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

Sooooo my coworker gifted me his 'old' iPhone. I thought I could use it as an iPod. When I ran across this particular issue, I went so far as to purchase a prepaid Verizon plan just so I could activate the **** phone. I spent 2 hours at a Verizon store and they couldn't fix it. They told me to go to an Apple Store. I Googled some more and found this thread. Hopeful, I called Apple.

I just spent forty minutes on the phone with them. First they got mad at me for not being able to find the SIM tray on my phone. I tried to give them the 2 case numbers from this thread, they said 'no thank you'. After much teeth gnashing and hair pulling, they FINALLY accepted the fact that the phone HAS NO EFFING SIM TRAY.

At that point, they asked for the case numbers. I gave them the numbers. After 10 minutes, they said that those case numbers do not exist. They said they would ask a Senior Technician for help.

After many more circular conversations about SIM cards ... they gave up. By which I mean they said "Oh, uhm, that phone is old and out of warranty, so, uhm, you'd have to pay $200 for service on it."

I somehow managed to not tell them where exactly they could put that $200. I merely stated that I could buy a new phone with $200 and that I might as well throw this phone in the trash. The rep, for the first time in the whole conversation, did not disagree with me.

I work in I.T. I know phones. I have a perfectly functioning one, it's called a Moto X. I've been an Android user since the first G1 came out. Any time anything has gone wrong with my phones I have been able to resolve it myself, without the need for idiotic reps that don't even know their own products. This situation is absurd and should never happen to anyone.

"It just works" my ***. 😠

I also have this problem appeared after updating IOS 7.1.2 😠 ***

SIM Required: Please insert a SIM card

Stanislav-Apple wrote:

I also have this problem appeared after updating IOS 7.1.2 😠 ***

SIM Required: Please insert a SIM card

Then you might want to read the other messages in the thread you posted to, as you will learn what causes this problem and what you can do about it.

I have exactly the same issue. My iPhone 5 had a hardware malfunction overnight, without warning, and Apple would only replace it for a fee. I decided to move back to my old Verizon iPhone 4s, a black model. This was a few months ago and it worked fine. A few days ago I connected the phone to iTunes and it asked me to do a software upgrade. I accepted it, and after that, I can no longer use the phone. The activation process stops at the same screen described by everyone on the thread: "SIM Required" in big letters - "Please Insert a SIM card" below in small letters. Of course, there is no SIM card tray.

I took the phone to the local Verizon store and they washed their hands and said they could do nothing. I was told that I had to drive to an Apple store in Houston so that they could "reprogram" the phone (those were the exact words used by the clerk). I was going to do that until I read this thread. Now I see it will likely be a waste of time.

Given the timing of this thread, and the fact that I could not find much on the internet about this topic, I speculate that something broke only a week or so ago in Apple's or Verizon's database or Apple's software update. If that is the case, there is some hope that they are working on it and it will be fixed. But on the other hand, as someone said, there is not much incentive for Apple to work on this, unless more and more people complain and this somehow gets attention from the media.

Just a clarification, my phone is a black iphone 4 not 4s, with model number A1349.

I couldn't agree more on DON'T waste time going to Apple Store. i was just there and the tech did a 'special' restore and of course it didn't work.

Before she did that, I have already told her about this post and that restore won't solve the issue. She completely ignored what I have to say and did the restore anyway. Since that didn't work, she claimed its a hardware issue and said there is a replacement I could purchase for $149....... I will have to try the apple care later today to see if I could get a case open... By the way my phone4 is white 16g A1349.

We all would like to hear if you can get this fixed, before having to go through the Apple customer service process. My phone is the original Verizon phone, never has been replaced, so I don't think your phone being refurbished has anything to do with anything.

Thanks, this seems to be what I usually get when I go there with an issue, an offer to replace the phone.

The solution is to call Apple and have them submit an internal ticket. They usually have it fixed within a few hours.

Do not go into an Apple store, call 1-800-APL-CARE.

TWO people visited the Verizon store here today with this issue. Mine is a black A1349 that developed this issue today after a reset which updated the firmware. Prior to that it was working just fine. Good to know there is hope. I'll be talking with Apple tomorrow.

I did a DFU factory restore on a 16GB iPhone 4 CDMA for Verizon, and every time after wards, it displays "SIM Required", "Please insert a SIM card." I'm having the same exact issue, and its incredibly frustrating! This is impossible, there is no SIM Tray on this model, so why is 7.1.2 requiring it for activation? I've never seen anything quite like this and it's driving me crazy!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCJ1aYLgTvM

FIXED!!

I got someone else to call Apple, and they had much better luck, they got a 'good' rep that almost immediately escalated to a Senior Engineer. A few hours later, the phone finally worked.

This was a harrowing experience, I hope Apple fixes it soon so nobody else has to go through it. I guess the lesson here is, if you have called Apple and gotten nowhere, try try again?