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iPhone 4S "no service" problem

hello all,


Just got my iPhone 4S 18hrs ago and it wen to "no service" like 3 times (so far)!!

  • I have changed carrier setting to manual I can select my network but still "no service"
  • I turned on then off "airplane mode" it goes searching... then "no service"
  • it only work when I restart or reinsert the SIM


Is this common? do I have to worry ?


Appreciate your inputs.


Thanks,

Abdullah

iPhone 4S-OTHER, iOS 5, iMac, iPad

Posted on Oct 22, 2011 11:40 PM

Reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Oct 24, 2011 2:48 PM

I had the same problem today, once I put the phone on airplane mode then turned it off it showed service again. If this continues I will take it back to the store.

729 replies

Dec 25, 2011 5:17 PM in response to mritacca

Hey what happen..no need to fight each others..waste ur time.if u think software problm is OK..but everyone have theor own way how to solve the problem..for me,im tired to change the sim n restore the phone then restart phone everytime i want to call someone.so to make it easy..i just changed to new phone.now running 5.0.1 without any problem at all.


Some of people can resolved this issue when they restored the phone

Some of them just changed the sim and work find


If both cannot..the final decision is change the phone.

Dec 26, 2011 9:01 AM in response to abds2000

In Spain - have changed my sim again , but the problem persists , its been 15 days since i have had this phone , and today i asked them to change my faulty phone but they say i can only send it for repairs , also they apple charged me 8 euros to call them to tell my problem

anyway APPLE / ORANGE ( carrier) / THE PHONE HOUSE (reseller) . have totally broken my back today and will not provide me with a new phone -

cant do nothing -

even writing shame on them does not help -

Dec 26, 2011 3:49 PM in response to mritacca

mritacca,


My original 4S seemed to start to experence the "no service" issue after the 5.0.1 update, but my 2 replacement 4S's had 5.0 and iphone 3GS had 3.1.3, were also giving me the "no service" message. I would agree more with Bluefusion, you don't know for sure what the problem is. The truth is, nobody knows for sure what the problem is. I believe Apple knows what the problem is.


I am really disappointed that they would just choose to stay mute on this problem. This is just wrong!! Why aren't the apple blogs picking up on this? I have tried to get attention to this on various blogs and news to try and force Apple to respond to this serious problem that, from my experence, are saying doesn't exist.

Dec 26, 2011 4:35 PM in response to abds2000

I have the ultimate solution!!!! Don't trust anything else you have read!


I spoke to a Genius. He says that he has to stay anonymous but has the inside scoop on the problem!! The Genius says that the problem lies in the sophistication of the iPhone 4S hardware/software combination. It gets pretty tricky and dangerous from here so please be careful. He says the only way to fix the phone is to be 3 meters off the ground. Somehow, the phone hardware knows when you are on the ground and in the air. In my case, I climbed a tree in my front yard. Once in the air, you have to stand on your left foot, holding your phone in your right hand with your middle finger on the SIM card slot. With your left pinky finger, access settings, network, reset. After that switch to your right foot and message "PLEASE HELP US APPLE" After all this my phone has been working for the past 3.14159265358979323846264338327950288419716939937510 hours!

Dec 26, 2011 4:43 PM in response to getinmiggy

RE : getinmiggy


Let me correct you... if you are not sure, please Google it. I am very familiar with the iPhone since 2007.


iPhone OS 3.1.2 was the problem and 3.1.3 corrected the problem - it ended up being a software bug.


iOS 5.0.1 build 9A405 is the problem and build 9A406 was to correct it. It didn't.


iOS 5.01 was to correct battery issues and it didn't either.


Without Jobs, Apple is like any other company and the brain behind Apple is gone. Everyone at Apple is lost without Jobs. That being said, it has taken Apple close to 3 months to come up with a resolution on two issues - both have failed.


I have friends with an iPhone 3GS and 4 that were absolutely working fine prior to iOS 5. After iOS 5.0.x, they have started to exhibit the problems with Searching / No Service like iPhone OS 3.1.2.


This leads me to believe that it is SOFTWARE related.


I am not saying it can't be hardware, but I strongly believe it is software. I don't want to hear people say they have come up with a fix because it is short lived.


