iphone 12 pro max stuck at start up

Hi iphoneuser6363!

It sounds like your iPhone is stuck while updating iCloud settings, and we're happy to help. You can try restarting the device and completing the setup process again:

Restart your iPhone

You can also try activating your iPhone while using a different network.

Cheers!

I had the same problem with my brand new iPhone 12. A hard reset using the volume up, volume down and power button combination didn't work. The screen kept "glitching" back to "Hello". I couldn't even type my keypad number in before the screen would flip back to "Hello". I initially thought the screen was not tracking correctly and broken.

I called Apple Support and they told me to take the phone back to where I bought it and get a new one. Ha, good one. Try getting a new iPhone 12 before Christmas. Apple is definitely getting too big and their customer support, which used to be second to none, is now a weak point.

Instead of taking the phone back to the store, I kept fiddling. I finally got the iPhone to power off using the old school method of holding the side power button down while also holding the up volume button for five seconds. The Power Off slider appeared briefly and I had to be fast but I finally swiped it and powered the phone off.

I then plugged the iPhone12 into my computer and started iTunes. From there, I went through the factory re-install procedure:

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201252

Once iTunes started up, I re-started the iPhone by holding down the side power button. iTunes recognized the phone and congratulated me on my new purchase. Thanks for nothing, Tim Apple.

From there, I hit the "Restore iPhone" button in iTunes under the "Summary" tab. It took a long time for the new OS to download and upload but after about 30 minutes, the iPhone 12 came back to life.

At this point, I tried setting up the iPhone again. I went through the setup procedures manually this time (instead of restoring from a nearby iPhone) and it worked fine. Hallelujah. Christmas is saved!

Again, Apple, thanks for the heartache. Maybe don't upgrade your OS next time you ship a new version of the iPhone, Tim Apple.

Not helpful. I have no option other than to swipe up and then i see updating icloud settings .... and then it quickly defaults back to the 'hello' screen.

Hello....brand new iPhone 12 max pro stuck between hello screen and ‘updating iCloud settings’ - tried hard reset a few times...same issue. Pls help!!

In case anyone still has this issue and restarting the phone didn't help, what helped me was to take out the sim and set up the new phone without it.