Help! Recurrent "activation required" message after upgrade to iOS 8.1

I'm experiencing the same exact problem too, the problem arises after a few days after getting IOS8.1.2 onto my iPhone5. You guys pretty much described what has exactly happened to my iPhone. It would drop it's telco reception before it starts searching again, and then it would find my telco and resumes. It happens in a loop and would occasionally ask for my icloud activation. I've tried to reset, restore and remove my account from icloud but it's still the same. I've not faced these problems before the iOS update. I hope Apple could personally respond to us as to what is going on, and provide an update for this bug. Thanks.

I'm now a new victim of this same problem. Coincidently or not, this problem started for me after a trip abroad this January. I live in Rio de Janeiro, and while I was visiting the US I replaced my regular Brazilian carrier SIM card by a local provider sim card (T-mobile). Once I was back to Brazil, I moved back to my Brazilian SIM card and upgraded my iphone to the latest iOS version 8.1.3. Then the activation problem started. I am telling this whole story because, to me, it seems the issue has to do with both iOS and iCloud configuration issues within Apple servers. It seems that after all these SIM cards exchanges, something went wrong with iCloud configuration and whenever my iPhone now loses connection with the carrier, iCloud services somehow understands that someone else is trying to reactivate my iPhone. I have the feeling that this issue is affecting a very few people, so I am not sure if Apple is going to address it in a near future. My hope is to see it solved in future updates of iOS or iCloud. Anyway, what I did so far as a workaround was to disable the "find my iPhone" feature. As far as I understand, Apple only asks for an iCloud account and password to activate phones if the find my phone feature is on. I know it's not a solution and not ideal either, but at least I have been using my iPhone in the last 4 days normally, with no 'activation required' messages, which freezes your phone until you get connected to a wifi network so it can be reactivated. So far so good, and of course I will have a problem only if I lose my phone or get it stollen, which for a person who lives in Rio de Janeiro means a real big threat.

That's an update on how the workaround I described in my post behaved after a few days. Differently from what I had thought, disabling the find my phone feature didn't prevent the occurrence of further "activation required" messages, bringing with it all the inconveniences we already know about. I then moved my carrier chip to an old iPhone 4S I still happen to have, and then all went ok with no more error messages. I then had an appointment with a genius who told me he was sure it was a hardware problem, being a phone replacement the only solution for me. So I've got a new phone now and everything is working as it should be. Just making clear that even though the tech guy told me it was a hardware issue, I decided NOT to restore a backup. Hope this helps.

been having this problem as well ... been through 2 replacement iphone 6 from Verizon ,they thought it was a software issue , still didnt help ,i updated to 8.2 and so far these past 2 days i havent had the problem , anyone still having the issue after updating to 8.2 ?

In a similar situation. I'm abroad right now (Canada, normally a US Resident). On the 4th day of my trip, started getting repeated Activation requests from the phone from the lock screen. Just tried disabling Find My iPhone from settings and signing out from the app. Hopefully this will work.

Yep I am also having this issue. I have a T-Mobile iPhone 6 from the USA. Third day in visiting Canada I have been asked to activate my iPhone five times, and I have to wait until I can find a WiFi network somewhere. It's rendering my phone useless while I'm up here. Very annoying.

I am having the same problem. I have an iPhone 5s from T-Mobile, and am a US resident visiting Canada (Vancouver area), which is where the problem started. I am now trying disabling Find My iPhone, based on what I have read in this discussion.

I think I may have found a solution if you're roaming on T-Mobile in Canada. I noticed that my phone was constantly switching between Bell, Rogers, and Telus networks and I think that might have triggered the activation lock. Once I set my phone to only use Rogers, the activation lock stopped happening. I only tested this for about 12 hours because I had to return state side, so not sure if this is a permanent solution or not.

To lock your phone to Rogers, go to Settings > Carrier, and turn off automatic. Then, your phone will start searching for carriers. Wait until it finishes searching (can take a few minutes), and choose either Rogers, Bell, or Telus (I went with Rogers). After that, your phone will stay locked to that carrier. Just remember to switch auto back on once you return to the US.

Exact same thing happening to me as garretto208. I am a T-Mobile customer with an iPhone 6. Am roaming in Vancouver, Canada and phone goes nuts switching between carriers. Also get the dreaded Activation Required periodically. Am trying garretto208's suggestion. Will update if it fixes the issue for me.

Any luck with this anyone?

Having this problem with my daughters iPhone for the last month and it's driving us both crazy

she is with koodo.

recently we have upgraded to latest iOS with apple music. And also had carrier turn off data To save overage costs.

Went to Apple Store. Wiped phone. Running as new with no restore. Also got new SIM card from carrier.

Thought problem would go away but it's still happening.

Well, add me to the club! :-( I have an iPhone 6, running 9.0.2 on Verizon. I got that exact Activation message about a month ago. At that time I input

my Apple I D and everything was fine. Then I was worried it was some kind of hack so I changed all my passwords on my phone. When it happened today, I decided to just shut down the phone and restart. When it rebooted, it asked me to set up iCloud but I just "skipped" the entire process. My phone is completely

fine and all of my iCloud settings were on. I can make calls and texts. Very strange. I may call Apple today. To me, it seems like an Apple issue. It hasn't happened as often as some of you describe, but it is annoying, and if it happens more frequently, I will certainly want the issue fixed... But at least I found a quick fix for the moment...

I have been facing this issue for a few months now. I was sent a new iPhone 6 (to replace my previous one) and that is what the problem started. Apple blames verizon and verizon blames apple. I have now at this point had 3 separate new phones and a new sim card. I still face this issue. The first time it happened my phone did not finally activate for a full week. Then it would happen on and off. I have called Verizon a few times on this issue. Ive noticed that if I go into a building that normally in the past had poor cell service the "no service" now will pop up and I am asked to activate my phone. I have traveled down to my families house for the holiday and now my phone has not worked for 3 full days. I am at a huge loss at this point. I don't know what to do. I am not sure if I should switch carriers. I really am going to be even more upset than I already am if I need to go spend more money to buy a new phone I already have. I mean it is so bad that the last tech person I spoke to a verizon just pointed the finger back at apple (one again) and when I disconnected the call she tried to call me back and left a message on my cell. Really.. lady... I told you for 45 minutes that my phone did not work. Someone has to figure out how to correct this. It obviously is a reoccurring issue.

I have experienced this problem quite a bit while traveling in japan w my iphone 6. I found that turning it to airplane mode and only using wifi solves the problem; it seems that when we are not in airplane mode then the phone is still looking for a connection in a foreign and thus unrecognizable place and then the little robot inside gets confused.

I Am going thru this issue right Now. I have restored, updated my Mac mini, updated iTunes, started as new. Everything the tech support has offered. All 7 of them. Now I can't get anyone to email me back. This issue started after I received a replacement phone from a repair. The most frustrating thing Ever. It's funny I see posts on the forum try all told me this has never happenEd before. has anyone found a resolution?

I work for a carrier and this is definitely not a carrier issue. iPhones activate on apple's servers and does not require cell data to do so. Most times you have to connect to wifi to even activate. This is an apple issue.