"could not activate iphone" after iOs 5 update..Help?

Mine have the same problem as yours. It just keep searching and eventually ends up with no service. I've noticed that when I touch the 'i' button, supposeably to show the information, the ICCID was labled as unknown. What was that about?

Same problem here. i have an iPhone 3gs, i installed the ios5. now it wont be activated. and whenever i plug it into iTunes, it tells me that it CANT DETECT MY SIM CARD. anyone who has a solution, please do help us. THANKS YOU.

I am having the same problem. I upgraded to iOS 5 and it now says that it cannot activate because it is not a valid SIM card. I know it is valid because it worked before I upgraded. This is an Apple software issue and not an AT&T/Carrier issue. Their firmware update does some locking thing that makes your phone a brick. Do not know what to do about this...going to Apple Store tomorrow

Tell us how it goes with the Apple Store tomorrow. I think this gonna be quite an issue for a while. I found a few other forums talking about the same thing.

You can either perform a hard reset of your iphone (sleep/wake button and home button press and hold for 10 sec til the apple logo pops up) or put the phone in recovery mode and restart.

I did that, and it still give the same thing. Next suggestion?

remove and reinstall sim card, and if still not restore phone (aka reinstall iOS5)

also sometimes you have to hard reset twice for it to work. It is very very very important when reflashing a electronic device of any kind (whether it be your iphone, or when your cars computer gets a software update) that there are no interuptions or things that can disrupt the process. A simple hiccup in the update can cause a glitch or a communication fault which will result in an improper update / reflash.

Many of you are saying this is apples fault or what not but take into account how many people are trying to update just as you are and that the system is being slowed down. The key to a proper and good update is patients.

Yea I did both of those (reset and pulled out SIM/put back in) with same result. This is a more serious problem.

To shed more light on the situation:

I had this same issue with a replacement iPhone back in September of 2010 with my iPhone 4. I went to the Apple store to get a replacement for a broken sleep/wake button, and it worked when I left the store. When I got home I tried to restore from my backup, and the software version I was using was 4.2 before I went. Well, they gave me a replacement with 4.1, and this same thing happened in iTunes when it said the "SIM card does not appear to be supported." I went back to the Apple store that same day and got ANOTHER new phone, and even they were stumped. I made sure to take my computer and see that all of my stuff got transfered over.

This situation is very similar. The firmware has been upgraded on the iPhone (after attmepts with Apple server not working earlier today), and now it will not activate the iPhone with the SIM card I have had in there forever. The only thing that makes sense is that this phone was upgraded on a different line on our ATT plan, but I am using it (and have been using it for over a year).

I just hope tomorrow at the Apple store that they give me a replacement...and I will bring my computer and sit there and watch them put my stuff on it. I am not going to pay money for a phone when I have done everything right (never jailbroken, etc.) and I am not going to have a working phone just because I treid to upgrade. There is still time left in this contract....so I should have a working phone.

I'm just confused as to what Apple's iOS is looking for in activation. The SIM card is valid...what is wrong?!?!

I had the exact same problem as you, sleep button was broken and had phone replaced. It worked just fine until I did iOS5 update. Now all i get is invalid sim card. My phone isnt under warranty anymore and I'm going to the Apple store tomorrow. Anyone think I'm going to get hassled for thier own software bugs?

Yes it sounds like we have the exact same problem. Fight for it tomorrow like I will - by upgrading we should not experience these problems. I'm out of warranty as well.

Let us know how your Apple visit goes tomorrow. This is very frustrating...

OK, I decided to update to IO5. I had the phone charged to 100% , I then made sure ITunes was updated. I started the update, it was going fine but after 30 minutes I got an error message that said something like update unable to continue. I look down and my phone has the symbol for Itunes, and what looks like the white charger chord not attached to the Itunes symbol on my black screen. I follow all the ways to fix this , hard close, use the two buttons, disconnect, restart computer, etc.

I connected to ITunes it cannot find my phone now. So, I decide to hit the button to set it back to factory settings, that is going for 10 minutes stops and says cannot complete. So, I now have NO phone and everything is wiped off my phone. I start it , get the Apple and that's it.

I do not know what to do I am so sorry I tried to update now.

Any suggestions?

I tried both of those it does not work. I am so upset this is my first Apple product and I am not happy.

i m having the same problem bt the thing with me is wen i m downloading ios5 it is showing request timed out

How can you reinstall OS5 when ITunes says it does not see a phone!

My phone is two weeks old! All the information is on Itunes but my phone is dead!