your iphone could not be activated because the activation server is temporarily unavailable

5 possible causes for that error message:

1] Activation server is actually down. Very rare occurrence, and of short duration when it

does happen. Solution - try again.

2] Your firewall and/or antivirus software are preventing the necessary connection. Solution -

temporarily disable your firewall and/or antivirus software until the activation completes.

3] computer being used for activation has been used to jailbreak an iOS device in the past.

Solution - use a different computer.

4] iPhone has been jailbroken. Your favorite search engine may provide some direction, but jailbreaks often prevent

activations/updates from succeeding. Per Terms of Use for this forum, discussion of jailbroken iPhones is

prohibited.

5] your region and/or timezone settings are inconsistent with your actual location. Solution - set region and/or timezone correctly.

You should also check this article: If you can't activate your iPhone - Apple Support. https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201407

Call AppleCare and give them the model and serial number of your iPhone and find out which cell carrier it has now relocked with. Then contact the cell carrier and see what their process is for officially unlocking the iPhone and see if you qualify.

is your problem solved?

i have the same problem...what didi you do to yours?i still cant use my phone thus is the 4th day..

Have you called AppleCare as I outlined above?

You have to have bought applecare, right? I didn't. Have had my phone for over a year now. And I have the same problem. I tried to do the update....and lost my phone!! It will not activate. Keeps telling me the activation server is unavailable try again later. I have been trying all day. This is VERY frustrating and has me looking for a different than apple phone. I have GOT to have my phone for family and work reasons. I am not happy about this...and nothing helps. I've searched online and apple communities all day. Nothing helps. This is the most current post I can find. I have a question - how do you call applecare anyway - when you have no phone?????

No, if you are just wanting to know what cell carrier it is locked with tell them that when they first answer and then give them the model and serial number.

Did you buy this iPhone new from an authorized seller?

Yes, bought this phone from Apple itself. I actually have been on the phone (landline) with a manager from Apple all day. It is a legit phone, no jail breaking done (no matter how many don't believe that - it's true)...there is a problem with the server and my phone - they are not recognzing each other. Something happened when my laptop shut off in the middle of the update. Have tried on another computer with same results. Problem has been sent to engineers with highest priority and should have some sort of answer in a day or two. And because it's an issue that happened with update, I wasn't charged anything for the help

melanie... what ended up happening? This has happened to me as well. What did engineering do?

I had the same problem with my at&t iphone 3gs. I called at&t and got the following web site address from them.

www.att.com/deviceunlock. I accepted the terms and then filled out the request form and within 24 hours they approved my request to have my phone unlocked. They sent me an email with directions to unlock my phone in itunes.

your iphone could not be activated because the activation server is temporarily unavailable