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

After following this discussion and had also tried using 5.1 beta... my personal conlcusion is that this problem is both hardware and software... After almost two months from the time I got my 4S from my service provider, I finally decided to bring it back to my carrier for assessment and possible replacement. After 2 weeks, I got a new iphone 4s and for 24 hours now it is perfect. I would presume that there was also a hardware issue with my first unit. Trying 5.1 with my previous unit also worked perfectly but of course it is still a beta release so i am not sure if it will be a permanent solution.

To all others with this experience, just ask for a replcement since most of us i am sure are still in warranty. Apple had a good record on customer aftersales service. THey had my unit replced through my service carrier Globe Telecom. Just had to be patient also since in the Philippines we dont have an apple store that can replce units immediately.

As of now with my phone working well... i guess it is worth the wait.... I am still an iphone avid since its features answer all my needs being a mac user for almost 8 years now....

My appreciation with the people from Globe Telecom in Trinoma Store for your assistance....

To all again, just have your iphone 4S with this problem be replaced.... Mabuhay

Guys,

It is very evident from all info here that apple dropped the ball on this one. Tried every solution listed here. Some worked for a few days until the problem came back. The only solution is to get your phone replaced. Thats it. No other solution.

Purchased the 4S in Oct. 2011.  Repeated drop calls and invalid sim messages.  As a business owner, turning phone on and off for up to 8 hours was not an acceptable solution.  Received a new phone on Dec. 14.  Worked fine for several weeks and problems began again. Took the phone into the store  in Jan. and was told the operating system needed an upgrade to "correct" the issue. The fix worked for about a week or so and the problems resumed.  Final straw was yesterday - more invalid and no sim messages.  Spent nearly an hour with a telephone tech who escalated the issue after problem could not be resolved.  Spent another 30-45 mins with a supervisor who eventually relented after none of the attempts to fix the problem worked.  Supervisor scheduled me for another replacement phone today.  Three phones in less than six months??!  Beyond frustrated and completely disappointed with this product. 

VRSmart - Good info. I was told both were replaced, but I'm going to ask for a new boxed phone AND sim today...thx

48 hours with a new sim and so far so good, hopefully I can make it to march and iOS 5.1 without any problems

GO marcus_30 GO!

OK, I have a question for the group.  As you may know from my earlier posts, 2 out of my family's 3 iPhone 4S's had the SIM PLAGUE.  Installing iOS 5.1 beta 3 solved the problem...immediately.  The problem has never returned.  The reason why I resorted to the beta solution originally was because the Genius at the Apple Store said there was not any way to be sure a replacement phone was not actually a refurbished phone.  I didn't want ANYTHING to do with a refurbished phone since our phones, at the time, were less than a month old and in pristine condition (except they didn't work   ) I mean, if I wanted a used phone, I would have bought a used phone and paid less.

A lot of you have posted that you have replaced your phones, with varying levels of success I may add.  No one has said they got a refurbished phone.  So, I assume all of you knew your replacement phones were TOTALLY NEW.

Did my Genius pull a fast one on me?  I must say that in general I have had excellent service from Geniuses at the Genius Bar.  But was this guy a lying, scum-sucking one in a thousand bad apple Genius?  (Couldn't resist that "bad apple" part...sorry).

I've bought iPhone 4s from Amazon,US. Now, Here in Paraguay it didn't work with any carrier. Loss signal. Can't send messages. Works only like an iPod. I am Very disapointed. This is New: i have researched more. Introducing the serial number of the iPhone on Apple page support the page showed the next message: "that serial number matches an iPhone that have been replaced". Please everybody, Apple, Amazon , worldwide distributors, people, explain....What the **** is going on???

Hey Mr.Luigi and Lashawn!!

I think my iPhone problems over the past three weeks are pretty well documented here. And to Lashawnfromwhite plains.... you have had three phones replaced over six months? I had FIVE replacements over less than three WEEKS....and alas, my latest replacement, less than a week old, showed me the "No SIM card Detected" and "Authorization Required" error messages about 72 hours after my last replacement.

Although none of the five phones came out of the back room in a new box... each Apple genius promised me "this is a NEW phone". I do not doubt that.

But look....five phones, three weeks, WTH is up with that?

I don't want to risk trying to download the beta program....I don't have the technical expertise to do that and I do not want to "brick" my phone. And although many here have done that and now report no problems, other here and on other forums have had less that positive results and a few have lost all functionality of their phone from the beta proggie.

