IOS26 “This iPhone encountered an issue while starting“ screen problem

I have a fix for this same thing happened to me on my Iphone 16 pro max, here are the steps I had to do:

1. Needed to use a laptop to connect my iphone to but i had the problem that bc my phone was stuck in recovery mode my computer wouldnt recognize it, the fix for that is plug your iphone into your computer and do the hard restart (up, down, hold right button) but instead of letting go when the apple logo comes up hold the right button until it changes into computer recovery mode (black screen with a computer and cable logo) which then lets your computer discover it
2. If update doesnt work do the restore (no problem if you know you have your phone backing up) but when that is done the important step I havent seen mentioned yet that made it work for me is to select the option to set it up as a new phone vs from a backup, this is the only way I could get mine out of the recovery loop (still use your apple id email for signing in)
3. Setting up as a new iphone isnt an all is lost thing, you do lose your wallpaper and any personalization settings like your home screen setup and any apps you had downloaded but you can easily see all previously installed apps thru the app store and re-install all (in my case skipping a bunch I no longer use)

figured I'd post a reply saying what worked for me in case anyone else has same problem :)

This article will tell you how: If you can't update or restore your iPhone or iPod touch - Apple Support.

In Step #5, choose Update. If the issue persists, you'll have to use Restore instead but you'll loose your data. Hopefully you have a backup to restore your data.

Same here — just a few days after updating to iOS 26, around 2 am, my phone suddenly went into that annoying recovery screen. I tried the usual fixes like a force restart and connecting it to iTunes, but neither worked — my laptop won’t even detect the phone. At first, I thought it was just the device itself, but then I updated another iPhone 12 from iCloud, and the exact same thing happened after the update. Now I’ve got two completely bricked phones. Pretty sure iOS 26 has some major issues. At this point, the only option I can see is heading to an Apple Store to see what they can do, which is my plan for today. I’ll update with what they find.

I read a post on another forum from somebody in the same predicament that went to an Apple Store.

They said that the store said that this is a bug in iOS 26 and that their only solution was to update to iOS 26 but not restore their backup.

I'm one of the lucky ones that was still able to reinstall a signed iOS 18 ipsw literally hours before it became unsigned.

However, now I won’t be attempting to upgrade to IOS 26 in the foreseeable future as I have no reason to believe that it won’t fail and then I’ll have no way back.

So I’ve just had this happen to my iPhone 15 pro on IOS26. Was super annoying as happened on a flight & had no way to contact my fiends when I landed but that’s besides the point. I eventually got to an Apple Store after 3 days in Germany and they just plugged my phone into a Mac and factory reseted it & has worked like normal ever since. Not sure what they did differently quite as I tried my phone in DFU mode and it wouldn’t let the Mac do anything. The restore from nearby iPhone doesn’t seem to work so all I can suggest it to get to an Apple Store.

I had exactly this same issue today, while I was setting up a new wallpaper and trying to rearrange and set a different colour for the icons.

I had to put the phone in DFU mode, connect it to the Mac and the restore it through finder. I didn't use the "restore from backup" option because it was picking up the old one, but as soon as the iPhone rebooted after the process, it prompted me to use one of my backups.

The entire process took almost 1 hr and a half.

It's a really nasty and scary bug and it looks like it does exist since the iPhone 12.

I really hope Apple will sort it out soon

I had this problem at the weekend immediately after updating to iOS 26. I tried restoring through iTunes and still got the recovery screen.

In the end I had to revert back to iOS 18 (this option is no longer available).

Since I will inevitably have to update at some point I’ve been doing some research and came across an article yesterday about this recovery screen and in particular, something that I don't think that I noticed when I had the problem.

There is a menu button in the top right hand corner of the screen and according to the article it contains a way of restoring using another Apple device.

If anybody else gets this problem it might be worth clicking on that menu button to see if it contains the solution.

Suphr wrote:

This happened on my daughters 15 plus today.

Connecting to MacBook and updating didn’t fix it.

Restored her old phone (13) from iCloud and it was working fine.

Updated it and the same thing has happened to that phone too.

now can’t restore or use either phone as they’re stuck on that screen.

This looks suspiciously like an iOS 26 software issue - wouldn’t think it’s hardware based on this evidence.

what to do now? Have 2 bricked iPhones that cannot be used…

Nearest Apple store is over an hour away, but assume we’ll have to make a visit… hope they ca be fixed.

This is a brand new option in ios26, we volunteers dont have the experience yet, either getting the message nor fixing it.

You should try the Recovery Mode method advised by bulldog_mommas above.

ie If you can't update or restore your iPhone or iPod touch – Apple Support (UK)

That’s how ours started…eventually went into a constant booting loop until eventually it won’t boot. Went to Apple Store…told that the new iOS is more intelligent and my hardware was probably going to die anyway. Result is a dead phone that they can repair for £350

I randomly woke up this morning at 3am to a bright light at the side of my bed. My iPhone 14 Pro Max asking for my PIN code. I confusedly entered it, and ended up in the recovery page with ‘no known issues found’. Restarted the iPhone, same screen. Restarted again, boot loop. Apple logo in and out for 10 mins. Then randomly greeted with my Home Screen… definitely major issues with iOS26 and I’m pretty scared of what’s to come. Was a sleepless night after all that…

One thing I did notice was my iphone storage was at 100% full when the phone eventually turned back on. It definitely wasn’t 100% full before I went to bed. Wondering if it tried to install an update and then failed due to lack of storage.

This happened on my daughters 15 plus today.

Connecting to MacBook and updating didn’t fix it.

Restored her old phone (13) from iCloud and it was working fine.

Updated it and the same thing has happened to that phone too.

now can’t restore or use either phone as they’re stuck on that screen.

This looks suspiciously like an iOS 26 software issue - wouldn’t think it’s hardware based on this evidence.

what to do now? Have 2 bricked iPhones that cannot be used…

Nearest Apple store is over an hour away, but assume we’ll have to make a visit… hope they ca be fixed.

About Recovery Assistant for iPhone and iPad - Apple Support

It is not a bug. This is a new feature in iOS26 to avoid you having to use Recovery Mode in a catastrophic software failure. You cannot manually invoke it, it is automatic, and if it fails when tou tap Continue then Recovery Mode using a computer is still needed.

Since this problem only appears to be affecting a relatively small minority, I believe that the problem must be caused by something in our backup data.

When I had this problem, I was able to update to iOS 26 when setting it up as a new iPad and it appeared to work fine but in my numerous attempts at restoring, it went into recovery mode every time.

Luckily at the time, the iOS 18 ipsw was still available so in the end, I decided to go back to that and the restore worked perfectly.

Providing people select 'Send data to Apple' on the ‘Diagnostic Data Collection' screen when they go through the recovery process, hopefully, Apple will be able to use this information in order find what is causing it to go into recovery mode.

I seem to remember the final screen saying 'No known errors were found' so we now need to wait until Apple find the 'unknown errors'.

I have the same problem too I updated IOS26 and now I can’t connect nothing with my bluetooth

always when I tap to bluetooth on settings my screen froze

airdrop doesn’t work

location doesn’t work

maps doesn’t work without location on

a lot of issues with this new update