iOS 14 Unable to Activate after restore

Last night I restored my iPhone 11 Pro Max to iOS 14 beta. After iPhone restored I am stuck at the activation screen.

In setup assistant after selecting country and signing into my WiFi my iPhone tries to activate. After a few seconds I get:
"Unable to Activate

Your iPhone could not be activated because the activation server cannot be reached. Try connecting you iPhone to a Mac or a PC with iTunes to activate, or try again in a couple of minutes.

If this problem persists, contact Apple Support at apple.com/support"
  • Restored on a MacBook 12" running macOS Big Sur beta 2

  • Shutdown iPhone on setup assistant screen and restarted.

  • Used multiple good Wi-Fi connections.

  • Also tried activating on Cellular.

  • Tried removing sim card and reinserted.

  • Tried a different sim card from the same carrier.

  • Re-downloaded iOS 14 IPSW file.

  • Put iPhone back into recovery mode.

  • Opened finder selected iPhone, held down option while clicking on restore.

  • Selected iOS 14 IPSW file.

  • iPhone restored.

  • Get the same activation error.

  • Put iPhone into recovery mode.

  • Opened finder, this time I selected restore without holding option.

  • iPhone restored back to iOS 13.

  • Also tried activating through finder and I get the following error: "Activation Failed The iPhone cannot be synced. Received an unexpected response from the device."

  • Still receive "Unable to Activate".

It's almost 24 hours and I am still unable to activate my phone. Anyone else having issues?
Yes I am having the same issue as well. I have also updated my MacBook to Big Sur beta, downloaded the iOS 14 ispw file and attempted a restore with no luck. Still have the activation lock. Did you find anything out?
SAME PROBLEM
Same issue here. Anyone have a solution?

Hi! I have the same issue at the moment have you figured out how to fix this?
I now have this issue. At first it started out with needing a cellular network update, then I called my service and they pointed me to Apple. Talked to Apple for over an hour today with a senior tech and they could not solve it. They actually made my phone UN-usable.

It now says “Unable to Activate. An update is required to activate your iPhone.” When I plug it into my Mac it says to activate and update, so I do, but then it says “Activation Failed. The operation timed out.”

They said "Sorry we can't fix it. You'll have to mail in it for repair." so I asked if this would be free because it's the hardware/update and they said NO. It can cost around $300 to repair.....WHAT??

Please tell me someone found a way to resolve this issue. No way am I paying that kind of money. Bare in mind I have the Iphone 7. I heard they were recalling Iphone 7s.
I am having the same issue on iPhone 7. Is there any update on any possible solutions? I have factory reset and restored iOS via DFU mode but still no solution.

I have the same problem they told me that I have to pay 150 euros to fix this and it was not my fault at all. Please someone here with the solution my phone is literally not usable. ;(


My exp is iOS 14.x won't let you active your iPhone if you replaced some components before. I got an error when debug are :

AMDeviceCreateActivationInfoWithOptions failed (0xE8000013)

You can google this error code and try with some methods as well.

So if you replaced some components and upgraded your device to iOS 14.x you shouldn't reset your device at all. I trying some alternative to restore my device instead of iTunes or downgrade to iOS 13.x. Mine is an iPhone 6s that replaced the battery, it working well before I factory reset my device and it running the newest iOS 14.4. Can't active at all.

Same issue even i faced i tried almost all possible ways to fix it but no use and i spent around 4hrs time with apple agent as well finally she told me to visit apple authorised service center and they are now saying its hardware issue how could it will be an hardware issue post updating ios 14.6 this issue arises and now apple care executive told me to restore it over itunes and now its not able to activate and its keep looking Mobile signal. Which is hurting a lot apple has to do an replacement programme for this issues if not we are going to waste around 300$ absolutely waste.

Same here iPhone X Max Never modified Currently in lock down in Sydney Australia and working from home. Have tried all the above steps with not luck. Was on the phone apple last night, went over same steps again. been 48 hours with no work phone. Not happy, I don't think I should pay to get fixed when all I did was a firmware update

I am having the same issue. Accidentally upgraded to OS15, immediately started having issues with apps crashing and phone was un-useable so did a total restore with the intention of restoring to my last backup (made just before the accidental upgrade). Literally hours after the upgrade, no hardware changes or anything was done with the phone at all, and now I am getting the same messages about not being able to activate and phone is unable to connect to my laptop, unable to find cell network, unable to get past setup screen from the restore. I can't even do a manual setup and get the phone working without any of my old data, the phone is literally and completely useless. Has anyone found a solution to this?!

I'm having the same problem. Perhaps the solution is to throw that device out the window and buy a new device.

I'm facing the same issue now, bought the device few days ago only. I tried every possible way but still no luck.

Still having the same issue, with iOS 15. Initially, the phone couldn't detect the SIM card, which led me to reset the phone. Upon restore, the SIM card was still not detected, and on top of that I am unable to activate the phone. Tried restoring and updating the device, tried disabling the device's UDID from developer portal, tried gently whispering loving words to my phone, but no luck. I bought the phone from a refurbished online store and it worked perfectly for several months, I do not know if any components were replaced. Apple really needs to correct this issue which seems to be plaguing developers.

Exactly same issue, restored many times no resolution.

iOS 14 Unable to Activate after restore
 
 
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