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Sim Card Failure No Sim with iPhone 4S Anyone Else?

Got the new 32GB iPhone 4S today from AT&T, activated the phone was working all morning, I started experimenting with Siri and a couple minutes later the phone was hotter than usual and I get Sim Card failure, and Bad SIM messages. The phone now only says No Sim. I get home take out the SIM card and put it in my previous iPhone 4 and it works just fine. I then put in a blank micro SIM into the new iPhone 4S, but it still says NO SIM. Thinking the SIM reader got fried some how already.



Anyone else have this problem maybe a bad batch out there, or I just got an unlucky lemon?



I made an appointment for the genius bar tomorrow, but I seriously doubt they will have replacement stock of the 4S already. Guess I will find out what my next course of action will be tomorrow trying to get a replacement since new orders are taking 30 days to ship I am afraid I will have to wait awhile to enjoy the new features of my already paid for phone 😟

Posted on Oct 15, 2011 1:53 AM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Oct 15, 2011 4:55 AM

I'm having the same issue... 😟

1,365 replies

Nov 12, 2011 8:51 AM in response to msmarko

All,


I had the same problems as listed in this forum (no service, invalid SIM, loosing network/carrier connectivity, etc.). So, yesterday (Friday CET) I got hold of a new micro-SIM to see if this would work, as the SIM I used was a normal SIM card cut to micro-SIM size from my old iPhone 3GS.


After running on this for about 24 hours I can honestly say that this has improved my iOS 5.0.1 experience dramatically! I can call people, send SMS, the works... without problems. Been using the phone the whole day.


However, I had 2 drops during calls today, but it's hard for me to blame it on 5.0.1 as the other end of the call might have been on a bad receiption. I experienced also 1 "searching... no service... then back to normal event" during the day, but this was about it. Still, it's a huge improvement compared to when I was running on my old SIM card....as this one kept dropping every couple of minutes due to the "no service" problem.


Just thought I'd let everyone here know this. Perhaps it might be of use to others.

Nov 13, 2011 5:46 AM in response to robsdoghouse

I have a new iPhone 4s (black 32gb) and started to have the "sim failure' problem as well. about twice a day I get an out of the blue "Sim Failure". When I reboot and not touch my sim, it works fine again. I just switched from an iPhone 4s White-32gb and did not have this problem (with the same sim).


As I do not tough the sim when I reboot and it works again, I assume this is an actual error in software?

Nov 14, 2011 1:11 AM in response to robsdoghouse

For the first 3 weeks I had my 4S I didn't have this problem (it was a new micro-SIM as I had a 3GS before). Then, the problem started but it's so random. Sometimes it happens several times a day, sometimes it goes several days without happening.


It's not heat either - at least not in my case as my phone never gets warm, except when on charge.


I can't see that it is caused by a faulty SIM as it seems to affect every carrier in every country and I can't believe that there is only one manufacturer of SIM cards and the chances of every manufacturer producing faulty SIMs simultaneously is practically zero.


Also, many people have previously used the "faulty" SIM in an iPhone4 without prroblems - and still have no problems if they put it back in their 4.


Seems to me that this is an OS issue or a h/w problem. I'd favour h/w as my old 3GS, which my wife now has, also runs 5.0.1 and doesn't have this problem and, seemingly, the iPhone4 isn't affected.


This problem, plus the battery life issues (which I also have) make the 4S less than impressive, especially since I had my 3GS for over two years and it worked flawlessly.

Nov 14, 2011 2:34 AM in response to ukflyer

Exactly the same problem with a Virgin sim card, had to cut it down etc etc and it worked fine straight out of the box until I did the 5.01 software update, now I keep getting "SIM failure" messages and have to re-boot 3-4 times a day. Apple support say it is deffo a problem with Virgin sims and pointed me towards them as its not a problem with the handset!

Lets see what Virgin have to say.

Nov 14, 2011 3:31 AM in response to robsdoghouse

Got same problem here..

I just bought 2 iphone 4s. one for me, and one for my sis.. literally both of them "no service", "sim failure", and so on.. even when i wake up in the morning, i see "SIM failure".. rebooting the phone makes it work again.


i wonder why apple has been picking up habits of producing flawed things.. i am getting dissapointed with apple products

Nov 14, 2011 6:44 AM in response to robsdoghouse

in Spanish:



TENGO LA SOLUCION!!!!



EL TEMA ESTA EN EL TAMAÑO DEL COBRE DE LA MICRO SIM, YO PEDI 2 MICRO SIM DE MOVISTAR ARGENTINA Y CON LAS 2 TENIA MIL PROBLEMAS, SIM INVALIDA, ERROR EN LLAMADA, NO ENTRABAN LLAMADAS NI SALIAN, AUN TENIENDO SEÑAL EN MI IPHONE 4S 16GB LIBRE DE FABRICA INGLES.



LA SOLUCION ESTA EN PEDIR UN SIM COMUN QUE TENGA EL CHIP DE COBRE LO MAS PEQUEÑO POSIBLE, SON DE LAS MAS NUEVAS, Y LUEGO CORTARLA A TAMAÑO MICRO SIM CON EL CORTADOR (PARA NO TENER DUDAS) O CON TIJERA. LO TENGO FUNCIONANDO HACE 4 DIAS SIN NI UN SOLO PROBLE CUANDO ANTES EN UNA SEMANA NO PUDE USARLO DE TANTOS PROBLEMAS QUE TENIA, SALUDOS PARA TODOS NICOLAS DESDE ARGENTINA!

Nov 14, 2011 5:51 PM in response to DavidCph

I agree about the update seeming to cause the problem- I had no problems till today and it just got non-fixable at the moment- I have taken the thing out several times- restored- turned on and off- I can't decide rather to go to the AT&T store or Apple based on all the discussions I have read- This is beyond frustrating- this phone is no good to me other than for use of a flash light and clock without a functional SIM!😠

Sim Card Failure No Sim with iPhone 4S Anyone Else?

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