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richhenry

Q: My iPad air 2 came from Amazon with no sim card.  was that designed to be that way?

The iPad shipped from Amazon has "no sim" at the top of the screen.  I'm assuming that means no sim card is contained in it.  Its a new device, so did Apple forget to pack it or am I supposed to buy one from a cell phone provider separately?

iPad 2, iOS 9.2.1

Posted on Feb 1, 2016 10:34 AM

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Q: My iPad air 2 came from Amazon with no sim card.  was that designed to be that way?

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  • by richhenry,

    richhenry richhenry Feb 2, 2016 8:26 AM in response to richhenry
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 2, 2016 8:26 AM in response to richhenry

    I finally got my answer from Apple.  Apple says my retailer, Amazon, should not have sold me a cellular enabled iPad without a sim card in it.  Apple says Amazon is supposed to check first.  That seems weird because it came vacuum packed from Amazon.  I doubt Amazon checks every shipment of Apple products to test to see if they are functional.  Apple says it was Amazon's fault that they sold me product with missing parts. 

  • by dilbert41,

    dilbert41 dilbert41 Feb 2, 2016 10:04 AM in response to richhenry
    Level 4 (3,565 points)
    iTunes
    Feb 2, 2016 10:04 AM in response to richhenry

    It did not have missing parts.  When you ordered your device did you specify what carrier you wanted to use with it ?   If you did - then that sim should have been supplied in the packaging as a separate item for you to insert yourself. Have you checked all your packaging ?   If you did not specify a carrier then no sim would have been dispatched.

  • by deggie,Solvedanswer

    deggie deggie Feb 4, 2016 3:19 AM in response to richhenry
    Level 9 (54,563 points)
    Feb 4, 2016 3:19 AM in response to richhenry

    Amazon is not an authorized Apple reseller so any iPad they sold you is grey market and did not come directly from Apple. The information you got from Apple was correct. So pick which cell provider you want to use and get a nanoSIM from them.

  • by richhenry,

    richhenry richhenry Feb 4, 2016 3:31 AM in response to dilbert41
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 4, 2016 3:31 AM in response to dilbert41

    Thank you, that makes perfect sense now.  I have bought numerous other iPads with cellular service directly from Apple and never had to considered sim cards.  It seems that the cellular service was "built in" and all I had to do was to choose from a few cellular networks.  When I opened the iPad from Amazon the screen immediately said, "no sim." I previously thought that every cellular enabled iPad had a sim card in place, and this one was inadvertantly omitted.   Thanks for the clarification. 

  • by richhenry,

    richhenry richhenry Feb 4, 2016 3:33 AM in response to deggie
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 4, 2016 3:33 AM in response to deggie

    Thank you for the additional clarification.  That corrected my misunderstanding.  Amazon was very helpful in that they were willing to have the package returned with no issue at all.

  • by Michael Black,

    Michael Black Michael Black Feb 4, 2016 3:39 AM in response to richhenry
    Level 7 (24,457 points)
    Feb 4, 2016 3:39 AM in response to richhenry

    Amazon itself (so sales labeled as "sold by Amazon" and not "fulfilled by Amazon") is an authorized reseller for Mac and iPod but not for iPad nor iPhone.

     

    You can always check an online or any retail seller at the Apple web site - http://salesresources.apple.com/sp/catalog/