iphone 4s activation required and welcome to iphone loop problem with Black screen

This is a user-to-user forum. You are not speaking to Apple here.

I'm not sure if you will be able to activate an iPhone 4s these days. That phone, first introduced in October 2011 (fourteen years ago), is obsolete. It does not support any cellular bands other than 2G/3G ones. In the U.S., the phone companies (carriers) shut down their 2G/3G networks some time ago, and it is my understanding that the phone companies in many other parts of the world have done so, or are in the process of doing so.

The iPhone 4s has a 32-bit processor, and the highest version of iOS it can run is iOS 9.3.6. I'm not sure whether phones with 32-bit processors can even still connect to the App Store (over Wi-Fi, if need be), but there won't be much (if anything) there for them.

As to "why" the service center didn't help you, it might have something to do with the phone being obsolete. I'm not sure what a service center could do if the reason that activation failed was that your carrier does not support the iPhone 4s any more, or if it was that Apple's servers do not support the iPhone 4s any more. You will need to ask the service center the "why" question if you want a definitive answer.

basudev24 wrote:

Hlo apple iphone I am facing activation required problem and welcome to iphone loop from last 2 week.This is my father phone,He didn't use for a month but phone doesn't have any problem too and after he buys charger and put sim in it it works for a while without any problem phone calls works well but all of a sudden it automatically restart without even using it and it sends me to setup page I don't have any apple id login so I will not face activation lock bcz last time I did the same mistake so I just removed it.After phone automatically restart it all works well while setuping process but after when I see welcome to iphone page and I press in get started problem started to begin it sends me in home screen for a while and again started to repeat again and again sane process in simple words it goes in loops in activation required,it may takes a few minutes to activate ur iphone and welcome to iphone loops.I have visited many stores and service center but they can't help me even flashing update flashing with itunes also don't work Recovery also don't work.I am from Nepal plz help me when I show my problem to others service center and stores they ignore me by saying sry we can't solve this what is this iphone what us this problem and why I am facing it without any issues in my phone hardware and software why did u close the server not in iphone 4S but in latest 14 and 15 pro max too,plz help me to fix this problem and why service center ignore to help me??

https://discussions.apple.com/content/attachment/47ed9979-adaa-4e7e-b665-97ee239bfb4e

[Edited by Moderator]

Because you have a totally, completely, obsolete phone, which virtually no one on the planet supports any longer. It's not even LTE capable. Sorry, but you will waste your time trying to activate a phone, which won't connect to most cellular services anywhere and one which is so obsolete that virtually no modern apps will even run on it.

It is truly ready for the recycle bin.

TwiddlerTwo wrote:

This is a widespread problem that has been occurring for months with A4 and A5 devices (iPhone 4s and iPhone 5). There is much discussion on Reddit, YouTube, etc. It appears to only affect the CDMA version iPhones (with IMEI numbers starting with 9900). Apple fixed the issue with the Activation process on 10/15/2025 but then broke it again on 10/17/2025. Yes, I know these iPhones are old (classics) but that should not be a reason to brick them. The original iPhone A1203, iPhone 3G and 3GS, and iPhone 4 do not have this issue so I don't think it's a deliberate attempt to shutdown these older iPhones. Many people still use these for iPods and they are collectible for retro gaming and other nostalgia. You don't see people saying they should scrap their '65 Mustangs because they are "obsolete". Someone at Apple can and should fix this.

Comparing an obsolete iPhone, to a vintage automobile is a very very poor comparison. The mentioned iPhones are obsolete, can't be used or activated any longer and can't run most modern apps at all. Sorry, but technology moves forward and eventually really old devices just can't hold up to modern times.

If you think someone at Apple should fix this (they certainly won't have any interest in doing so), you are welcome to let them know here --> Feedback - iPhone - Apple

You're also completely forgetting that carriers have totally abandoned support for these dinosaur devices. Apple certainly has no way to make carriers support obsolete devices at all.

This is a widespread problem that has been occurring for months with A4 and A5 devices (iPhone 4s and iPhone 5). There is much discussion on Reddit, YouTube, etc. It appears to only affect the CDMA version iPhones (with IMEI numbers starting with 9900). Apple fixed the issue with the Activation process on 10/15/2025 but then broke it again on 10/17/2025. Yes, I know these iPhones are old (classics) but that should not be a reason to brick them. The original iPhone A1203, iPhone 3G and 3GS, and iPhone 4 do not have this issue so I don't think it's a deliberate attempt to shutdown these older iPhones. Many people still use these for iPods and they are collectible for retro gaming and other nostalgia. You don't see people saying they should scrap their '65 Mustangs because they are "obsolete". Someone at Apple can and should fix this.

Your iPhone is listed as Obsolete as far as support status with Apple. That would explain why the iPhone cannot be activated.

Cbarber59 wrote:

It doesn't matter if its "obsolete" or not people are losing data and memories due to this sudden activation loop.

If anyone is losing data or memories, then that's on them, not Apple. Apple has forever provided a means for everyone to backup their iPhone, so they can't lose memories at all.

Cbarber59 wrote:

It doesn't matter if its "obsolete" or not people are losing data and memories due to this sudden activation loop.

If you had data and memories that were important to you on an iPhone 4s – and you haven't backed up or copied that stuff to someplace other than the iPhone by now – that's on you.

Apple sold variants of the iPhone 4s between October 2011 and September 2013, so you've had at least 12 years (and possibly longer) to stop putting all of your eggs in one easily lost or stolen basket.

It doesn't matter if its "obsolete" or not people are losing data and memories due to this sudden activation loop.

people are losing data and memories due to this sudden activation loop.

Not if they make regular backups which is just common sense, especially on a phone that old.

Since the data and memories were important to you, you were very wise to make sure that you had an up to date backup for the phone on iCloud or a computer.