New iPhone SE Woes (restoring from Mac)

My brand new iPhone SE 2020 has been revived and restoration of the data from my old dead iPhone SE that resides on my MacBook Pro 17" 2011 running High Sierra has been accomplished! I have the staff at the Rogers, AR Simply Mac store to thank for this.

I spent four hours there yesterday, with 3 different staff assisting me while they were also helping other customers. I got to do a lot of the work myself but I hope a good time was had by all.

Here's roughly what was done:

Simply Mac staff restored my iPhone that was stuck in restore mode to what would match an original newly shipped state and downloaded and installed iOS 15.4 on it using their computer (I believe it was running Mohave) and store WiFi.

Under their direction, I went through all the steps for a new setup, but iTunes on my Mac still could not access it. We checked via Software Update and a security update (2020 update 5 I think) that included a new iTunes was available. I installed it using the store's WiFi.

Now when attaching the new iPhone, a message appeared in Finder indicating an update was needed. Thus turned out to be another update to iTunes and after that was completed, the iPhone was recognized and the last backup of the 1st gen SE was restored without problems. I could even perform a backup of the newly restored and reconstructed iPhone SE without any access to the internet (which would be my normal mode of doing that at home.)

We do NOT know what step I did earlier that got me into this mess. Simply Mac staff believe that my download of either iOS 15.3.1 or 15.4 or perhaps a MacOS update that I did *using cellular data* was somehow corrupted, without expressed error or warning. I have committed to driving the 10 miles each way to the Kingston Public Library and using their WiFi whenever I have an iOS or MacOS update to perform. I swore this oath on my honor to the Simply Mac staff.

Again, kudos to the staff of the Rogers Simply Mac store. Pretty much the last thing I said to them could be a motto for their store and their company, if someone hasn't already thought of it:

"Simply Mac is Simply the Best".

It's true.

Helpful. But I was hoping there was a way to AVOID the forced update. I mean 15.3 to 15.3.1? Come ON! No neighbor nearby has Wi-Fi or ethernet or if they do, it is not unlimited and I don't want to force the 6 gb traffic onto their account.

It's just that I've not seen the forced update with my previous iPhone SE. Granted, the previous SE is 5 years old. But Apple, thus feels like a step backwards for minimal security enforcement, especially with a BRAND NEW out of the box iPhone.

Nearest Starbucks is 60 miles away. Neither Walmart (both half hour away) have Wi-Fi internet. I guess I can spend the half hour each way (and the fuel) and try the public library's connection. Thanks, Apple.

I took the six hour hit and let iTunes download the 15.3.1 uodate overnight via cellular hotspot connection. I normally don't involve myself in such things on Sunday mornings. But I need to get back on an iPhone. Or so I thought I did before this morning.

Restoring an iPhone (my 4s and 1st gen SE experiences at least) was a simple and straightforward process. Apple has made it difficult, unsure and even obtuse now. No one who needs (perhaps desperately) to restore their data to their iPhone should be forced into an update, let alone something like 15.3 to ..1 ! Incompatibility should be handled by Apple developers not by Apple customers.

So here's what happened. With the update downloaded, I started iTunes and connected the brand new iPhone SE booted into restore mode. ITunes offered either the Update or Restore paths. Update did nothing more than check the Apple server, tell me there was a problem with the iPhone and that it has to be restored, wiping all data on it in the process. I hadn't done much with it yet and there was no option to back it up yet (How about that?!) so I dutifully chose Restore. iTunes steps observed:

Unpacking software...

Preparing iPhone for restore (iPhone looks like it is booting)

Waiting for iPhone (iPhone still booting?)

Preparing iPhone for restore

Verifying iPhone with Apple (This seems to appear way too quickly!)

Then I get an error dialog saying,

"The iPhone 'iPhone' could not be restored. An unknown error occurred (10)."

The iPhone then goes dark and stays that way until disconnected or iTunes is exited. Then it will boot, but only into restore mode! As advised by "More info", I restarted everything and tried again since as stated above I have the latest iTunes for Sierra. Actually, I tried a total of four times but this defines insanity.

I now have a $500 new brick that only boots into restore mode. I'm going to box the new brick up and send it back to Apple since I refuse to own any hardwsre / software that can get one into such a dead end situation. I have been with Apple since the Apple I, but if I can't get my 1st gen SE repaired and then restored with the data I have backed up on my computer, I will start over (fortunately I have iExplorer to manually build what I can from my backup) on a brand new Android phone.

