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Level 2

150 points

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

I have a Verizon iPhone 4 (CDMA), model A1349, which has no SIM card. It has never had a SIM card. There is no place to put a SIM card in. This is my phone and worked perfectly since I purchased it new. I bought a new iPhone 6 for myself and want to put this phone on my son's phone line. We have spent hours with Verizon and they cannot help us. When we try to do something with this phone we get the message: "SIM Required - Please insert a SIM card" "Try Again." Like I said - there is no SIM card. This model iPhone has no place to insert a SIM card. We are completely and utterly at a loss. Any idea how to get past this? Thanks.

Mac Pro, OS X Mavericks (10.9.3), 48 GB 1333 MHz DDR23 FB

Posted on Jan 25, 2015 9:42 AM

257 replies

ManSinha

Level 6

12,171 points

Jan 31, 2015 6:36 PM in response to rosindabow

Just read through the entire thread

Sorry if this is duplicative - but have you tried a restore with iTunes from a back up that used to be on this phone? Or is that stopped as well?

rosindabow Author

Level 2

150 points

Jan 31, 2015 6:38 PM in response to Lawrence Finch

No worries. I truly thought that Verizon would step up as I have been a Verizon customer for going on 15 years but they did not. I already found another iPhone for my son to use. I was already paying for his Data line usage and I didn't want that to go to waste.

I've also owned Apple products since my first Mac SE in 1987. They have just grown too big to care about the customer any more. They usually have great customer service but I have found it slipping as of late. I know more than most of the genius' at eh Apple stores and when I do the phone tech thing, I know I'm talking with someone who is not up to date and just reading from a list of how-tos for a given situation.

I'm out a working iPhone - and so it goes ...

rosindabow Author

Level 2

150 points

Jan 31, 2015 6:40 PM in response to ManSinha

Done - no help - will not get past the insert SIM card screen.

Jan 31, 2015 6:44 PM in response to rosindabow

Did you just update iOS, or has it been on 7.1.2 for a while? Have you tried a DFU restore?

I'm assuming the phone was never jailbroken, as that could cause an issue like this.

rosindabow Author

Level 2

150 points

Jan 31, 2015 6:53 PM in response to Lawrence Finch

Yes - all been done. This phone was never jailbroken - it came directly from the Apple store. When I went into the Apple store, they tried doing the reset thing twice, and then finally - they actually took it into the back and removed the battery to reset it. Nothing worked. This is an Apple store telling me this.

To me, it seems like the phone itself thinks it's an iPhone 6. Like it got some firmware push and it cannot get back to ground zero. Apple literally tried whatever they could in the store to bring it back an like I said, ultimately told me it must be the phone. Such an amazing coincidence to break at the exact moment that I was switching lines and giving it to my son (there was a hefty dose of sarcasm there). Sorry, I don't buy it - especially now that I hear that another customer experienced the exact same issue.

ChrisJ4203

Level 10

230,371 points

Jan 31, 2015 6:51 PM in response to rosindabow

I've been following this too, since I posted the first time. I wonder if when you transferred from the old phone to the new phone, someone at Verizon accidently removed the MEID from the iPhone 4 from their system, which is why it is not being recognized by the system. I cannot see any other reason why the device would be functioning on the network one minute and not the next, and why it is asking for a SIM. Is it possible your account is marked that line as a LTE device, so it is looking for the LTE SIM that resides in an LTE device? That helps identify the device and I've read that without that, a Verizon phone will not work on the network. So maybe they (Verizon) needs to go in and check your account? Before your post and the other poster here, I've never read of anything like this with a Verizon phone asking for a SIM. I guess I'm just trying to find some other questions for you to bring to Verizon.

rosindabow Author

Level 2

150 points

Jan 31, 2015 6:56 PM in response to ChrisJ4203

Interesting ... but they could find the MEID in their system. We actually checked that a number of times. I had never heard of anything like this either. It's a mystery that may remain one unless enough Verizon customers with older iPhone 4s have the same thing happen to them. I've already spent hours on the phone with Verizon and hours with Apple - unless I hear of some other fix, I'm done.

But thanks for the line of thought ...

