Why does my iPhone 4S still say invalid sim after an unlock?

Question

Why does my iPhone 4S still say invalid sim after an unlock?

Hi all,

I'm studying abroad in Sydney Australia currently, and brought an iPhone 4S from the US with me to use as my phone. My carrier was verizon and I was told in order to unlock a verizon iPhone you have to call a number. So I emailed my dad and had him call verizon to do that, in which they said the phone was now unlocked. Okay great, so I pop in my sim card and it says invalid sim. I've had that issue for about 4 days, and then someone told me I need to factory reset my iPhone in order to complete the unlock process. I did that through iTunes and still nothing. Am I doing something wrong? What am I missing?

Thanks guys!

iPhone 4, iOS 6.1.1

Posted on Jul 25, 2013 4:30 PM

Reply

Answer 1

ckuan

Level 10

120,680 points

Jul 25, 2013 4:33 PM in response to coloradopowpow

You need to restore the iPhone using computer iTunes to finalize.

http://support.apple.com/kb/TS3198

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Answer 2

Jul 25, 2013 4:47 PM in response to ckuan

I did that, it still says the sim is invalid. Could it be possible my iphone isn't unlocked? I'm certain my dad called and he's certain they said it's unlocked

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Answer 3

ckuan

Level 10

120,680 points

Jul 25, 2013 4:51 PM in response to coloradopowpow

So you did'nt have the message "Congratulation, ..." after the restore process finishes.

Well, from I know the GSM part of CDMA iPhone is unlocked.

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Answer 4

Jul 25, 2013 4:55 PM in response to ckuan

Same here, I think the GSM is unlocked but the iPhone itself is not entirely unlocked. I'm going to try and restore it again to see if that works. Should I keep my verizon sim in or my overseas virgin mobile sim card in my phone when I restore it? does it matter?

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Answer 5

ckuan

Level 10

120,680 points

Jul 25, 2013 5:01 PM in response to coloradopowpow

US CDMA iPhone is always locked.

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Answer 6

Jul 25, 2013 5:08 PM in response to ckuan

The SIM card inserted in this iPhone does not appear to be supported.

The SIM card that you currently have installed in this iPhone is from a carrier that is not supported under the activation policy that is currently assigned by the activation server. This is not a hardware issue with the iPhone.Please insert another SIM card from a supported carrier or request that this iPhone be unlocked by your carrier. Please contact Apple for more information.

That's the message I get when I plug my iPhone into my computer after a factory restore.

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Answer 7

gdgmacguy

Level 7

21,885 points

Jul 25, 2013 5:18 PM in response to coloradopowpow

Was this phone ever activated on the Verizon network? Unlike the iPhone 5 which is purchased with the GSM unlocked, the 4S GSM must be unlocked by Verizon. To to that, it would have needed to be activated first on Verizon's network.

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Answer 8

ckuan

Level 10

120,680 points

Jul 25, 2013 5:18 PM in response to coloradopowpow

Have you tried to contact Virgin

https://community.virginmobile.com.au

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Answer 9

Jul 25, 2013 6:02 PM in response to gdgmacguy

It is my understanding the phone was activated. This is frustrating to me because I did not make the call to unlock it, and I cannot make a call to verizon because they're in another country. It is my old phone that I used on the verizon network before I came over here, if that's what you're asking.

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