iPhone Bricking Issues: Apple Withdraws iOS 17.3 Beta 2 (Photo by William Hook on Unsplash)

Shortly after rolling out iOS 17.3 beta 2, Apple swiftly pulled back the update. The tech giant made this move after several users reported that their iPhones were getting bricked after the update. The critical issue affected many Apple devices, ranging from the iPhone 12 to the iPhone 15 series.

Ever since the update was released, many users who upgraded to the new software reported a critical bug that apparently caused a boot loop on their iPhones. Some users also took to microblogging platform X to show evidence of their devices stuck in a boot loop. “iOS and iPadOS 17.3 beta 2 have been withdrawn temporarily due to an issue that prevented a small number of devices from starting up,” wrote the tech giant in its release notes. Apple also mentioned that if the device is in “this state,” then users can recover it by entering Recovery Mode and restoring a previous version of iOS.

🚨 It seems that iOS 17.3 Beta 2 is sending some iPhones into a bootloop and forcing a factory reset.

I’ve received ~10 reports of this so far, all were on an iPhone 14 or 15 series.

Avoid installing this update until a fix is issued! pic.twitter.com/7JcodGvJ9M

— Brandon Butch (@BrandonButch) January 3, 2024

However, it is not clear what has caused this issue. Apple is looking into the issue and is expected to re-release the beta version soon once the bug is addressed. In December, the iPhone maker rolled out the first beta for iOS 17.3, along with iPadOS 17.3 Beta 1, watchOS 10.3 Beta 1, and macOS Sonoma 14.3 Beta 1. The new Stolen Device Protection feature is expected to appear in iOS 17.3. This major security feature will prevent iPhone thieves from gaining complete control over the victim’s iPhone and online accounts, even if the passcode has been compromised. When this feature is enabled, Touch ID or Face ID is required to access certain device functions, including erasing all content and settings and turning off Lost Mode.