Fixed "Invalid SIM"/"No SIM" on iPhone 4S AT&T

I went to the local AT&T store (a real AT&T store, not a partner store or authorized reseller) and they gave me a replacement SIM. I then called AT&T service to have to new SIM activated.

Just curious... why didn't the AT&T store activate the SIM when they gave it to you? Why did you have to call them?

it's not the hardware, it's the software, just give it time...restore iOS5 just as a backup measure in case the SIM issue arises....

well as far AT&T is concerned, your iphone sim has nothing to do with that there is problem with the phone software 1st try to restore the software and see if it works or try connecting your phone to latest itunes and see if that activates your sim card if not take it back to the apple store and get it replaced. There are some bugs with the keychains on apple software which needs to be updated hopefully those should be fixed in no time soon.

make sure to make an appointment before you go to the apple store 🙂

Did you read the OP's first post?

He solved his problem with a new SIM... "The new SIM seems to be working as I have the AT&T indicator back and can send/receive phone calls and text messages."

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.

I currently have to endure the same problem in Scotland. Upgraded my Orange pay monthly android phone to iPhone 4S on Monday 7th November. Everything was fine until Thursday when I got a "SIM Failure" message. Rebooted the phone and it fixed the issue.

When I went home and connected to itunes, I updated the software as prompted to IOS 5.0.1. I then kept receiving differing messages as "No SIM"; "No Signal" "Invalid SIM", etc etc etc ......

Connecting to iTunes whilst rebooting seemed to solve the issue, but only for 10 minutes max. Called Orange on Friday 11th November to discuss the issue, who were unaware of such problems. Told me that the SIM must be faulty and will issue a new one. Should receive this tomorrow.

Looking at related discussions like this one, advice varies from switching between airplane mode, turning cellular data off, changing automatic carrier setting, turning sim pin off. The list goes on and on, but the bottom line is WE SHOULDN'T NEED TO DO THIS! I tried all but to no avail. Some were even advising replacement phones the only resolve.

Frustrated, I went to the Apple Store in Glasgow who assured me the phone or recent software update were not the cause. They removed the SIM tray and pointed out that the gold contacts on one side of the SIM were not clearing the tray and shorting. Hopefully the new SIM will be of correct dimensions and I should be up and running again tomorrow.

Out of interest, I tried trimming the SIM this morning to avoid the tray edges. This though did not work, which has left me anxious the new SIM won't work either.

Whatever the outcome I will post again of my findings in case others have similar issues. If it fails, then I will probably return the phone altogether as I couldn't go another 3 days without a functioning phone and go back to tried and trusted android.

Solution:

Change to original Sim and cut!!!

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!

I occasionally get Invalid SIM or SIM Failure. Noticed it after updating to latest IOS

Jusdt spoken to Apple via Orange and they suggested a reset by holding down the home button and on/off button for 10 seconds I'll see if that works!!

Dave

I just got a new SIM card from ATT today because of this problem (stuck in No Service condition for me). I noticed that the pop the sims out of a credit card sized piece of plastic so quite a bit of flexing takes places and there were some rough edges with the ATT person smoothed over with a finger before inserting it into the phone.

The phone is working better for now, but the process left me less than convinced or confindent in this fix lasting.

I have done a 'reset from new' on the suggestion of Apple and it seems to have worked....so far so good!!

Dave

So this morning the invalid/ no SIM messages appeared for the first time after having this 4S since the day it came out. I first got the "Invalid SIM" message and then after the phone reset got the "No SIM Card" message. So I hooked up to iTunes and backed up the phone and then proceeded to reset the phone going to Settings>General>Reset>Erase all content and settings. After that the phone went into its initial setup mode and then immediately got the NO SIM card found error message. Powering down the phone a a few times did not help and when I tried to Restore from backup in iTunes it would not let me because of the No SIM Card error message. So I removed the SIM card from the phone, wiped it with a clean cloth and inspected for cracks or anything obvious. Put the SIM back in the phone and the phone discovered the SIM on power up. So I then went in and restored from backup and after about 3 hours now the phone is still working. I'll respond if I start seeing the errors again........hope not though. Hope this helps some of you!

I've got a factory unlocked IPhone 4S 64GB, using it in Africa, and I'm having exactly the same problems. It's most noticable sending texts, it looks like it's going through then hangs there. The I got 2 replacement SIMs for my phone, they all do the same thing. The microsims have some variance, some are just a little bigger or smaller than others, but it's the same thing as reported here, glad I found this posts, means it's not ATT, it's not the Orange in Scotland, it's the IPhones themselves. I'm sure they don't want to admit this yet, but I'm going back to the store I bought this one in, back in the US, and getting a refund.

Same here, iphone 4s from failed calls, failed sms, no service, sim failure and you name it. yet no word from Apple, wow...

okau buenas tardes mira yo vivo el la capital de guatemala y vueno compre el iphone 4 con un amigo. yo de verdad no se si el celludar fue flashaido o si fui de una linea. mi problema es que yo puse la nueva version de ios 5 y estoy con esa problema que SIM invalido y bueno cambie el sim y me compre otra de movistar y lo corte y todo y todavia no me funciona por que ??????????????????????????me puedan ayudar por favor