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Unable To Activate iPhone 7

My iPhone 7 went into "boot looping" several months ago. Today I was finally able to get the phone to restore itself. But now I can't get it to activate. When I try with Wi-Fi it says "Unable to Activate" "An update is required to activate your iPhone". When I try to do it with iTunes it says "The iPhone could not be activated because the activation information could not be obtained from the device". I have taken the SIM card out and put it back in, and it is in correctly. Any solutions to this problem? Software is up-to-date (or at least it says so).

iPhone 7, iOS 12

Posted on Sep 17, 2018 6:25 PM

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Posted on Sep 25, 2018 9:10 PM

I too have the same issue.

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67 replies

Sep 24, 2018 4:19 PM in response to shumphries27

I am having this issue too. I am thinking it has something to do with the chip that contains the iPhone device information. I am not entirely sure which chip it is, but while fiddling around, I tried restoring the iPhone to iOS 12 and iOS 11.4.1 and after many of those attempts, I frequently did not see the Serial Number of the device show up in iTunes. After installing iOS 12, it gave me a 4013 error, which if you google, you find a YouTube link about issues with the NAND chip some other chips. The serial number shows back up when I restore the device without manually setting which iOS version I want to restore to. See the link below. When I restore the device to DFU mode, sometimes it doesn't show on the iPhone itself that it is in iPhone Recovery Mode, but iTunes communicates with it just fine. Consistently with every type of setup: automatic from another ios 11 device, from cellular (cellular doesn't connect, instead it shows a Warning triangle sign and "No Service"), from Wi-Fi, and from iTunes. The apple support technician asked what would happen if you tried to restore through iTunes without the computer connected to the Wi-Fi. I can guess that would not work either, since the disclaimer for Connecting through iTunes says it needs to connect through Wi-Fi, but I will be trying that after I am done restoring it once again.

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How to Fix iTunes Error 4013 on iPhone 7/7 Plus - YouTube

Sep 18, 2018 5:19 PM in response to shumphries27

Hello shumphries27,


Thanks for asking the Apple Support Communities for help with activating your iPhone. Here is an article to help: If you can't activate your iPhone - Apple Support


Please try the troubleshooting provided, including activating with iTunes if necessary. If you still have issues, the article recommends these steps:


Get more help

  1. To check for network or activation issues and see if you need to replace your SIM card, contact your carrier.
  2. Use recovery mode to restore your iPhone.

If restoring your iPhone still doesn't work, contact Apple Support.



Thanks and have a wonderful day.

Sep 27, 2018 9:03 AM in response to Kiat38

So, I had to send this phone in like a year ago, because of a "No Service" issue. This issue this time was masked with the inability to activate the phone, but it appears to be exactly the same problem that occurred last year. That problem was previously solved by sending the phone in and Apple repairing the phone and sending it back to me. I think the problem is a repeat of the problem last Fall. If this is not the case for your phone, some software update may have perhaps triggered it for the first time recently, since there are multiple people that have seen this issue in this thread. Perhaps someone else can confirm that this is the case for them as well. Or maybe, they didn't do a great soldering job on mine when they repaired it and the chip has become faulty for that reason.

Sep 25, 2018 9:48 PM in response to queenjennie

I went to Simply Mac today (certified apple support company) and the guy took one look at my phone, saw the “No service” in the top left corner, flipped the phone over and said that the device was an A1660 and that Apple had a recall on these devices. I am crossing my fingers. Apple sent me a box to send it off for repair. We will see what comes of it, but no guarantees at this point.

Oct 12, 2018 7:58 PM in response to queenjennie

Yeay, congrats!


So, IOS 12.0.1 just released and i tried restoring and downloading to this latest IOS. But the issue still persists.


I managed to find some guides on how to downgrade my IOS to the previous version but Apple stops signing the old IOS version about 2 days after a new one is released. So i am out of luck there.


But i did find another thread where people are having this no service issue relating to an IOS update (11.2.5), i think it kind of relates to the unable to activate issue because my phone is showing "no service" after the update too. So, long story short, someone in that thread managed to get a diagnosis on his phone and it turns out that the update fried the antenna band on his phone. I am not sure how that can happen. But could it be that IOS12 somehow created the same issue to some iphone 7?


Here's the thread: iPhone Model A1778 cellular Network "No Service" issue


Apple, if you are reading this, please investigate this? Thanks in advance.

Sep 22, 2018 7:25 PM in response to shumphries27

Had an appointment at genius bar, they initially thought it was a case of sim lock, but after verifying the original purchase information, that was ruled out.

They then did the usual restore and update. And when that failed, i was told it is more likely going to be a hardware issue. My only option is to get a new phone either a brand new set (XS/XS Max/XR) or a replacement set from apple. O_o"

Well, i will continue to search around the web to see if other people has encountered the same issue and if there is really no cure for it. *fingers crossed*

Unable To Activate iPhone 7

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