Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Update iOS 8.4 to 9.X on inactivated 6 Plus

A

ARK

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jul 20, 2008
539
105
Indianapolis, IN
I have an iPhone 6 Plus thats not activated on iOS 8.4. How can I update it to iOS 9? Do I have to put my SIM from my iPhone 6 in to do so?

Reason Im doing this is to switch from iPhone 6 to a 6 Plus to try out the bigger screen so I know which phone to get for the iPhone 7. I have a feeling I will want the Plus size.
 
Last edited:
ARK said:
I have an iPhone 6 Plus thats not activated on iOS 8.4. How can I update it to iOS 9? Do I have to put my SIM from my iPhone 6 in to do so?

Reason Im doing this is to switch from iPhone 6 to a 6 Plus to try out the bigger screen so I know which phone to get for the iPhone 7. I have a feeling I will want the Plus size.
Click to expand...
You'll need to put a valid SIM in the phone in order to get it to activate. There's no harm in putting your own in there temporarily to do so.
 
chrfr said:
You'll need to put a valid SIM in the phone in order to get it to activate. There's no harm in putting your own in there temporarily to do so.
Click to expand...

Ok thanks. Thats what I was trying to do. I did a backup of my iPhone 6 then put my SIM into the 6 Plus and chose iCloud backup but there was no cloud backup to pull from even though I just made one. My iPhone 6 is on 9.X whereas the 6 Plus is on 8.4. Is that the reason why my iCloud backup was unavailable?
 
ARK said:
Ok thanks. Thats what I was trying to do. I did a backup of my iPhone 6 then put my SIM into the 6 Plus and chose iCloud backup but there was no cloud backup to pull from even though I just made one. My iPhone 6 is on 9.X whereas the 6 Plus is on 8.4. Is that the reason why my iCloud backup was unavailable?
Click to expand...
You'd need to update the 8.4 phone to be able to use the 9.x backup, so update the plus first, then try to restore your backup.
 
ARK said:
That's just it I can't get to the settings because it's not activated.

So is computer the easiest or setup as new iPhone then update to 9.x then erase and start from backup?
Click to expand...
1. stick any SIM into the iPhone. I put an inactive SIM from an old phone in and it worked fine.
2. Go through the setup process. "Set up as new iPhone"
3. Go to Settings -> General -> Software Update
4. Update to the current iOS 9.3.2
5. Plug into iTunes
6. Restore
7. Go through setup process
8. Instead of "Setup as new iPhone"... "Restore from iCloud Backup"

Or, I believe you can... (Not completely sure about this one but it would take like 45 seconds less.
1. Plug into iTunes
2. Update your iPhone to the latest iOS 9.3.2
3. Stick any SIM into the iPhone
4. Go through the setup process
5. Restore from iCloud Backup
 
You could do this by DFU restore to the current iOS via iTunes on computer. You will still need a valid sim after the update to set up the phone though.
 
Thanks everyone. I swapped the sim and updated it then restored from cloud backup. I just wasn't sure how it all worked when I already had a working iPhone where my sim was already attached to.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back