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

I am having the same problem as well. I have 2 iPhone 4, one of them had this issue, and I'm not able to activate it! It was working perfectly for a year now, never jailbroken. I'm very frustrated, it seems a serious issue, I've been 2 hours with Apple on the phone with no solution yet. I will keep you updated. I do feel they will ask me to go to an Apple Store to check it. The thing is I'm not on warranty anymore...

Please if ANYONE has found any solution, do share it with us...

Thank you.

Add my dead iPhone to the list....

3GS updated from 4.3.3 to IOS 5. The update went without a hitch, no interruptions, no error codes...

iPhone locked to o2 ( here in the UK) with an o2 sim card. At the end of the process it started as it should but just would not activate and had no service/searching showing. After a few hours I downgraded to 4.3.3. I now have an iPhone 3GS on 4.3.3 with either 'searching' or 'no service' showing. Sim card works fine in two other o2 phones.

My baseband/modem firmware is 6.15.00.

Out of interest, the ICCID information (Settings - General - About ) shows a number when the iPhone is searching for a signal then show's 'no sim' when it has been unable to find a signal.

I, at least, have a spare phone, so am not stranded unlike many here.

Good luck.

OK, here's an update. I spent 2 hours with Apple on the phone, they told me it's a hardware issue and that they will be replacing many iphones due to this. And, even if my warranty was expired, they gave me an expection and they will replace my iPhone for free. Replacement iPhone comes with 3 months warranty for any issue that might show up.

So I suggest you all call Apple, go with their support, tell them what you tried so far, and I'm sure they will give you an exception as well.

Good luck guys with this. That's why I always upgrade my iPhone (I will be getting a 4S), mainly for the warranty and the market value (to sell again the 4S when the 5 is released).

Hey

same here in Germany -.-

My iPhone 3gs worked fine before the "update", but now it says "no service" and i cant activate it :(

I talked to an support guy and he told me to change the sim-card (wasn't working)

then he told me to wait for the next update -.-

I'm really ****** right now -.-

I hope Apple will fix that soon !!

Well, I had the same issue. I went to the Apple Store in Fashion Valley, SD, CA.

They were not very polite. First they told me I needed an appt after I had taken a bus and a trolley to get there!

I have an illness and told them I need my phone. He said, oh, it's no big deal, everyone tried last night and killed the sever. He did not offer me a new phone. He said sorry, but I will reset to factory defaults and you will lose everything.

They did... I lost everything.

What happened to the battery where it says you have 100% 73 % that is gone. Is that correct for the update?

I am very disappointed with Apples service.

Ive heard a few people saying they got replacment phones cause of this.

I bought my iphone 3gs off a friend once his contract expired, i unlocked the phone and all was fine (about 6/7 month), now this has happened... What do you think my chances are of a replacment phone?

i live in the uk by the way.

could you tell me how you downgraded your baseband?

I'm having the same problem. My 3GS was working perfectly with my Chatr simcard on a Rogers phone (it's owned by Rogers...) until I updated to iOS5. It searches for a network and then says No Service. In Itunes it says there is no sim card installed in the iphone you are trying to activate. I rebooted, reset, restored, removed the sim card and put it back in... nothing works. My SIM card does indeed work because I tested it in another phone. This is so frustrating! My iphone is my only phone and its basically a paperweight. The warranty is long expired too.... I'm going in to the Apple store tomorrow and I sure hope they swap my phone! This is completely unnaceptable.

do you have the iPad baseband too (6.15)?

I spend 3 hours at apple store and at the end they gave me 2 choice since I no longer in guarantee. Just restore it until sucess bymyself until it's work or pay $150 for replacement. $150 for iphone 3gs is not worth it at all. And in 6 months i'll be eligible for upgrade.Can I know how long your guarantee have expired?

Even I am out of warranty. I was actually planning to sell my iPhone for $150 but if they ask me to replace it I might just wait and watch the situation. I have an upgrade next month. But this bricking seriously affects my ability to communicate. I have contacted Apple and they've said that they'll look into the situation and lemme know by today (Friday). I just hope there's some good news as the senior associate I was talking to said that I was the first person to call them with that issue.

how do you contact apple?I know it's hard to life without phone.I overslept this morning because my alarm didn't working (iphone wasn't working)

OK here is what i know. and what i think the soultion could be:

I HAVE bandbase 06.15 (3GS) and i installed that crap because i have problem with my signal strengt ( did not help)

Now i have installed IOS 5 and are getting the same problem like may of you.

I came to activation point and get stuck, to find out if i still where on bandbase 06.15 i called the emergency call like 4 times until i saw a flash window, then i press cansel and made annother call and saw that the list now had 2 called nrs and it was COUNTING DOWN from one of them to the other one. HMMM. i made another call and now it had 3 nrs and this time i just came in to IPHONE. but the phone is still not activatet and i try to sync with itunes but it did not work. i restarted iphone and i am stuck once again on activation. tried for 2 days now to activate.

I think the solution can be the following.

1, wait for bandbase downgrade and try again.

2, wait and try again at a later time incase it is a server related issue.

3, mixup of information at apple DBs, why i say this is beacuse in itunes it is telling me samething i get when i insert a SIM that is not connected to my phone. carrier lock. ( my guess is that apple have a list of suppler sim IDs like ICCID to the IMEI nr.

I do NOT think this is a HW like apple store had told some users

UPDATE READ HERE , i just found this after i added this .http://blog.iphone-dev.org/

Message was edited by: G15

i am having same problem as you i am going tommorow to apple store covent garden london to find out problem , did they give you straight way new phone (refurbished or new)- i am also put of warranty in july, any advice to me pls, which store you went in uk or usa.thanks for any suggestion to me.

Im just off the phone to apple, i explained about the problems we were having, the guy on the phone said hes had a few calls about this but he hadnt a clue how or when it will be fixed. i was put through to his supervisior and she said she hasnt heard about this??? anyway, was on phone to her about 30 mins telling her every detail of whats happened and whats on the screens of my iphone/itunes.... She is sending my case as high priority to the engineers, she has took my home telephone number and email address, shes also emailed me contact details to get in touch with her directly. I will update again whats happens from here.

I would recomend everyone phoning and telling them your problems, the more calls and more info they get on this the better it should be for trying to fix the problem.

i live in the uk and used this number

0800 048 0408

Hope this helps a couple people.