Even though these messsages pop up almost daily....(it is alsmot exclusively when I disconnect from my charger)....either from my iHome clock radio or from a cable from my MacBook Air. Even though I receive these messages, my phone always seems to work (w-ifi and 3G always available).

I am tired of driving 30 miles, putting up with the crowds that live inside the Apple store, having different geniuses every time attempting to deal with my problem....and having just a new phone thrown at me every time, reformatting, reinstalling all new "firmware", installing new SIM cards, resynching, reformatting, restoring.....(done it all)..... none of it has worked. I dont' think anything will work with this problem until they issue a new OS. WIll I be the first one on the block to download a new OS???? Hardly. I'll let other first on the blockers beta test it for awhile before I download anything else from this company.

And why won't they (Apple) allow us to reinstall the 5.0 version that didn't have this bug built into it? I have no clue on that.

The only thing I can tell anyone new coming into this thread that has this "No SIM Card Detected" problem..... if you live close to an Apple store, go in there, DEMAND a new phone, and cross your fingers. I have had FIVE, count them, FIVE, new phones in three weeks....and my last one failed as bad as my first one.... and remember.... I had one fail right out of the box before I took possession of it.

That just tells me this phone and it's software (or firmware) is faulty....and they (Apple) are continuing to sell these phones knowing there is something wrong with them. And why is a solution to this problem (and it IS a BIG problem from what I see here and on many other forums....and it's not only here in the US....this is a worldwide problem.... just why isn't it being addressed in a timely manner? These phones are not cheap...nor is paying the monthly dues to "own and use" one of these phones.

If this iPhone was a car, I'd have all the data needed to "Lemon Law" this damned thing and get a full refund and walk away. With a contract to an uncaring cell phone provider, I am locked into a 24 month 'sentence' with a very flawed iPhone.

My record since installing the 5.1 OS on my iPhone 4S?  ZERO and FIVE.

Unacceptable, but with no solution in sight. :-(

Pat

After doing hard reset, soft reset, restore, the latest experiment I am doing, I replaced the sim tray with the one ex-my iPhone 4 ... It works .... it is already 36 hours and no issue anymore. Hope it goes on ... My preliminary conclusion, there's something wrong with design of sim tray which affects the sim is not totally "grabbed" by the tray so the sim moves (not in a steady position). I checked by shaking my iPhone and there's a sound that the sim is "shaking". When replaced with new tray, the sound disappears. So hopefully this is the issue with iPhone produced in certain batch. Again I do hope my assumption is right ...

THIS IS TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE APPLE!

I flew all the way from Moscow to London especially to collect my pre-order. It worked well until the first major update that was supposed to address the battery life issue (which didn't really).

I have since had constant sim failure resulting in the phone unable to make or receive calls and sms' ever since. I replaced the sim card and restored, but neither made a difference.

I have been in situations where I have needed to make contact and be contacted! I have upset clients who have been trying to contact me and couldn't! One even purchased a new phone and a sim card for me! (not an iPhone by the way)

I can't do anything about it because there are no official Apple stores in Russia and I'll be buggered if I am going to take it back to the online shop in Ireland from whence it came!

I'd like to know why Apple has not addressed the issue. I gave my wife my iPhone 4 and now I wish I hadn't. I know I am only one customer and it would make no difference if you lost my custom, but you really need to be more confident in your products before you release them Apple.

This is just as bad as the antennagate issue and I'd like a discount off the next iPhone thanks, otherwise, I'm going elsewhere. But, first and foremost, a fix!!!!

I'm from Brazil, but bought my fone in the US last December. It worked Ok since then, but in the last 2 weeks started the "no sim" message and loosing signal. I made the restore procedure, change the sim, nothing solved the problem.

Since the sim change I didn't receive the invalid sim message, but I keep loosing signal about every 15 minutes. *** Apple. Before the 4S I had a Samsung Galaxy SII and was very happy with it. What was I thinking when I bought this iPhone? I heard that with IOS 5.1 the problem disappears, but I installed and it says that my phone is not registered as a beta tester, so I had to return to the faulty 5.0.1. Anyone knows how to register to use 5.1?

Welcome. I from Ukraine. Phone is valued as 3 average salary. I gathered him six months. So what? He does not see my cards!

I hate it. Now I advise everyone buy android.

do something! This disregard for customers

The real solution:

- Become a developer

- Pay $ 99 USD

- Register your iPhone

- Download firmware 5.1

- You are done! your iPhone will work great

- or wait to firmware 5.1 release

I've been waiting since December. Waiting as long as most of us have is simply not an option for anybody who pays a premium price for a supposedly premium product.

It's simply bad business.