wifi greyed out after update to ios7

hi all

I have been pursuing this issue for quite a while now. I won't go into the "Apple as a company" discussion as it appears from this thread and many others that they have not reacted for the past >6 months to thousands of complaints on this issue and probably will never do as they have already moved on with new iOS and new iPhone models. I hope I can add to the TECHNICAL discussion by summarizing my experiences and especially I hope I can save you time.

1. In 2012 I purchased a brand new iPhone 4s and 5 months later I upgraded from IOS 5 to IOS 6 over the wireless (note: this is important - not via the iTunes MacBook)

2. immediately after Wifi and bluetooth greyed out - tried all imaginable software solutions - zero result

you are thinking: so far nothing new...

3. then I took my iphone back for repair - they replaced the wifi/bluetooth antenna - zero result !

4. then I took my iphone back again for repair - they replaced the connector between wireless/BT chip and antenna - zero result !

5. then I took it back a last time - the reseller/repair shop was also out of ideas and they decided to take it apart and to heat up the wireless/BT chip up as they thought the issue was with the soldering of the chip on that board - they have had hundreds of iPhones brought in with the same greyed out issue - the result was the wireless was now working and has done so for at least 6 months - then died again

6. they now can not help me any more and also I have evidently lost my warranty as I took it to a reseller/repair and did not send it back to Apple in the first place.

7. This happens also in Iphone 5 and with IOS 6, 7 upgrades all over the globe. But most reports are with iPhone 4s.

To sum up:

1. it is a hardware issue - namely the connection of the chip to the motherboard;

2. it will happen in iPhones (or iPads) which are at the edge of technical specifications and overheat if you download for a long time or do a large software update (like an IOS upgrade);

3. it will most likely happen when you upgrade your iPhone via your wireless connection (long download - more overheating) instead of through MacBook - iTunes -USB;

4. depending on the continent/country you live in you might get 1 year/2 year warranty - don't let them fool you and send you home trying to do all sort of software tricks and router resets or whatever - claim your warranty immediately !! I have read threads of people even buying new home routers aso. Be assertive !

5. whoever reading this: stop losing time on it. I have spent hours and even days figuring this out, driving back-and-forth do the shop aso. You can not solve it unless you are a micro-electronics engineer with a work place. You may temporarily fix it with temperture modulation (hair dryer, freezer, whatever) but that is only a patch which will frustrate you eventually. I even read messages of people hair blowing it every two weeks...come'on...

For the past 10 years all my personal and work equipment I bought from Apple and I still think their smartphones, tablets, laptops,... are the best and most user friendly. I did not go back to microsoft solutions and I even went on to buy an iPhone 5 which I upgraded to IOS 7 last week using my Macbook and iTunes through USB.

That being said I am extermely disappointed in this issue, in the complete lack of repsonse of the company and in myself for being so naive and trying so many things losing so much precious time. I read a very wise comment by another Apple Support follower who wrote: if this would be the car industry - companies like Toyota would be forced to take back 100.000's of cars for repair all over the world.

I appreciate your comments. I am just going through the process of letting Apple take me through their support desk routines.

Just on a technical point, how did you go about claiming your warranty, assuming that the phone exceeded the 1 year liability that they promote though not necessarily the 2 year warranty available in Europe?

Hey folks, just wanted to update you all on the progress I'm having with this issue. I called apple and finally spoke with a customer relations rep; long story short (after refusing to take 'tour out of warranty') I had my phone replaced for free! Go to Genius Bar last night to pick up my phone and and explained the situation to the genius that helped me. She did NOT deny that my issue was caused by ios7 update. Got my new phone, skill kinda buggy being slow and all but I'm happy with it. Moral of this story: do not take no for an answer. BE POLITE but keep them on the phone long enough and they will resolve your issue. GOOD LUCK!

I will also be keeping a watchful eye on this phone for the same issues. It came with ios7 so we'll see.

Congrats - I'm glad they replaced your iphone! I assume they gave you another i4S and it has iOS7 & not 6 on it? If so, my guess is there there is different firmware on the newer i4S phones that doesn't react negatively to 7.xx as the older ones do/did.