Thought for the fun of it I would try again with the immediately previous version of iTunes that I had (12.8.0.150 to be precise.) But now evidently 15.4 has been released and I must download that first before my iPhone can be anything other than a $500 brick! With my cellular only connection, no thanks. I have a version of iOS (15.3.1) already on my MacBook that is very recent, more than acceptable for this new iPhone SE (newer than what it showed up with less than a week ago.) Why can't I use that and at least get my iPhone up again? WHATEVER HAPPENED TO LETTING THE CUSTOMER DECIDE WHEN AND HOW TO UPDATE??? I'll see if I can find time and a place to try this again with WiFi but meanwhile I still have a $500 brick, not an iPhone. This is not a good experience to share with friends. Apple, you are shoving me further down this rabbit hole and after more than four decades I'm almost done.

Now, today, I tried from the local public library using WiFi. The iOS 15.4 was downloaded first then (I think I had to select restore again?) Same exact results and error message as above. It seems like the final "Verifying the update with Apple" happens too quickly, not waiting for the iPhone to be ready (it is showing the Apple logo. Is it booting completely or just opening the kimono for iTunes to see?)

Anyway, I plan to try the following, absent helpful suggestions from anyone else, before completely giving up (on Apple):

1) I have High Sierra already downloaded, though it will need updates. I will back up my Mac tonight and then try to upgrade from Sierra using the library's WiFi. Not sure why I shouid even have to do this, but I'm willing to go that far. Then I'll try the restore again.

2) If still possessing a brick, I will contact the nearest authorized Apple dealer for help (about 50 miles away.) Nearest Apple Store is over 100 miles away, so that's not happening.

3) If I still have a brick, I'll try to get my 1st gen iPhone SE repaired or, failing that, I'll try to buy a used 1st gen SE. At this point, the brick goes back to Apple.

4) Failing getting back to a usable iPhone SE, I will switch to an Android phone, reconstruct my data from my backup via iExplorer (probably a manually intensive process) and buy a Windows laptop if my Mac can't backup my shiny new Android.

[Edited by Moderator]

While connected to the internet via wifi at my local public library, I upgraded to MacOs High Sierra (10.13.6). I then freshly restarted everything and once again attempted the iPhone restore via iTunes while connected to the internet.

Same exact results as above. The "Verifying the iPhone restore with Apple" step seemed to give up too quickly, before the iPhone booted sufficiently.

This is as far as I can go with my current MacBook hardware. And I don't want to invest in a new Mac just so I can restore the data from my old 1st gen SE to this new one. Without the forced update process...oh. never mind. Those good days for me are gone.

I will make an appointment with the closest Authorized Apple Dealer and see if they can address my problem. If they cannot get this brand new iPhone going or, if they can but cannot restore my data to it (iExplorer can see it but ?) then those are unacceptable outcomes. Perhaps the dealer will then assist me with my return to Apple. And perhaps the dealer can repair my old SE or obtain a used one. And if so, perhaps I will have to return my MacBook Pro to an earlier MacOS release in order to get my data restored to my phone.

Seems like an awful lot of work and perhaps and maybes just to restore user data to a brand new phone. From where I sit, that seems like a critical task that should be well and simply supported.

I will check back in after the dealer experience. Maybe they will find the right answer....

One more new item and I'd rather not start a new discussion for it (yet). In the upgrade from Sierra to High Sierra I evidently lost the ability to connect to my borrowed Android phone's hotspot via USB tethering. This worked very well and simply under Sierra. I found a reference to a "HoRNDIS" driver but I will have to wait to go back to the library to download and try it since my Mac has now been cutoff from the world when at home. This phone doesn't seem to have Bluetooth tethering for the hotspot but perhaps a different Android phone would. This will be an essential item to have should I replace my brand new brick phone with an Android.

Hopefully the Apple Dealer can address this too, else I'll have to rollback to Sierra or maybe further if I can get my 1st gen SE repaired or acquire a used one.

Would love to have broadband internet and/or cellular wifi out here. For the former, does anyone want to come out and lay 20 or so miles of fiber? For the latter, the signal isn't strong enough in this mountain area to support a phone's hotspot well, let alone a wifi router device.

(--sighs quietly)

Good News here, and in the next item.

The problem above with loss of the ability to use an Android hotspot with my MacBook Pro when I moved from Sierra to High Sierra has been solved and rather easily. The HoRNDIS package indeed provides a fix. Installation of the package is easy. You have to make Developer Options available in Settings and then enable USB debugging but the instructions show clearly how to do it. The point is: it works, so I again have a backup if my iPhone fails again.

Here's the instructions and download link, credit going to Joshua Wise:

https://www.alexkidman.com/news/how-to-tether-android-to-mac-os-high-sierra/