petyrs
Level 1 (0 points)

Q: SIM Not Valid

Hi,

I recently bought an iPhone 5 from the USA. The prvious owner was an AT&T client. He told me that the phone is unlocked and showed me that AT&T actually confirmed the unlocking on the phone. I was able to check that via the IMEI number and his request number.

When I recently came back home, I cannot use the phone as it shows "SIM Not Valid". Is there any chance to make it work, as according to me it should be unlocked by AT&T and be free to use by ani carrier.

iPhone 5

Posted on Oct 13, 2014 8:51 AM

by wegras,Solvedanswer
wegras wegras
Level 6 (15,194 points)
Wireless
A:

as in it is still locked ...........................stop debating and call Apple Care then you will know what you are dealing with

Posted on Oct 13, 2014 9:08 AM

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petyrs

Q: SIM Not Valid

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  • Helpful answers

  • by wegras,

    wegras wegras Oct 13, 2014 8:57 AM in response to petyrs
    Level 6 (15,194 points)
    Wireless
    Oct 13, 2014 8:57 AM in response to petyrs

    Call AppleCare in your Country and they may tell you the status of the iPhone ie whether it is still locked to AT&T

    It certainly sounds as if the unlocking procedure was not completed correctly

    see here for how it works

    iPhone: About unlocking

     

    You are of course using a sim from an Apple Approved carrier in your Country ??

  • by petyrs,

    petyrs petyrs Oct 13, 2014 8:59 AM in response to wegras
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 13, 2014 8:59 AM in response to wegras

    Yes I am using an Apple approved carrier, today I was at their office, and they told they cannot help me, as I didn't buy the phone from them...

  • by Phil0124,

    Phil0124 Phil0124 Oct 13, 2014 8:59 AM in response to petyrs
    Level 7 (27,899 points)
    iPhone
    Oct 13, 2014 8:59 AM in response to petyrs

    Try performing a Restore on the iPhone.  AT&T may have approved and processed the unlock request, but the original owner might simply have forgotten to restore the iPhone on iTunes to complete the process.

    iPhone: About unlocking

    Use iTunes to restore your iOS device to factory settings

     

    You may also want to make sure the original owner removed the phone from his Apple ID.

    https://www.icloud.com/activationlock/

  • by petyrs,

    petyrs petyrs Oct 13, 2014 9:05 AM in response to Phil0124
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 13, 2014 9:05 AM in response to Phil0124

    well the activation lock is off. The problem is iTunes says :

    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.

    I cannot do anything with the phone atm as it wants to register and I do not have access to the menu of the iPhone. I am not an iPhone expert anyway but I am pretty sure in this case I cannot make a restore.

  • by wegras,Helpful

    wegras wegras Oct 13, 2014 9:06 AM in response to petyrs
    Level 6 (15,194 points)
    Wireless
    Oct 13, 2014 9:06 AM in response to petyrs

    petyrs wrote:

     

    Yes I am using an Apple approved carrier, today I was at their office, and they told they cannot help me, as I didn't buy the phone from them...

    So call AppleCare to establish what is the issue ,ie is it still locked

  • by wegras,Solvedanswer

    wegras wegras Oct 13, 2014 9:08 AM in response to petyrs
    Level 6 (15,194 points)
    Wireless
    Oct 13, 2014 9:08 AM in response to petyrs

    as in it is still locked ...........................stop debating and call Apple Care then you will know what you are dealing with

  • by Phil0124,

    Phil0124 Phil0124 Oct 13, 2014 9:51 AM in response to petyrs
    Level 7 (27,899 points)
    iPhone
    Oct 13, 2014 9:51 AM in response to petyrs

    Restoring can be done regalrdess of what the iPhone si trying to do. However, if its trying to activate, that means it was restored already.

     

    Sounds like the iPhone was not unlocked.   And is requesting an AT&T Sim card to activate.