I installed the iOS 18.5 update on my iPhone 16 last night. After the update, my phone won't read my SIM card (I tried turning it on/off, using airplane mode, taking the physical SIM card out). I inserted the card into my old phone and it works, so this is not an issue with the SIM itself. How can I fix this?
[Re-Titled by Moderator]
iPhone 16, iOS 18
Had the same issue with a days old, brand new iPhone 15 Pro.
Updated to 18.7 before 26 - both physical SIM and ESIM stopped working straight after the 18.7 upgrade, then 26 wouldn't install, just hanging for hours at 'verifying'.
Apple support did remote diagnosis but couldn't fix it, deciding that it was a hardware issue. They asked me to take the phone to an Apple store. Not ideal.
I had icloud and Mac backups, so I downgraded the iPhone firmware to the signed version before 18.7 (18.6.2) using ipsw.me.
Both SIMs worked again after the firmware downgrade.
Restored my data and apps backup; everything still worked.
Upgraded to IOS 26, missing out 18.7; everything, including the SIMs - worked fine.
Definitely an IOS issue and not hardware.
I may have found a fix, for me it also broke when I updated to IOS 18.5 (I hadn’t updated in a long time) but when I restart my phone it kept working until I got the full screen notification do you want to use FaceTime and iMessage via carrier there may be cost involved. I have a big enough plan so I pressed sure in the first place then my simcard stopped working. A minute ago I turned off and turned on again my iPhone. Got the same full screen message and pressed no this time. For now it seems to work. Just made a phone call to check.
Hey , so I tried everything and nothing worked and a forced restart surprisingly fixed it .
Have you tried to see if you;re in need of a carrier settings update
This issue occurred immediately after iOS18.5 Update on iPhone 16 Pro.
None of the workarounds helped (except for hard reset which was not tried for obvious reasons)
Solutions tried:
Not tried:
I’m having the same issue since the update ran on my iPhone 13.
my service was intermittent for a little while then now all I get is “SOS” and “no sim.”
My SIM card still works in other devices but no SIM cards are working in my iPhone 13.
i contacted my service provider to try an eSIM but the ‘mobile’ (I think in some countries it says ‘cellular’) section in my settings app is freaked out and says “no sim” next to it so I am unable to set up the eSIM.
i went to update my iPhone and found that even though I have updated to iOS 18.5 my iPhone still says that it is running on 18.1.1
i have run the update multiple times yet it still fails to update to 18.5 even though the update runs perfectly and restarts my phone like normal.
Currently in the process of downloading and installing 18.5 via iTunes on our Mac. Fingers crossed it works.
Otherwise my only option might be to factory reset and restore from a backup.
Following that trouble shooting, you should have the hardware checked by Apple.
I'm also having the same issue, after my phone(iphone 12) automatically downloaded IOS 18.5, it was struggling on reading my SIM card until eventually it goes to SOS mode, I thought it was the SIM card at first but even after replacing it, my phone doesn't read it. There would be times where if I reset my phone enough (holding power & volume up) my SIM card is read but only for a little bit, sometimes it would last a minute, sometimes it would last for an hour or two until it goes back to SOS mode. I am 99% sure this new IOS update is the reason why this is happening and its annoying!
My wife used the iPhone 15 pro.She also has this issue.
After upgrade iso 18.5, iphone become hot and consume a lot battery. Yesterday No sim detect and phone still hot Go to Apple shop, they said replacement motherboard, but i didn't backup.
Now I donyknow repair oe not. So many people also occur that this issue
The issue does not seem to be iOS update related.
This may help -> SIM not supported No Service Searching Network Provider Lock… - Apple Community
It is iOS update related. Happened to me too, only after this update.
You said “I gave up and replaced the physical SIM card with an e-SIM and the problem disappeared”
Great, hardware related.
If you are going to ask for help in English forum please stick to English, otherwise it is rather rude.
MTX2010 wrote:
Is it possible for this to happen with three phones at the same time? I have two iPhone 13 Pro and one iPhone 12. All three have the same problem after updating to iOS 18.5.
Possible if provider related or security software installed on all three.
Same provider? Who?
What country?
Any security software?
Happened to me the same. I use iPhone 14 and I am both using a normal SIM card and an e-SIM. None of them are working. I tried everything recommended and still no improvement. I am very disappointed on Apple after seeing all these comments, they are not doing a forced update to fix this issue.
pelinsu96 wrote:
Happened to me the same. I use iPhone 14 and I am both using a normal SIM card and an e-SIM. None of them are working. I tried everything recommended and still no improvement. I am very disappointed on Apple after seeing all these comments, they are not doing a forced update to fix this issue.
Don't get carried away, 30 me-toos out of a few hundred million
SIM card no longer works after updating iOS 18.5 on my iPhone 16
