Syeda Bushra Taimur on September 13, 2025, 3:41 pm

Fix iOS 26 ‘Could Not Activate iPhone Activation Error’ After Update On iPhone

Here’s how you can try and fix iOS 26 ‘Could Not Activate iPhone Activation Error’ after updating your iPhone to latest version.

Whenever major iOS release comes, there are some issues which people face be it unable to activate their iPhone or something else.

The “Could Not Activate iPhone Activation Error” issue is mainly faced by those who opt to update their iPhone using iTunes or Finder instead of the more mainstream OTA update method. They could be doing it using iTunes or Finder because they want to clean install major new version of iOS on their iPhone, or are facing another issue related to OTA updates.

Whatever the case maybe, if you are getting this error while trying to update your iPhone to iOS 26, try the following workarounds to see if it helps fix the problem.

Reboot Modem/WiFi Router

Since this is more related to a connection issue, we have discovered that restarting your Internet modem or WiFi router can help fix the issue. Give it a go and try installing iOS 26 again after this. See if the activation goes through now.

Just Wait It Out

If the above doesn’t fix it, it’s likely that Apple’s servers handling activation of their devices are overcapacity right now and timing out because of which you are not able to activate your device at this time. Try again after a few hours to see if that helps.

Apple’s servers being overloaded on major iOS release day such as iOS 26 isn’t surprisingly as millions try and fetch the new update from Apple to install on their devices.

Did any of the above fix your problem? or did you try something else that helped fix the issue for you? Feel free to share with us in the comments section below.