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Error 12 on iPhone Restore in iTunes – Details [Video]

Receiving error 12 on an iPhone restore in iTunes is a very frustrating problem.

Unfortunately, this is usually indicative of a hardware problem and the phone will need to be replaced at an Apple retail store.

You can however, as the video describes above, try doing a device firmware update (DFU) restore on your iPhone or iPad to try and resolve the issue.

See Also: How to Take a Screenshot on iPhone, iPad and iPod [Video]

To do a DFU restore, you can do the following:

  1. Make sure all of your data is backed up in iTunes.
  2. Open iTunes and connect your phone to the computer via USB.
  3. With the phone on, press and hold the top button (sleep / wake button) and home button at the same time.
  4. When the screen goes blank, wait 3 seconds and let go of the top button but keep pressing the home button.
  5. When a message appears on your computer saying the iPhone is in recovery mode, you can let go of the home button.
  6. Try to restore your phone again using iTunes.

There is also a great resource with information regarding different iTunes error messages that you can take a look at for some more insight – especially if you’re receiving a different error message than error 12.

If you have found your own solution to error 12 on an iPhone restore, please let me know in the comments section and I will update this post accordingly.

As always, if you find this video helpful, I would really appreciate a thumbs up and you may also want to think about subscribing to my YouTube channel.

Anson Alexander

I am an author, digital educator and content marketer. I record, edit, and publish content for AnsonAlex.com, provide technical and business services to clients and am an avid self-learner. I have also authored several digital marketing and business courses for LinkedIn Learning (previously Lynda.com).

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