SIM Card is not supported in activation

I have a question about activating my iPhone with a different SIM Card. I have an unlocked iPhone and I tried to use a different SIM Card (from a different carrier) with it. However, the phone won't activate, and I got an error message stating that the SIM Card is not supported by the initial activation and that it is not a hardware issue. It advised me to call my carrier. So I called my carrier and the customer support agent confirmed that my iPhone is indeed unlocked. Now I'm really confused as to why the SIM Card from the other carrier is not supported. All SIM Cards that I tried with my current carrier work with my iPhone. Every other SIM Card from the other carriers doesn't work (I've tried 3 others).

Posted on Jul 17, 2016 6:44 AM

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Posted on Jul 17, 2016 7:13 PM

Here are the instructions for restoring your iPhone to factory using iTunes. Use iTunes on your Mac or PC to restore your iPhone, iPad, or iPod to factory settings - Apple Support


Again, if you got an unlock from your carrier, you needed to finish the unlock, and just trying to activate it with the other SIM will not work, nor will a restore from a backup. You have to restore first to factory to complete the unlock process, then you can restore your backup after that.

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Jul 17, 2016 7:13 PM in response to Jb Cacdac

Here are the instructions for restoring your iPhone to factory using iTunes. Use iTunes on your Mac or PC to restore your iPhone, iPad, or iPod to factory settings - Apple Support


Again, if you got an unlock from your carrier, you needed to finish the unlock, and just trying to activate it with the other SIM will not work, nor will a restore from a backup. You have to restore first to factory to complete the unlock process, then you can restore your backup after that.

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Jul 17, 2016 7:02 AM in response to Jb Cacdac

Then the phone is not unlocked. Did you request an unlock from your carrier and they granted it? If so, did you restore the phone to factory with iTunes and receive a "Congratulations, your phone is now unlocked" message? If not, then the unlock is not complete. You need to restore the device with iTunes to factory, not from a backup. When you get the "Congratulations" message, you can restore your backup.

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Jul 17, 2016 9:54 AM in response to Jb Cacdac

Regardless if what your carrier tech support agent told you, the error message you are seeing is telling you that the phone is, in fact, not unlocked. If you requested the unlock through the carrier it was locked to, and they approved it, did you then erase the device and restore as new in iTunes? If you did, was there a message in iTunes at the end of the restore as new process that confirmed the device was now unlocked?

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Oct 25, 2016 7:48 AM in response to Jb Cacdac

hello team i have this same problum my iphone 6 it was hanging befor when i format it by laptop using itunes

befor its working averything only hanging problum. after format sim card not working

the problum is now ,sim card not support .the sim card that you currently have installed in this phone

is not from a carrier that is not support under the activation policy that is currently assigned by the activation server

this is not a hardware issue with phone please insert other sim card from a supported carrier or request that this phone be unlocked by your carrier , please contact apple for information

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Oct 25, 2016 7:53 AM in response to rioali

Your phone is carrier locked. ONLY the carrier it's locked to can authorized unlocking it. Contact them. If you don't know what carrier it's locked to, call AppleCare and give them the serial number of the phone. They should be able to tell you.

Not all carriers offer unlocking.

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Oct 25, 2016 8:04 AM in response to rioali

More than likely, the SIM was working in the past because the phone was hacked to work with your carrier. Now that you have updated the phone, it has removed the hack and the device is locked back to the original carrier. Sounds as if you did not purchase the device from Apple or an Authorized Apple Reseller.


The fact that the device was hanging has nothing to do with the SIM issue. As Tim stated, you need to find out who the device is locked to and see if they provide unlocking services and if you qualify.

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SIM Card is not supported in activation

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