msm71
Level 1 (4 points)
iPhone

Q: iMessage waiting for activation -- yet another

I have MBP 13 (late 2013) and iPhone 6s Plus... In previous, everything worked just fine - iMessage and FaceTime worked, connected to my iCloud and phone number.

I clean installed to 10.11.6 (previously, 10.11.5), and could not activate iMessage nor FaceTime - it was (inactive) all the time. Then I also updated iPhone (to 9.3.3) and lost iMessage / FaceTime there as well - it accepts my iCloud address, but cannot actiovate the phone number. Thus, iMessage doesn't work, and it is waiting for activation for hours. I tried to apply all possible soplutions found on net (from cleaning of nram on MBP to turning on/off airplane mode and different combinations of turn on/off -- resrtart and so on). Nothing seems to help. I checked on my Apple ID - my iPhone is not registered there for the time being, while my phone number with Apple id is incorrect - it has twice the country code so it appears like +xxx +xxxyyyyyyyy.... I also truied to register the phone again, turning on/off icloud and so on, but no success...

Anybody has an idea what is going on?

This is especially frustrating since till last installations, everything worked like a charm...

Posted on Jul 22, 2016 4:49 AM

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msm71

Q: iMessage waiting for activation -- yet another

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  • Helpful answers

  • by deadman.walking,

    deadman.walking deadman.walking Jul 22, 2016 4:51 AM in response to msm71
    Level 2 (199 points)
    Jul 22, 2016 4:51 AM in response to msm71

    If you get an error when trying to activate iMessage or FaceTime

    To use iMessage or FaceTime, you need to activate them on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch. If you see an error message during activation, follow these steps.

    When activating iMessage or FaceTime, you might see one of these messages:

    • Waiting for activation
    • Activation unsuccessful
    • An error occurred during activation
    • Could not sign in, please check your network connection

    Check your device settings

    1. Make sure that you’re connected to a cellular data or Wi-Fi network. If you're using an iPhone, you'll need SMS messaging to activate your phone number with iMessage and FaceTime. Depending on your carrier, you might be charged for this SMS.
    2. Go to Settings > General > Date & Time and make sure that you've set up your time zone correctly.

    Turn off and restart iMessage and FaceTime

    1. Go to Settings > Messages and turn off iMessage.
    2. Go to Settings > FaceTime and turn off FaceTime.
    3. Restart your device.
    4. Turn iMessage and FaceTime back on.

    Still not activated after a day?

    It might take up to 24 hours to activate iMessage and FaceTime. If you've waited more than 24 hours, follow these steps:

    1. Make sure that your device has the latest version of iOS.
    2. If you're using an iPhone, contact your carrier to make sure that you can receive SMS messages.
    3. Contact Apple Support.

  • by Rajesh1990,

    Rajesh1990 Rajesh1990 Jul 22, 2016 4:53 AM in response to deadman.walking
    Level 1 (16 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jul 22, 2016 4:53 AM in response to deadman.walking

    9 of 10 times its the carrier who can solve the problem

  • by msm71,

    msm71 msm71 Jul 22, 2016 5:00 AM in response to Rajesh1990
    Level 1 (4 points)
    iPhone
    Jul 22, 2016 5:00 AM in response to Rajesh1990

    Unfortunatelly, this is not carrier problem - it started with MacBook Pro, having no "links" with carriers, and meantime, I didn't change the carrier, mobile tarrif plan or anything... So I guess it's this 10th case...

  • by soso1981,

    soso1981 soso1981 Jul 27, 2016 7:13 PM in response to msm71
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Mac App Store
    Jul 27, 2016 7:13 PM in response to msm71

    Same problem as you.

    Did you find a solution yet ?

  • by msm71,

    msm71 msm71 Jul 28, 2016 12:00 AM in response to soso1981
    Level 1 (4 points)
    iPhone
    Jul 28, 2016 12:00 AM in response to soso1981

    Yes and no.

    After all efforts to make it work, iMessage didn't work nor on MBP nor on iPhone.

    I simply turned it off on all devices. Then, I from time to time checked the status on appleid.apple.com of "Reachable at", where my phone number was still present (I'm in the country which is not supported by Apple tool for deactivation of telephone numbers associated with iMessage). After 3 days of waiting (without turning iMessage on on any device), my phone number disappeared from "Reachable at". I turned iMessage on  on my iPhone, and it registered OK. Still, problem with MBP persists, it cannot be activated -- I left it with all data filled in, and I'm just waiting...