Are you trying to update your iPhone with iTunes and getting an error 4000? Do you know what causes the error to pop up on your screen? Don’t worry, we’ll show you how to fix this issue with different troubleshooting methods.
Updating your iPhone is necessary as Apple pushes updates to fix bugs in the current iOS and add new features. With the latest installation package on iTunes, you can update your iPhone very easily. Just connect your iPhone to a PC with a USB cable and select your device from iTunes software on the PC to check for iPhone updates.
However, quite a few iPhone users are reporting that can’t update their phones with iTunes and see an error code 4000 with “The iPhone Could not be Updated. An Unknown Error Occurred” message. Continue reading this post as it contains several fixes to help you out of the issue.
Why can’t I update my iPhone on iTunes?
- Your iPhone OS is updated with the latest iTunes software which is preventing it to update the program
- The iPhone battery level is lower than 50%
- Your iPhone is running out of space resulting in a “Can’t update iPhone error 4000” error message
- Your iPhone is locked and thus can not perform a system update
- iTunes is running on an outdated version that is triggering iOS failure on iPhone
How do I fix error 4000 on iPhone?
Check iPhone iOS version
Your iPhone may have already a newer version installed than the iOS on iTunes. Therefore, when you try to run the update from iTunes, your iPhone throws the 4000 error.
To check for your iPhone iOS version, tap on the iPhone Settings menu and navigate to the General option. Next, head towards the Software Version section and check out your installed iOS version.
Update iPhone iOS
While checking your iPhone software version, check if the latest iOS version is available. If it’s available, updating the iPhone iOS may help you get rid of the iTunes error 4000. To do this, simply allow your iPhone to download and install the latest updates under the Software version option.
Update iTunes software
Old iTunes software can not update iPhone iOS to its latest version and often throw an error code. To fix this, you need to install the latest updates for iTunes on your PC in the following way.
- Launch the iTunes software on your PC
- From the top menu, click on Help
- Scroll and click on “Check for updates”
- Next, let the iTunes software download and install the latest updates
- Now try to update your iPhone with iTunes and see if the error persists
Disable iPhone auto-lock feature
Due to privacy issues, iTunes can’t communicate and import updated data to the iPhone that can result in a 4000 error. To fix this, you need to keep your iPhone screen unlocked while performing the updating task between iPhone and PC. To do this:
- Grab your iPhone and go to its Settings
- Under the Display & Brightness option, tap on Auto-Lock
- Finally, check the “Never” option and then try to update the phone with iTunes
Make more space on iPhone
iPhone can’t update if its storage capacity is below the minimum required space for the latest iTunes iOS software. Therefore, you need to make room to run the update program successfully on your iPhone.
To do this, first, navigate to the iPhone storage under Settings and analyze which apps and files are taking up your storage space. Next, offload unused apps to release space.
However, if you are still running low on storage, use the Optimize Photos option on your iPhone to keep the full resolution photos on iCloud and a compressed version on the phone. Alternatively, back up all your important data on your PC and delete that data on your iPhone to release more space.
How do I force my iPhone to update?
If you are trying to update your iPhone in iTunes but getting an error code 4000, there is a workaround to manually run the update program. To do this, first, download the latest iOS update in iTunes and then do these steps.
- Connect your PC to your iPhone with a USB / data cable
- Now click on the Device icon and then navigate to the Summary section
- Next, press and hold the Shift key on your keyboard and click Updates in iTunes software
- Select the latest iOS update from your PC by browsing “C: \Users\User Name\AppData\Roaming\Apple Computer\iTunes\iPhone Software Update”
- Finally, install the latest update on your iPhone
How do I force my iPhone into recovery mode?
If all of the above troubleshooting steps fail to work in your favor, your last resort is to enter the iPhone recovery mode while it is connected with iTunes software on your PC and then use the update option in iTunes.
To put iPhone 8 into recovery mode, press the Volume + button and then quickly release it. Do the same with the Volume – button. Next press the Power button for a few seconds to get into recovery mode.
For iPhone 7 users, press the Power and Volume + buttons for a few seconds to let your iPhone enter into recovery mode. To do this on iPhone 6 or earlier models, press the Power and Home buttons for a few seconds to get into recovery mode.
Now as soon as your iPhone goes into recovery mode, iTunes will detect a problem with your iPhone and will pop up a message that will require you to update iPhone iOS. Hit on the update button and your problem will be solved.
Conclusion
Hopefully, this guide helped you fix the iTunes error 4000 while trying to update iOS software on your iPhone. We recommend that you implement every troubleshooting step with a full phone battery and in a sequence so that you can start with the basic fixes and then move on to complex ones.
