IOS 26 - Lock Iphone during install on "low battery" page

Community Apple Developers iPhone

Created 1w

Replies 31

Boosts 23

Views 3.6k

Participants 34

Hi! Just downloaded the IOS 26 beta software to my Iphone 15 128gb and during the second phase of installation of the update (when the phone start rebooting a few time) my iphone showed the display of low battery with the time displayed on the top left corner of the screen, even though my Iphone was pluged in during the full time of the install and had more than 50% of battery before launching the installation.

So far-here is what i know:

I wouldn't be able to confirm if the install was successfull or not
i tried forced reboot a few time but i keep landing on the low battery page
some other people are experiencing the same problem as i am as i could confirm on the reddit dedicated to the IOS26beta page

Answered by mynameisyake in 842356022

Had this issue on my 16 Pro Max, had to put the phone into DFU mode and restore it to 18.5. Haven’t tried to install 26.0 beta again yet. I recommend trying these steps to enter DFU mode if you haven’t tried them yet. It was the only thing that worked for me:

“First, quick-press the Volume Up button, then quick-press the Volume Down button. Then, press and hold the Side button until the screen goes black. As soon as the screen goes black, press and hold the Volume Down button for 5 seconds. After 5 seconds, release the Side button while continuing to hold the Volume Down button for an additional 10 seconds.”

Boost

153skaine OP

plug it into MacBook (If you have one). quickly Volume up, then down then hold the power/lock button for 10 seconds once the screen goes and the low batter screen goes black keep holding down the lock button then also hold down the volume down button for another 5 seconds.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kaRpv3sjaHU

this allowed me to reset back to factory

KillaBee213 OP

I was just in the same boat but was able to boot into DFU mode to resolve it.

I was running the latest 18.5 beta on my iPhone 16 Pro Max. Decided to try the iOS 26 dev beta (like I do every year) and encountered my first soft brick situation...got stuck on the battery splash as described here.

Putting the device in DFU mode (direct firmware update) allowed me to restore using my Mac. Keep in mind this will wipe your device, but I'm an iCloud user so not worried about that, and using my phone in general was most important to me.

9to5 Mac has a pretty good article on using DFU mode. Keep in mind when done right, you will not see an Apple logo or any splash, you'll see a black screen. Then when plugging into your Mac it will be recognized (unlike with the battery splash).

Good Luck.

i-1100 OP

Just for reference, on iphone 15 pro, did OTA iOS 26 and had this issue. Used DFU to restore to stock, tried OTA again, same issue - even without being plugged in. DFU again, this time tried to restore directly to iOS26 image, same issue. Def seems like model specific bugs. Sticking with stock until they report this issue resolved

dspivey OP

iPhone 16 Pro bricked. DFU fixed it and reverted to 18.5. Guess I'll wait...

ozsmacd OP

Has anyone managed to get the install to work at all?

Also, anyone with a failed install, managed to recover?

johnsphotos1 OP

I tried everything I could think of. I updated my Mac to macOS Tahoe. I tried running the OTA normally, this doesn’t work and it shows the same error. I had to use the DFU mode it get it back to 18.5 using Configurator. I did also try installing iOS 26 via Finder and Configurator but same low battery screen pops up. Everyone needs to report this on Feedback so they know about this. Also if you’re having issues getting it to DFU, you have to use the included USB C to C cable in the box when you plug it into your Mac, I also found that a Samsung SSD Cord works the best with this, oddly enough.

dhruvchopra92 OP

Same issue. Hope it is fixed soon.

Preetsidhu1997 OP

Took some tries but it works use the dfu mode while connecting to the macbook

crystalminds OP

I have an iPhone 15 Pro and the iOS26 Beta will not install it will brick the iPhone. I need to DFU (wipe data) to restore it back to 18.5. I tried updating to iOS 18.5 again, this time without it being plugged in. But again it bricked it. So somehow Apple messed something up.

airfryer OP

I managed to restore my iPhone with DFU mode and the backup I made before updating. Did anyone figure out a way to successfully update to iOS 26 beta yet after experiencing this problem? I'm assuming we have to wait before we get a stable way to install the beta.

LucaCaprio OP

Yup same issue here. iPhone 15 Pro Max. Charging @ 30% and its bricked on the 'dead battery' screen.

An authorised Apple service provider was unable to support, their diagnosis returned no issues with the hardware (expected) but they also couldn't enter recovery mode, or force a restore.

They sent me back to Apple support, who are trying to send me back to the store ...

Help please, I can't access my finances or work 2FAs.

russphoto OP

Well, I took my iPhone 16 Pro Max to my Apple Store. They couldn't revive it. they said it would go into DFU mode then quickly dropped out. I couldn't even get it to go into DFU for any amount of time. At the end of the day they replaced the logic board. Maybe something wrong with my hardware that was triggered by the update?? Odd. First time in 12+ years I've had issues with a beta I haven't been able to get around.

Crisxto OP

Hi same issue happened to me, had to restore the iPhone trough DFU and then i tried to install ios 26 again and my phone got bricked again. Does anybody have a solution to install ios 26?

drewskidrewsgv OP

Same happened to me as well. It downloaded the whole update, shutdown and showed the APPLE icon with progress bar at the bottom. It barely moved then immediately went to the battery icon with time in the top left corner and would not charge or restart.

Found the DFU mode online and then was able to reinstall 18.5 through iTunes and recover my iCloud backup thankfully.

crystalminds OP

I also tried installing the iOS26 beta using the iPhone 15 Pro build (IPSW) and thus NOT through OTA. And it still got to the battery of death.