ChrisJ4203

Level 10

230,371 points

Jan 31, 2015 7:01 PM in response to rosindabow

I suppose they have tried to remove the phone number and device from your account, and they have reset that account number?

rosindabow Author

Level 2

150 points

Jan 31, 2015 7:31 PM in response to ChrisJ4203

There is now another working iPhone 4 on this account - we used my wife's old iPhone. No problems whatsoever. So the account is capable of running an older Verizon iPhone 4. That's what adds to me thinking that it is something in the firmware - but maybe it was done by Verizon ... ugh

ChrisJ4203

Level 10

230,371 points

Jan 31, 2015 7:32 PM in response to rosindabow

Well, good luck. I hope for the best.

Feb 1, 2015 4:18 AM in response to rosindabow

I wish I had better news or an answer, but I just wanted to commiserate. I am having the exact same problem with a Verizon iPhone 4 (Model No. A1349). It was I believe running iOS 7.0.6. When my wife upgraded phones, I did a full-erase on the device from within iOS. Upon restart, the device walked me through language and WiFi network option, then attempted to activate; when it did, I received the "No SIM card" error.

Of course, as others have noted, this is a Verizon CDMA phone *without* a SIM card slot. (Apple didn't start including SIM slots and world-band capabilities until either the 4s or 5, I'm not sure which.) So, needless to say, I have no SIM card I can insert.

I plugged the device into my Mac and opened iTunes and got the same SIM card error. Followed the DFU process, did a factory restore to 7.1.2 -- same error afterwards.

I'd like to get this phone in a working state that I could use as an iPod or to resell. Not looking forward to going down and spending hours with the Genius Bar just to hear they have no solution. But, I will print out this thread and take it with me in the hopes that it can help.

(Like others here, a Mac user since the 1990s and a loyal owner since 2000... never seen anything quite this bizarre and dead-ended.)

rosindabow Author

Level 2

150 points

Feb 1, 2015 7:14 AM in response to ksdavis27701

Maybe if enough of us have the same experience, something will be done. Like I said, when I went to the Genius bar, they did the same exact things I had already done ... twice - with the same exact result. Their next step was to take the phone into the back to the repairman to remove the battery - nothing. And I was then told that the phone is broken. That it just happened to break on the exact day and at the exact time that I attempted to switch lines. That's when they offered to sell me a new iPhone 4 for $149 - the Genius actually had one with her when she returned from the battery try. She was really nice, no one at the genius bar had an attitude. And then again, no one had any other answer either.

Anyway, I wish you luck. Please post back and let me know if you have any luck. Thanks.

Feb 1, 2015 7:19 AM in response to ChrisJ4203

ChrisJ4203 wrote:

I've been following this too, since I posted the first time. I wonder if when you transferred from the old phone to the new phone, someone at Verizon accidently removed the MEID from the iPhone 4 from their system, which is why it is not being recognized by the system.

Not possible to to that accidentally. Also, the iPhone 4 doesn't use an IMEI but rather an 11 character alphanumeric ESN.

Feb 1, 2015 7:23 AM in response to rosindabow

rosindabow wrote:

Maybe if enough of us have the same experience, something will be done. Like I said, when I went to the Genius bar, they did the same exact things I had already done ... twice - with the same exact result. Their next step was to take the phone into the back to the repairman to remove the battery - nothing. And I was then told that the phone is broken. That it just happened to break on the exact day and at the exact time that I attempted to switch lines. That's when they offered to sell me a new iPhone 4 for $149 - the Genius actually had one with her when she returned from the battery try. She was really nice, no one at the genius bar had an attitude. And then again, no one had any other answer either.

Anyway, I wish you luck. Please post back and let me know if you have any luck. Thanks.

What kind of phone did your son have on his account before you tried to activate the iPhone 4? Very rarely, trying to move a mobile number from a 4G phone to a 3G phone can cause a hiccough in the system. However, if you were able to activate another non-4G LTE phone on the account, it was probably not that.

rosindabow Author

Level 2

150 points

Feb 1, 2015 7:41 AM in response to IdrisSeabright

I don't remember what the brand or model name and number of his other phone was but he had a non-data phone on this line. It was a really cheap, no frills phone - I can do some research and find out more about his old phone if you think that would help. And like I said, we ended up putting my wife's iPhone 4 on this line and it is working just perfectly. We just didn't do a reset on it. He just transferred all his information into it and has begun removing my wife's phone book, little by little.

So as far as I am concerned, there is 100% nothing wrong with this phone. I think it has something to do with the full erase but I sure as heck cannot figure it out. And so far, neither can anyone at Apple or Verizon ... and no one at either company is willing to even try any more.

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