Cannot accept "New iCloud Terms & Conditions" on iPhone SE 2016, iOS 15.8.3

Has she tried borrowing a newer device with ios18 from someone and signing into icloud.com with her account in Safari.

NB this is in Safari browser - do NOT sign into the actual device settings with her account!

She will need her old device to generate the 2 factor authentication codes.

Re: Cannot accept "New iCloud Terms & Conditions" on iPhone SE 2016, iOS 15.8.3

You might want to try updating your iPhone SE to the newest compatible iOS version:

However :

About iOS 15 Updates - Apple Support does say iOS 15.8.3 is the newest!:

and "This update provides important security fixes and is recommended for all users".

(Apple support's new article:

See what to do: If you can't accept iCloud Terms and Conditions - Apple Support )

Thank you for taking the time to reply! Sorry it does not seem possible to accept the new T & C in earlier iOS versions at the moment.

You might want to send feedback to reach those who work behind-the-scenes at Apple. They may make changes in a future update, if others are also experiencing a similar issue: Web-form for feedback: Feedback - iCloud - Apple

I also have this issue, exactly the same as the OP describes it. I was on chat last night with apple tech support for nearly 2 hours trying numerous things. The tech rep said that signing out of iCloud on the phone and back in was the last resort, because ofc it unsyncs everything and then has to sync it back again. I didn't do that step because I didn't want to risk the phone potentially not being able to sign back in and then god knows what state the phone would be left in.

But I did try resetting the network settings, uninstalling my VPN, signing out of iCloud on an old iPad and signing back in, signing out of iCloud on my Windows laptop and signing back in. After each sign out I would try and accept the new T&Cs on my iPhone, then reboot and trying accepting again, then signing back in on the device etc. etc. following the same pattern. So I tried every combination I could think of trying to accept terms on another device but you just don't seem to get the option, you can just sign in and out. I also signed out of purchases and then tried downloading a free app to force me to sign back in, back that didn't work either.

Thing is I've lost my recent phone history I'm sure because of this as it's not being synced with iCloud, and I think Whatsapp does it's backups to iCloud if I remember right. So at the moment I, and presumably everyone else, in the same position has just lost access to whatever gets synced to iCloud. Also I pay for a bit of extra storage, not a lot - just the 99p option for 50GB, so technically I'm paying for something I can't get access to.

I note that English_in_Berlin above said the matter is being looked into and a solution should be forthcoming soon, but that's not what I was told by tech support. They told me that Apple are aware of the issue and it is being looked into, but it's not definite they will provide a bug fix for older phones. His exact words were "they *may* provide a fix if they feel it is necessary", which doesn't exactly inspire confidence. I think that if not enough people complain about the issue on older versions of iOS then they just won't bother.

Seems only those with up-to-date iOS versions can accept the new terms and conditions.

See: If you can't accept iCloud Terms and Conditions - Apple Support

Apple seems to have already allowed those with earlier versions to continue on using icoud without agreeing to the T&C.

System requirements for iCloud - Apple Support

Else: If needed: You can contact iCloud Support:

(There is a "Get Support" link (online chat, phone, eMail etc) at the bottom of their webpage (link below):

iCloud - Official Apple Support

or

Web-form for Feedback - iCloud - Apple

This can only be partially possible in the described way – and not only with newer iOS devices. At that time when this bug first occurred I had only an iPhone SE and an iPhone 5 in use (I have more iPhone 5 not in use). I did not have the 12 mini yet. I remember quite well that I was accepting the terms on iPhone 5 in use before accepting them on iPhone SE (and also on a Windows-PC with iCloud). It was several days later that I tried to accept the terms on the SE the first time. So it cannot be only newer devices to provoke that bug.

Btw.: what I did not (yet) is logging out of all devices and logging in again first on the SE. But logging out is not equal to "reject nT&C" (in a way that the have to be accepted again). I there a way to "manually reject the nT&C" after already having accepted them?

But maybe (I did not test this yet) a solution could be to log out from the device, remove the AID-user and log in with a different AID that did not yet accept the nT&C on another device. Then log out and again log in with the usual user. Don't know if that works – but if it could be a workaround ...

I suspect the “new iCloud terms & conditions” will be the end of iCloud services for 2016 SE IOS 15.8.3 phone. Apple has no financial interest in customers keeping their Apple products for more than a few years. I have kept my 2016 SE because my physical disability makes the size and weight appropriate for me to use. I love this phone and by using a biometric password manager with VPN service have been able to bypass Apple’s lack of OS support & security updates. The incompatibility of IOS 15.8.3 with iCloud will require finding cloud service completely independent of Apple. Hopefully Apple will eventually stop asking me to agree to iCloud terms.

Next up… maybe a complete abandonment of all Apple products. However, I’ll keep my Apple stock because they are one of the best tech companies at selling obsolescence at a premium. 

Apple provides a Feedback website where your feedback can reach those who work on the software behind-the-scenes at Apple. They can make changes if others are also requesting them. They will likely not reply, yet your feedback is carefully read and logged. I understand feedback is welcomed, and provides information on which iPhone models, and iOS versions are affected.

I believe it's iPhones that ended on iOS 15 which means 6S/7/SE1 though not sure about iPads... but I imagine this "bug" occurs under specific circumstances (hence not widespread on every single device), my (unproven) guess is it happens when a user has multiple devices and gets the alert on all devices and once new T&Cs are accepted on another (higher iOS) device, the alert on the iOS 15 device simply remains stuck and neither clears nor proceeds with (re-)accepting the new T&Cs.

Very annoying that after enduring the alert for so many months and actually getting a new release, this bug has been completely overlooked in the release. I for one will upgrade from an iPhone 7 soon so not much longer to endure (and I guess Apple wins since they succeed with catalysing an upgrade)...

having the same issue. Apple walked me thru the whole install an updated 15.8.3 o/s. Total pain and did not solve the problem. The next step is to do a total reset of the o/s which seems like a bad idea. The icloud backups are still occurring so I guess I'll wait it out.

Same problem here with 1st-Gen. SE on iOS 15.8.3 ... logging out resulted in email to tell that find my phone is disabled ... but I could log in again without further clues and also reactivate "find my" again (showing in the devices list along using it again as a trusted device). But still same problem with accepting new terms that result in the "continue ..." til perpetuity ...

I to have this same issue on 1 of my ipads which has persisted for quite a while now & I've tried everything under the sun to recifity it & nothing has worked & its driving me bonkers for some reason!

... sure I read the whole thread ... for me it seems that icloud is fully working – even after logging out and back in; and only the new T&C cannot be accepted ... and we don't know how long the solution from Apple will take ...