iPhone 4 Message:SIM Required (in phone that has no SIM card slot)

Hello all,

I have a black 16GB iPhone 4 with the same exact issue. My mom gave me her old iPhone 4 after she just got the iPhone 6. She had erased all of her stuff on it, and I took it to Verizon to get it activated through our family account (we have like 6 numbers/phones on it). The Verizon guys got the now famous "SIM required" screen and told me "sorry we've never seen this and can't activate the phone".... so then I went home and started reading this...

I read through the entire thread, skipped the chat and just called apple at 1-800-275-2273, and after 1 hour and 14 minutes on the phone, I got the lady (senior advisor or w/e) to submit my ticket to a "senior engineer".

I made it clear that "Apple's activation servers" are at fault, and that Apple needs to "update the activation policy" and send the "activate" message to my phone. After talking about what I read on this thread she totally understood the issue (had never encountered it before, either), and she told me they'll get back to me within 24 hours.

It's going to be some kind of update via iTunes.

Thanks to the OP and everyone else who posted here- I only have like 3 hours invested into this experience because of your help! I'll update with results.

I read through most of the posts, limited time here. It seems like there's a fix for the CDMA phones that have no sim card slots. That's great.

But my situation is the same but with an entirely different phone. I have an old used iPhone 4 that my wifes dad gave to me. Worked great, I just basically use it for an alarm clock, calendar, few apps etc. Everything but a phone itself.

I wanted to use the Xbox One smartglass app but it required the newest iOS version. So I read online about to see if the update would be worth it or if the phone would be super sluggish and slow. Everything seemed good. So I updated it. Set everything up fine right after, app worked great. But battery was draining fairly quickly and one of the main suggestions online was to simple factory reset the phone then go through the settings.

Well, GSM iPhone 4 from Telus (Canada) and I have that same issue. No clue what to do. Sounds like I may just toss this in the garbage unless someone knows a fix. I have to prior backups because I'm an Android user. Any suggestions or do I just throw it out? Because even in iTunes, I can't do anything because it says and I quote

"There is no SIM card installed in the iPhone you are attempting to activate.

Please disconnect and insert a SIM card in the iPhone."

I don't want to activate it. It's a phone 10 years out of date. It's just very handy as a little PDA kind of thing. A used iPhone 4 around here still costs $250 so it's obviously worth keeping to a certain degree >:(

And to add, I tried using my wife's SIM card from her nexus 4 and here is the message.

"SIM Not Valid. 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."

Can someone explain to me why everyone is nutso for these devices? I have never once had an easy experience. Can't even use what is probably a decade old phone that has not be used for a few years. Apple doesn't seem to think outside the box as to what if someone decides to use their phone as an iPod once it's they've upgraded 5 or 10 years later. They just think people are going to throw them out or keep using them? Cmon... I've never had these kind of issues from a used Android. Not saying it's BETTER. Just saying Apple kind of seems like crappy company and can't figure out why people go so nuts to keep buying their stuff...

You must have a SIM in the phone to activate it if it is restored. You can remove the SIM after the activation completes. It doesn't even have to be a working SIM; it can be one that was "retired." It must be a SIM from the carrier that the phone was locked to, if it was not an unlocked phone.

Reppy07 wrote:

Just saying Apple kind of seems like crappy company and can't figure out why people go so nuts to keep buying their stuff...

Because they are better than all the other crappy phones on the market.

Actually just wanted to add to this post. There IS A SIM CARD in the Apple 4 and up. I had a technician in the store show me one time how to get to it. It is very hidden. I had the same problem phone saying no SIM card and took it into the store, and he took out the SIM card and reinserted it and did a soft reset on my phone and it worked fine.

In the attached pic, the red circle is where the SIM is located. You have to use a little pin or paperclip to open the little cover. There is a very small SIM card inside. You press on it and it will pop out. Take it out and reinsert it until it clips back in secure. Close the little cover and proceed. Be careful. You can damage the little cover it you attempt to open it to roughly. The cover DOES NOT come off completely, just kind of spins to the side.

In the attached pic, the blue circles is how you soft reset the phone. It's the closest you can get to factory reset without it erasing all of your info. Hold down both the Power On button and the Round button on bottom of phone together. Keep them held down until the screen goes black and then the Apple Icon will come on the screen. Takes about 10 seconds. After the Apple Icon appears release the two buttons and the phone will continue and reset itself.

Hope this helps.

You should have read all the threads before posting. This on started when Verizon started unlocking older phones per the CTIA agreemen. People with Verizon iPhone 4, which is a CDMA only iPhone and does NOT have a SIM started getting an incorrect SIM message. They had to speak to AppleCare engineers to straighten it out.

Kdr Didn't even have to read past the first post, which says the Verizon iPhone 4 doesn't have a SIM slot.

I read the original post and scanned through some of the pages. My post was only to actually state that the Iphone 4 does have a SIM card. I have no Idea what a CDMA only iPhone is. It happened to my iPhone 4 that I had a couple of years ago and I have NEVER had Verizon service. So it was not just a Verizon issue. At the time I had T-Mobile. Most people don't know that there actually is a SIM card in the iPhone.. it's there but we are really never supposed to know about it I guess. It's kind of a hidden secret according to the technician. Maybe my post will help others that have the problem that don't have the CDMA only iPhone (whatever that is). But thanks.

Lawrence, You are correct. I read the original post and knew right then that it wasn't true even though I did scan other posts to see if someone else posted what I knew. I didn't see it so I posted it. If it doesn't apply to everyone then maybe it will help some like myself who had the problem with another carrier other than Verizon.

BTW I soft reset my phone often, at least once a week just to refresh it. It will help a sluggish phone or if an app gets stuck..but has to be repeated occasionally.

You are WRONG. NOT all iPhone 4's have SIM slots. The iPhone 4 came in 2 versions. One was a GSM network compatible model and had a SIM slot. The other was a CDMA network compatible model for Verizon and Sprint. THE CDMA MODEL DID NOT HAVE A SIM SLOT, as stated in the very first post. And repeated many times in the thread.

The iPhone 4S was the first iPhone that could be used on either CDMA networks or GSM networks.

Again, I just posted it for anyone who has a 4 that has that slot on the side. I don't know anything about versions GSM network compatible or CDMA. I just stated that there is a SIM card in the one I had and it was a iPhone4. AGAIN as I said I have no idea about GSM or CDMA iPhones which I stated...and I never had Verizon. Sorry...but I did state I don't know what CDMA means. I just know that I had a 4 and it had a SIM card in it and thought it might help if someone comes to this post that doesn't have the 4 CDMA Verizon phone. Geez I will delete my post.

Actually I don't know how to delete the post. Just forget I posted it ok?

No, we will not forget it we are going to hold this against you till **** freezes over. Or til the cows come home. Or chickens come home to roost, Or one of those things.

Lawrence Finch wrote:

You must have a SIM in the phone to activate it if it is restored. You can remove the SIM after the activation completes. It doesn't even have to be a working SIM; it can be one that was "retired." It must be a SIM from the carrier that the phone was locked to, if it was not an unlocked phone.

I didn't think about that. I'll bring it to work with me and try one of my co workers SIM's to at least get past that screen. Thank you sir.

Lawrence Finch wrote:

Reppy07 wrote:

Just saying Apple kind of seems like crappy company and can't figure out why people go so nuts to keep buying their stuff...

Because they are better than all the other crappy phones on the market.

lol, fair enough!