No luck on iPhone XS Verizon Activation

I FIGURED IT OUT!!! The answer to this problem lies in its creation; the zip code and pin that the phone wants are the zip code and pin that were in use at the time of the iphone’s (Pre) order. I guess the phones are shipped with an exact pin set that must be entered locally on the phone and have nothing to do with over the air updates and changes; just type in the zip code and 4 digit Verizon pin current to the time you ordered the phone.

I, too, experienced this problem and opened a trouble ticket yesterday that was escalated to engineering. I resolved the problem myself. Here's a copy of the e-mail I sent to Apple Care as a follow-up to our conversation yesterday:

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The verification dialog prompts for the zip code of my Verizon mailing address. The zip code that worked was the zip code for our residence, where we do *not* get USPS mail delivery and never have in sixteen years. Obviously our residence address is on file with *some* player in this dance, but it was never our Verizon billing address.

The verification dialog also prompts for a PIN, which it defines as the last four digits of my SSN. The PIN that worked was my Verizon billing PIN, contrary to the onscreen instructions.

In short, the root cause of this problem is the totally erroneous instructions provided in the identity verification dialog. I suggest that Apple needs to find a less fragile authentication mechanism the next time around.

Not sure if your XS is locked to Verizon or if you had a Verizon iPhone before the XS. If you do have an unlocked phone, best is to simply transfer the Verizon SIM of your old phone into the new phone BEFORE you start it up. This way it will simply operate with the existing SIM and no activation is needed.

I did this again this morning moving from an iPhone 7 to the XS and it worked right from the start with zero activation needed.

Ok, I actually figured it out using tips from the responses here. The phone truly wants whatever your PIN/ZIP was when you placed your preorder last week. I remembered that Verizon texts me any time I update my PIN, and I rarely delete texts, so I looked back in my text history to see when it had last been changed (prior to last night when I frantically changed it while trying to activate). I found that the last update for me was on 10/23/17, just prior to preordering my iPhone X last year. This reminded me that I had changed the pin to something my husband and I could both remember because we had both planned to stay up late to pre-order the iPhone X last year, and I didn’t want either of us to get hung up on that.

Hoping this helps to spark someone else’s memory. I wonder if Verizon might be able to look at a user’s pin change history, and provide them with what the number was on the day their preorder was placed? Reaching out to them to ask that was going to be my next step, when I suddenly remembered my pin. Best of luck!

I was on the phone with the Apple L2 rep this morning and there is another workaround. He told me to use 00000 in the Zip Code Field and 0000 in the PIN field. I just tried it and it worked and the phone ACTIVATED! I hope this helps someone who is similarly stuck and/or you can use this information for the next time you speak with Apple. Please note that this is an iPhone XS running on Verizon.

Alpha is right! I ordered my phone on the Apple store app on my old phone. I went into settings -> iTunes and App Store settings and updated the zip there. It should activate with whatever zip you used when you ordered the phone!

If you’ve moved recently, try your old zip code. For some reason, when I pre-ordered the phone, Apple had my old address listed as my billing address (even though I had updated it once I moved). Tried my old zip code after getting this error (and spending 3 hours on hold with Apple and Verizon, which was no help) and it worked.

Having the same issue. Spent 2 hours on a 3 way call with Apple care and Verizon. Nothing they did fixed the problem, though my wife’s phone who is on the same account activated fine. The Apple Care supervisor said it was an issue with their authentication servers. He escalated the case to their engineers, waiting to hear back now.

I also had to restore my phone by putting it into recovery mode and using iTunes. At that point my old zip worked.

I’m sorry if my solution doesn’t seem to work for you. If problems continue to persist, you may have been sent the wrong phone, consider going to your local apple store and talk to them about an exchange. Apple claimed in the initial pre-order confirmation email that returning the phone is an option within 14 days of its initial order date. The techs at the store should be able to swap your iphone for a new one with your current pin on it. If that doesn’t work, returning the iphone to apple and financing it through your cell carrier instead is always a viable option.

Hi,

There’s really nothing Apple Support Communities can do to help setup an iPhone for you.

We troubleshoot software and hardware.

You need to try their Verizon Apple support team.

If you have a Twitter account you can contact their support team there: @verizon

I don't think it has anything to do with activating an iPhone. It has to do with activating any phone on Verizon's network. Something is 'messed up' in Verizon's database.

Same here. I wish it wouldn’t be listed as “solved” because it’s definitely not. My wife spent 5 hours last night bouncing between Apple and Verizon and their insane wait times and finally a senior Apple advisor said it’s a common issue and they are working on a fix and they’d call us today once they had one. This is complete garbage, I don’t understand why Apple has to over complicate everything!