Kids were playing with my iPhone X and disabled it (entering wrong password multiple times, "iPhone disabled. Connect to iTunes" on screen).
I know the password, but there's no way to enter it. I don't have a backup, and I want to keep my data on the phone. (I know there's a reset option, which I'll use as the last resort)
This answer on iFixit from 2019 claims that if I update the phone from iTunes, it will allow me to enter the password in an hour.
Can anyone confirm if this works? I don't want to try it and make things worse.
UPDATE: Got off the phone with Apple support, they told me there's no way to get the data back without the backup. So I guess iTunes update referenced in the linked post no longer works that way.
UPDATE 2: Updated via iTunes, was not prompted to backup or to enter password in 1 hour. Phone still says "Connect to iTunes" after update. So I guess Apple support tech was right.
Best Answer
I would connect this to any iTunes you have that has ever had a chance to save an unlock key for that device. Unless you already have a trust relationship between iTunes in a computer and this phone, it’s going to wait for you to decide to erase it or you find a way to jailbreak it or crack the protection.
If you have full trust, it will reverse the disable when it’s connected to the internet and your phone is connected and everything is working. Update should prompt to make a backup, allow it. Restore likely will not do a backup, but I don’t have a disabled device to test this for you.