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you must have a sim associated with an apple device for to be used for imessage and facetime

It seems that my phone can't detect sim card, this message appears in appleid stating that the added phone number does not connect to the Apple device even though the sim card already exists and the same number has not changed anything, I contacted Apple support and did not solve the problem, I tried almost all the solutions, so that I made full configurations for the device and the settings, and it's no use… check photo.


[Edited by Moderator]

iPhone 14, iOS 17

Posted on Sep 22, 2023 2:43 AM

Question marked as Best reply

Posted on Oct 5, 2023 5:42 AM

i swapped sims yesterday and it's telling that the sim is no associated with an apple device, it worked yesterday but i removed the number as i am now waiting for my SIM with my old number so i have now tried again - and nothing, same error message over and over, tried a new SIM and it worked but i want to make sure i can use my old number when that sim arrives tomorrow? Any ideas, it's driving me mad

57 replies

Feb 1, 2024 11:38 AM in response to manishr15

I had the same issue and Apple support couldn't provide a solution for over 1 week, for an iPhone SE with standard SIM card.

Then I came across this community discussion by searching for "AppleID imessage SIM block".


Specifically, my issue was that on the [Settings > #YourName# "Apple ID, iCloud, ..." > "Login and Security"] I could see my AppleID and my phone number, but below the phone number the message "This phone number cannot be used in iMessage and FaceTime...you need a SIM card associated with an Apple device" appeared.


Reading through and following approximately the notes of user manishr15, I did the following and the issue was solved for me:

• Turn off iMessage from [Settings > Messages > iMessage]

• Turn off FaceTime from [Settings > FaceTime]

• Turn off wifi and turn on the mobile network (4G or 5G)

• Remove SIM and re-insert SIM. Check that the 4G or 5G mobile network works normally again.

I then did these 3 extra steps just in case, which I thought could be useful - but perhaps not necessary:

•• Went to [Settings > #YourName# "Apple ID, iCloud, ..." > "Login and Security"] and removed my phone number, then added the same phone number again at the same place. (Note: Make sure that you can still receive the security code via SMS or through another trusted device.)

•• Shutdown the iPhone and turn it back on.

•• Checked again that the 4G or 5G mobile network works normally.

So, at this point resumed the notes of user manishr15

• Go to [Settings > Messages] and turn on iMessages.

• Then below on "Send and Receive", I pressed on my AppleID as was shown, and then selected "Use Other AppleID".

This last selection -which seemed rather unreasonable and is not mentioned elsewhere- then restored normal connection to iMessage, OK!


Hope this helps.


you must have a sim associated with an apple device for to be used for imessage and facetime

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