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

Hi,

I am just back from holiday in Lanzarote. While I was there I had very few SIM card problems. as soon as I got back to the UK I had 6 SIM card problems in as many hours.

Makes me wonder if the SIM card problem is related to temperature as Lanzarote was considerably warmer than the UK ???

Ruth

Ruth,

It depends on the geomagnetic storm, the temperature of your hands and time of contact with iPhone, air humidity and the the stars positions in the sky... : )

P.S.

I have everything working after I changed the sim card on the 5.1b3 firmware, but two days is not long term.

I just picked up a brand new 32 GB 4s with AT&T service on Friday and everything was fine until this afternoon when I got the "sim card failure" pop-up. In reviewing this thread, it sounds like some folks have had success with reboots but I still get a "no sim card installed" message after several restarts (I've not had a chance to let it "cool down" overnight yet to see if that makes any difference). Is there anything else I can try before taking it back to the store?

mlegare:

After dealing with this same problem for over two weeks and several trips to the Apple store, the only thing I can recommend to you is to return your phone to the store. One suggestion... if you have a digital cam take a picture of your screen showing the error messages. I had done that with mine and once I showed the Apple store employees the pictures to "prove" my phone was exhibiting those symptoms, (it would happen so sporadically, never at the store except for the brand new unit that didn't work right out of the box), replacement was not out of the question once they saw the problem.

You can also try to replace the SIM card at your local AT&T store, but at least for me, that did not work. If you read back further in this thread, some folks have installed a beta copy of the current software (I do not know the number off the top of my head) and apparently that has helped some beat this problem, but YMMV.

Good luck with it.

Pat

Thanks Pat. My problem has been persistent so hopefully they'll just give me a new unit since it's only 3 days old.

Mlegare, et al:

Imagine my dismay this morning when I unplugged my phone I saw the dreaded No sim card message. WTH is going on here. That makes 4 phones now. Four!! I am currently pluggingmy iPhone into an iHome clock radio each night to recharge the phone and to drift off to sleep listening to either music or sound effects. I am beginning to think something in this clock radio is screwing up the iPhone, causing it to lose its ability to see the SIM card. I really cannot track it down to anything else. There are only two places I ever plug my phone in... My MacBook Air and the iHome clock radio. Thats it. I just wonder if anyone else here with this problem uses an iHome???

What else could it possibly be???

Pat

FWIW, I'm not using any type of dock - only connect it to my laptop for synchronization via iTunes - so I doubt your iHome clock radio is a factor. I restarted it about 8 times total yesterday and did manage to get SIM recognition on the AT&T network once but it only lasted about 10 minutes and then I got the SIM failure message again. Leaving it powered off overnight had no impact - still no SIM recognized.

Hi p_rod50,

Some of us in this forum discussion are curious if you have installed iOS 3.1 beta 3 in your iPhone. Understandably, some people are reluctant to install beta software. However, but for one poster, installation of this "update" has solved their sim problems. Since the formal release of iOS 3.1 is probably a month or less away you may not want to bother with the beta installation. However, if your situation is desperate it is an option you may want to consider. If you read this whole thread you will notice random things working for random people. The beta installation is the only strategy that seems to produce consistent positive results. I suffered with the sim problem till I was ready to puke. I installed iOS b3 and have been sim problem free for WEEKS! Mr. Luigi

I tried to answer you, Mr. Luigi, from work via my iPhone. My somewhat longish answer just disappeared into the ethers, so l'll give U a more complete answer this evening when I have a real keyboard to work with. Having large hands does not help either;-).

No to the beta software. Have no clue to even where it is. More later...have to get back to the grind.

Pat

Update: Three weeks after installing 5.1 beta 3 and NO Sim error messages. Before that, I was getting three Sim Failure messages per day - Very happy and content as 4s hasn't skipped a beat since.....

Thanks, Michael... but I don't even have a clue as to where to find that beta upgrade :-)

And Mr. Luigi, I now have a keyboard that works for me ;-) As I stated to you before, no, I have not installed the beta program you mentioned. Did you mean 5.1 Beta 3 instead of the 3.1 beta 3 you suggested? Anyway, I just searched the terms Beta 5.1 here and it seems that that program is "only available to developers" or that's what I read in dozens of posts anyway. I don't even know where to look for it...and there were plenty of inquiries as to where to get it but one ansered those questions. I guess I'll just get this defective unit replaced later this week, I will NOT plug it into anything but my portable unit to charge it (meaning no more iHome at night); and wait for the newer version of 5.0 to come out.

Needless to say, this whole problem has been somewhat of a PITA, but as long as Apple is continuing to supply me with new phones I'll keep going back until I get one that does NOT display "No SIM Card Detected" and "Authorization Required" while I can see 4 bars in the upper left hand corner and make/receive calls. I just cannot think of anything else I am doing to cause this problem other than using the iHome clock radio. Others here have expressed doubts as to that causing any problems, but what else could it be? I also doubt it is my aluminum ROKFORM case...my antenna nor nothing metal on the phone comes into ay contact with the case so I am pretty confident that the case is not causing this problem.

Thanks, everyone, for the suggestions. I appreciate it!

Pat

Yikes! I got 3 on the brain. Yes, I meant iOS 5.1 beta 3. Instructions for installing it on your iPhone, even if you are not a developer, have been posted in several places in this discussion forum. I'll see if I can track down one for you. Developers are not allowed to discuss beta isues in this Support Community...sorta like "Area 51." But, I assume non-developers like myself can discuss such things. Yes indeed, this whole this has been a big PITA.

Sorry p_rod50...I am going Beta on the Brain. This discussion is SO HUGE I am going crazy looking for the specific posts made that provided links to the download sites for iOS FIVE.1 beta 3 🙂 that didn't require developer status (and directions for proceeding). Perhaps one of those posters will read this and repeat their post for those who have come to this discussion forum more recently.

I am sorry. If I get my second wind, I will look again.

Have a good night. Mr. Luigi

Pleasetry thislink...andenteryourserialnumber..

http://www.apple.com/support/iphone/contact/

The conclusionis yours...

I just bought and 64 iphone 4s in California. I used my sim card from Mexico and the iphone recognized it right away, I was roaming on att&t, but when I got back to Mexico, "no service" appeared.. I know the iphone do recognize my sim card because I can go to settings>phone>sim applications and there they are..

I cant use it as a phone and thats pretty frustrating! I'm gonna try to change my sim card and see what happens, if I get no solution, then I will not buy another iphone.. (and I have bought them all..) People at apple store asured me this was an open phone "unlocked" to work on many countries, but what good does it do if my unlocked iphone cant deal with my carriers sim cards?

What really bothers me is the silence from apple..

They should at least make contact with people on the forums and explain what's going on and at least tell us they are aware of this issue and that they are working on it.

Sorry.. no Ipad 3 neither....

Luis.