the program” menu and look at the version number installed on the PC. You can always check the relevance on the iTunes page and from there download the latest build for the OS used on the desktop.
- Force reboot your iPhone. The device needs to be rebooted, not turned off and on again. The phone will still remain locked, but internal software errors will be eliminated. This operation is performed in the same way as switching to recovery mode described above. Following these steps should resolve the connection error 0xe8000015, after which you can try the recovery again.
Finally
As you can see, removing the security lock is quite simple, but having a local backup is not always a necessary condition. To ensure that your data is saved, you must back it up to the cloud. In this case, even a complete reset of the device will not lead to their loss.
Video instructions
To better understand how the described operations are performed, watch the thematic video below.
If you are the proud owner of an iPhone or iPad, then you will, of course, do everything to protect your device. Developers from Apple have built in many ways to do this, and one of these ways is to set a password on the lock screen. And it is by using this blocking that you may sooner or later see the message “iPhone is disabled, connect to iTunes.”
Reasons for the error
Everything is extremely simple. If you enter the password incorrectly several times when trying to unlock the screen, the device will first give you a temporary warning and then completely lock your iPhone. This was done, of course, for security purposes, so that an attacker could not turn on your device simply by guessing the password by trial and error. But sometimes you can make a mistake yourself by forgetting your password or letting children near your phone who, without realizing their actions, will cause your device to be blocked in a similar way.
There is a way to solve this problem, and even more than one.
“The device is disconnected, connect to iTunes” - solving the problem via iTunes
This method will help you save files on your phone, but will still require you to remember the password for a locked device. It is really useful if you know the password and the blocking was not your fault. Do the following:
This and subsequent solutions are relevant for any version of iPhone, iPad and iPod touch.
Unfortunately, this method only works if your Windows or MacOS computer is already paired with your iPhone. If the linked device does not exist, iTunes will first ask whether to grant access to this computer, and then ask for confirmation directly from the phone screen.
Of course, you cannot give this confirmation. However, for such cases there are other ways to solve this problem.
Restoring from a backup version of a device
If you've been proactive and backed up your device from time to time, then it's time to pat yourself on the back for it. After all, although rolling back to a backup copy will deprive you of some of the data that was created after receiving a copy of the device, most of the data should remain with you. If you are satisfied with the state of the copy, you should start restoring your iPhone from the backup. We'll look at restoring from a backup via iTunes, although there are other ways to do this:
If the copy is also password protected or access was not possible through this method for another reason, all that remains is to reset the device and completely delete all data.
Hard reset your iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch
By using this method, you will lose all data on your iPhone.
If it has come to this method, then it means that the previous ones did not help you and you have no choice. Fortunately, there is a special program that can help you reduce your losses at least a little. Thus, the iFunbox program will help you download some multimedia files (photos, videos) from your device, even if you do not have access to it.
Once all salvageable files have been saved, do the following:
iTunes may require you to disable Find my iPhone to restore your device. You can do this on the iCloud website by logging into your account.
How to avoid such blocking in the future
To avoid getting into a similar situation in the future, or to make solving this problem easier, you just need to follow a few simple rules:
- Don't forget your password. After all, any such blocking is necessary so that you and only you can gain access to the device. Therefore, remembering the password created for blocking is extremely important.
- Keep strangers and small children away from your device. Apple devices are quite expensive, and being locked due to an incorrect password is far from the worst thing that can happen to your device if you are negligent.
- Create backups regularly. This will help you avoid losing data.
- Connect your device to a computer with iTunes installed, even if you don't need to. This will give you more options when access to the device is lost.
Now you know what to do if your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch displays a blocked message and asks you to connect to iTunes. And although anyone can get into this situation, only you can make sure that from a minor nuisance it does not become a big problem.
