Apple

Apple pulls iOS 17.3 beta 2 quickly after it starts bricking iPhones

Fix your bricked iPhone by rolling back to the iOS 17.3 beta 1 or iOS 17.2.1.

by
Saurav Dey
January 5, 2024

Image: Apple/KnowTechie

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Apple released the first iOS 17.3 beta in the middle of December, boasting features like Stolen Device Protection, Apple Music Collaborative Playst, and more.

Going full throttle, the Cupertino company rolled out the second iOS 17.3 beta on Wednesday but pulled it almost immediately after several reports of bricked iPhones.

After releasing the latest beta for the developers, several users reported their iPhones getting bricked after installing the new update.

The issue was so widespread that some users even took it to X/Twitter to show the evidence of this mishap, revealing their iPhones were stuck in a boot loop after updating to iOS 17.3 beta 2.

https://twitter.com/BrandonButch/status/1742628347002204350

iOS 17.3 beta 2 boot loop bug may be linked to the Back Tap setting

The iOS 17.3 beta 2 isn’t only bricking the latest iPhones. The affected Apple handsets range from the iPhone 12 to the iPhone 15 series.

It is a setback for Apple, especially after promoting better quality updates in the foreseeable future.

However, Apple pulled the software release as quickly as possible and has provided the following explanation in its release notes.

iOS and iPadOS 17.3 beta 2 have been withdrawn temporarily due to an issue that prevented a small number of devices from starting up. If your device is in this state, you can recover it by entering Recovery Mode and restoring a previous version of iOS.

So if you have already installed the iOS 17.3 beta 2 and bricked your iPhone, fix your device by rolling back to the iOS 17.3 beta 1 or 17.2.1. However, that would require a backup for the previous version to restore all your data.

According to the rumors, the issue might be linked to the Back Tap setting – a feature that allows iPhone users to perform one of several actions when they tap the rear of their devices.

However, it is difficult to confirm if it was the only reason that resulted in the iOS 17.3 beta 2’s issues.

Either way, Apple is going to release the iOS 17.3 beta 2 again after the boot loop bug fix. Maybe at that time, we’ll get more clarity from the company regarding the issue.

Have any thoughts on this? Drop us a line below in the comments, or carry the discussion to our Twitter or Facebook.

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