I completely agree with you that Apple is losing it's reputation. I can't trust them as they are not upfront about the entire situation. I look at Google and Samsung and both of them accept, acknowledge and come out with a fix in a more timely manner. Apple will never do this as they don't want to hinder the sales of iPhone. Let me be very clear about this... Apple is losing ground and Android and other players are catching up. Apple can get away with this kind of stuff today, but I think a lot of people are getting tired, frustrated and annoyed at the level of service, committment and openness of Apple regarding issues. This in the future will be the death of iPhone. Tim Cook has failed as CEO. Apple has failed and this was expected after Jobs death. I don't care how many iPhones Apple has sold in the quarter. I want to know about how many upset people there are today.


Either you get use to it or It's time to get vocal. The Mac blogs will not post this stuff as they don't want to hurt iPhone sales. I suggest you contact Engadget, Gizmodo, BGR and many other blogs and refer them to the forums. I can guarantee you that one of them will publish this story. Also try CNN and other major newspapers. Any media coverage especially bad, will help get Apple back to the drawing board.

Dec 27, 2011 1:15 PM in response to abds2000

I'm not going to speculate about what the underlying problem is, just thought I would add my situation to the mix.


Currently within the same square metre at my house (intermittent 3G coverage, in the countryside) are:

iPhone 4

3x iPhone 4s

3x iPad 2 + 3G


All on UK Vodafone, all running the latest firmware.


All devices have signal apart from one iPhone 4S which has the 'No Service' problem. Frustrating since it's the only one of all the devices that belongs to me.


What do?

Dec 28, 2011 12:45 AM in response to getinmiggy

I am afraid that contacting Endgadget, Gizmodo etc will not help. The "no service" problem is not widespread and most of iPhone 4s users are satisficed customers and probably think they're blessed with a miracle phone. The small number of unfortunates as us doesn't count. I am quite sure that Apple workers themselves believe iPhone 4s is a miracle phone and anybody who argues it is not is just wrong and can't be wright. It is not a matter of common sence it is a matter of faith. So if you're not a believer you must be doomed. Apple just have enough money to keep Endgadget/Gizmodo/CNN mounth shut and pretending there is no problem is their officially approved tactics. The only thing you can do is to return (not swap) the phone or sell it and buy something else. Actually every single phone on the market is cheaper. I would go for SONY because it shows that thise guys have honour - if they fail they quickly apologize and swap their devices. Apple has no honour at all. I will never buy anything from Apple again so should you as it is the ony reasonable thing you can do...

Dec 28, 2011 3:31 AM in response to abds2000

Hi guys, Just tried something else and my phone has been somewhat okay over the last 36 hours.


First remove the SIM card before restoring the phone from DFU mode. Since Apple doesnt care about us, we will continue with the experimentation and hopefully someone will stumble on something. Maybe Apple is working on ios 6 to sort this out.

Dec 28, 2011 9:07 AM in response to abds2000

Dear all,


(THIS CONCERNS MTC TOUCH CUSTOMERS IN LEBANON)


I've received an email with a solution to the problem; you have to update to the new iOS 5.0.1 firmware (9A406)!! It's been 1Hour and so far my iPHone 4S is working just fine. Please follow carefully the below instructions:


RUN A FULL BACK UP BEFORE DOING ANY OF THIS


1. Download the new iOS 5.0.1 firmware (9A406) from the internet. (800MB)2. Connect your iPhone 4S to iTunes.
3. Once connected, two options will show: ‘restore’ and ‘check for update’.
4. Press down SHIFT and choose ‘check for update’. (if you click ‘check for update’ without pressing down SHIFT doesn’t work.)
5. Select the new firmware (9A406). Note that the file should be renamed ‘iPhone4,1_5.0.1_9A406_Restore.ipsw’ (instead of ‘iPhone4,1_5.0.1_9A406_Restore.zip’), i.e. changing the file extension from ZIP to IPSW. iTunes will now work alone and update your iPhone 4S.
A full back up is recommended before firmware upgrade.


HOPE THIS HELPS

Dec 29, 2011 3:34 PM in response to laurafromnewtown square

I have the same problem. Went to the Verizon store where they worked the problem with an Apple rep on the phone for 2 hours. I still don't have service. We're supposed to be getting phone call "progress updates" from Apple but have not yet heard from them - 4 hours after leaving the Verizon store. I know for a fact (from the Verizon manager and the Verizon tech I talked to on another phone) that Apple had issued an alert that there is a "problem" with the iphone 4s though they didn't reveal what the problem is. So, even carriers don't know what Apple is doing. My friend has an identical phone that she bought just before Christmas and it works fine. So maybe this all has to dowith the Christmas Crunch and Apple can't keep up with their end of the deal.

Any thoughts?

iPhone 4S "no service" problem

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