As far as being nice...I've been nothing but polite. I spent quite a bit of time on two support 'chats' with Apple (say about 90 minutes including 'hold time'). After the second one THEY set up the Genius appointment at a store. The store is a 35 minutes drive for me and in all it took about 2 hours to complete the round trip. While at the Apple Store things were bright and cheerie but while they KNEW of the issue they had no trouble running me around, wasting my time and then had the temerity to want me to pay them another $199.

I'm at the end of my polite rope :-).

Best thing to do is to bring this issue under the attention of all media you can think of.

I have tried doing so with as result AppleInsider publishing an article which was picked up by other media as well.

It has to be brought under the attention of the media and hopefully some journalist will pick up the subject and start asking Apple embarrassing questions.....

It is time Apple is forced to respond to the questions of all of her clients now stuck with iBricks....

So best is to write any worthwhile website, newspaper, IT magazine and explain what is going on here....

i have this same problem now with ios 704 how did u fixed it?in my case restore didnt even help.

what should do?

i cant perform a restore from itunes since it ask me to turn off find my iphone, however I cant never turn it off. please help me to stop this madness.

Although I'm sure this post will be deleted shortly, as many have already been... But here it goes:

Everyone having a problem in this discussion has the following problem:

All phone affected are IPhone 4s

All problems occured after the upgrade to iOS7

The issue we are experiencing is a greyed out WiFI button, which was not greyed out before.

We have tried all options advised by Apple to resolve this issue.

we are all unable to solve this problem ourselves constructively, although some of us have managed adhoc 'fixes' like hairdryers or using the fridge to 'cool off' the wifi chip.

Our iPhone 4s's were operating without any noticable problems prior to the upgrade to iOS7

I was recently told a class action is in the works to try to pressure Apple to replace phones their update wrecked. No other info on it yet

Also the latest update did not change anything. After charging the phone, there's no wifi connection possible.

...FWIW, my Bluetooth works 100% (or at least it pairs to my car/wife's car each and every time). It's my Wifi that has been hosed, as well as battery life, with the iOS7 upgrade (thanks again, Apple, if I didn't get that atta-boy to you before).

Apple knows this is a problem. But the longer they avoid it altogether is the greatest chance they have to skate with $0 customer equipment reimbursement. Many/most will leave the platform for something else (that works). Others will actually upgrade to the next thing (iphone 5)...either way, their 'problem' is solved. This is how companies that have stock prices in the half-a-thousand/share range act. I worked for MSFT for a long time, this just proves that any company 'can be' the Evil Empire.

I'm in for the long haul; bring on Class Action (please).

In addition to my killed wifi and bad battery issues, my phone has a 'delay' too when I go from the home/main screen to any app - I get a 'white screen' for 3-5, 6 seconds usually.

Same issue here on otherwise perfect device. Wifi sputtered and failed. Toggle greyed out. Bluetooth unresponsive. Siri unresponsive. All fixes tried and failed. Occured on 7.0.4.

It appears that the update service is not fit for purpose. In the UK it might be in order for a few claims to be made in the small claims court where the court fees are only a few £s. The only conceivable reason for Apple providing an online forum but not addressing the problem is that it has no ready solution which is unfortunate when so many people otherwise would have considered Apple as a safe pair of hands especially when considering Christmas presents this year. Might give it a miss this Christmas

Update iPhone 4S to iOS7 (7.0.4)

• Wifi button greyed
• Bluetooth unreachable
• Response time for all applications is long, especially settings

FYI

1. Test reset networks is KO
2. Test restoration is KO
3. Test fridge is KO

Just tried SIRI - it works fine. Bluetooth has always worked fine; it's Wifi that died an immediate death with the iOS7 install and battery life has been cut by 50% as well.

Apple simply does not care enough about thier 'old' technology but lets see how many folks buck up and buy 'new' Apple stuff when there is plenty of competition out there with a better mousetrap int eh Smartphone world. At least wi=hen MSFT used to screw up an OS you could backrev it.

Other bug:

White screen to access for any app

FYI

Try to activate wifi with SIRI or control panel is KO

"Apple team! We like so much get a little explanation for these bugs"

Message was edited by: azizeoo