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title: "Why does it take so long to erase an iOS device model that I haven't erased before?"
canonical: "https://support.blancco.com/space/KB/11633356/Why%20does%20it%20take%20so%20long%20to%20erase%20an%20iOS%20device%20model%20that%20I%20haven't%20erased%20before%3F"
format: markdown
---
<span style="color: #000000">When an iOS device model is erased for the first time, the whole erasure process consists of two parts:</span>

1. <span style="color: #000000">Download the latest firmware version for the device from Apple servers (can take some time if there's a lot of traffic on Apple servers).</span>
2. <span style="color: #000000">Erase the device (takes approximately 10 minutes).</span>

<span style="color: #000000">Some information about firmware downloading:</span>

- <span style="color: #000000">If the firmware image for the particular iOS device model does not exist on the computer, it has to be downloaded from Apple servers before the actual erasure starts.</span>
- <span style="color: #000000">If the firmware image for the model already exists on the computer, it is not downloaded again.</span>
- <span style="color: #000000">When the firmware is downloaded, there is text "Loading firmware" in the user interface with the downloaded percentage</span>
- <span style="color: #000000">Only one firmware file can be downloaded at a time. Other devices will wait for the download to finish. “Loading firmware” text without any percentage will be shown for the devices that are waiting.</span>
- <span style="color: #000000">It can take some time to download firmware files because they are quite big (~2GB) and there can be a lot of traffic at the Apple servers.</span>

<span style="color: #000000">It is also possible to download the firmware images on one computer, export them and import to other computers. This way all the erasure computers don't have to download firmware images. Exporting/importing can be done from Blancco Diagnostic and Erasure Settings for iOS: use the export button to export firmware images to USB stick and then use the import button on another computer to import them.</span>