Q: Invalid SIM Card on iPhone 4S (5.0.1)

@ Ankz74

I perfectly know what you mean. I was forced to reboot up to 25/30 times per day...! I have to work with my iphone but thank god I also have another phone so I was reachable in some way... But I made everyone aware about the issue I was facing... It is not nice to look at your phone every 30 seconds just to see if you're getting the invalid sim message... And if any of your beloved ones is in need it is not nice if they can't reach you... simply because you can't stare at your mobile 24/24...!

It's my 4th iPhone, and it's the first time I face such a big and frustrating issue.

As I am a registered developer I have the honor to try all new software, and since I uploaded the latest version available to us the problem has gone. Can't really say anything more due to NDA otherwise this post will be deleted due to the breach of this agreement! Just be confident... It has taken a while to solve the problem, but as always I'm sure Apple will be able to close this case.

latest update.... i wrote too soon last time.... restore to 9A406 did not work after all.... this morning i woke up and got the invalid sim message.... and since then its giving me dead signal periodically....

planning to downgrade to 5.0.0 .... people says that is impossible....

but i found something here....

http://www.redmondpie.com/downgrade-5.0.1-to-4.3.3-4.3.5-5.0-ios-on-iphone-4-3gs -ipad-2-ipad-1-ipod-touch-guide/

http://www.redmondpie.com/download-ios-5-for-iphone-4s-iphone-4-3gs-ipad-2-1-ipo d-touch-final-version-direct-download-links/

anyone tried it yet ?

Why? Why on earth we, the users, we who are paying for a device should asume all the costs of a DEFECTIVE PRODUCT?, WHY APPLE won't acknoledge his responsability? Why use tape, paper, chewing gum for a product that is sold as world quality class with a premium tag? I know these forums should be for exchange for tips to make a better experience from a product but, come on! we are talking about a phone that should work as a phone with no excuses! (even Apple should and MUST allow to install previous versions of its OS but there is the word PRIDE before customer satisfaction).

apple is pure EVIL ...

No. Apple can't pride itself as a once company from a garage who cares for his customers. Apple has been from decades now what he hated for so much. Now it only cares about bulk sales and think its better to replace a defective phone for another equally defective with the promise of an "update".

I am on the latest software (5.0.1 9A406) White 4S 16 GB- No fix for me

My phone only seems to go "Invalid Sim" when it gets hot at the sim card bay (Jumping between cell towers, using the GPS, playing games, Charging etc) I presume there is a link. I need to turn off my phone and wait for it to cool down before I can get signal again. Very annoying! Seems like there was the issue before the software update which is a different issue to the phone getting hot causing the sim to fail. Maybe a short circut?

Same experience here...

Purchased factory unlocked 4S in November in Singapore and have been using it in Indonesia with Telkomsel

Worked OK until middle of February (except for battery life)  ... even with 5.01 upgrade

Then I started waking up every morning to INVALID SIM message and ever more frequent NO SERVICE and locked up phone during the day ... only fix is to power down then restart the phone

Thought it was the charger (always iphone original) so tried leaving it off the charger overnight ... still INVALID SIM in the morning

Tried turning off everything ... data... location services .. wifi etc .... everything except the phone ... no difference

Tried updating to 9A406  ... not easy downloading 800+MB in one go in Indonesia ... 4 tries over 3 days at 4 hours each .. but finally got it done... phone seemed to behave a little differently (maybe my imagination)  but still same basic problems

Last weekend .. travelled 3 hours each way to nearest phone shop to replace SIM

Got INVALID SIM error again about 4 hours after installing new SIM

I am finding that the phone locks up and needs restarting at least 4 or 5 times each day

So now I have resorted to using my office phone during the day to call my iphone sitting on my desk beside me to see if is still active ... ***...

PLUS the battery will not last 24 hours with everything off and minimal calls .. the battery life has always been bad

My first iphone and so far I am less than impressed .... and I doubt that all this can be fixed by a software update ... but I live in hope ...

I have restored my iphone to version 9A406, it seems worse, still invalid sim after a night, and now when i call or txt at first it's failed to connect then it is searching mobile service, i have to wait for its searching then i can call or txt again. so what is the problem? hard ware or software?please help.

same problem with me. restoring it to 9A406 made the problem worse. However, I read somewhere that if you put the phone on airplane mode, switch it off, switch it back on and turn off the airplane mode it will fix the problem. Tried that and although it isn't a permanent fix but i've seen that the frequency of the invalid sim has reduced a bit. So I suggest you guys try it. At first I would get the error after every few hours but now it's like after a day or sometimes even after 2 days. Hope this helps.

AT&T did something that solved the problem for me. AT&T techs unregistered, then re-registered the SIM on their end. I've been problem-free since then.

What makes this problem especially aggravating is it seems to have a great number of causes. My 4S started doing this a couple days ago. It would drop a call anywhere from 4-11 minutes into the call and pop up the "Invalid SIM" message. Only thing that solved it was powering on/off. Voice calls were the only thing that triggered it. If I didn't make a call all day it was fine.

It's been OK ever since AT&T reregistered the SIM on their end. Keeping my fingers crossed.

I have had my iPhone for two weeks now, and have had a sim card for the same amount of time. I am currently unable to even set up the phone, because it says that it is not a vaild sim.

"Only compatible SIM cards from a supported Carrier may be used to activate iPhone. Please insert the SIM card that came with your iPhone or visit a supported Carrier's store to receive a replacement SIM card."

The sim card is valid for iPhones, I have checked. The comany it was from is called "Live connected".

I can't even connect to iTunes, so I cannot update it to the newer iOS.

Zozzahh, you may have a different issue. Has your phone ever been set up successfully?

If this is the first time you are setting it up, you must use the SIM that came with the phone. If you use a different SIM assigned to a different number, it will not work.

There also is a possibility your wireless carrier did not authorize your SIM.

Another possibility is that you have a defective SIM. It happens.

Did you even read what zozzahhwrote? zozzahh if you download the recent update (ios 5.0.1) use alt and click update on itunes (ctl click update on windows) and select the update for the phone. If you can't manage to do that *that is possible even if you dont hace a sim installed but you'll need one when you have to activate the phone), simply you are out of luck and I mean all luck.

you need to turn off the phone, then connect it while holding the home button until the graphic that says connect to itunes appears... then restore.

Yes, I DID read what zozzahh wrote. You get that error if the phone is new out of the box and you try to activate the phone with a SIM other than the SIM that came with the phone. You also get that error if the SIM was bad to begin with. Zozzahh said he got this error on setup: "Only compatible SIM cards from a supported Carrier may be used to activate iPhone. Please insert the SIM card that came with your iPhone or visit a supported Carrier's store to receive a replacement SIM card."