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patent10021

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Apr 23, 2004
3,505
794
Stupidly threw away my SIM because I cancelled my contract. Didin't know it would affect activation. I'm not going to get a cheap SIM because my Japanese phone can't be unlocked (cheaply).

Anyway, can I at least update?


p.s. what about a Canadian SIM with Gevey SIM unlock? Still need my Japanese SIM?
 

Macman45

macrumors G5
Jul 29, 2011
13,197
135
Somewhere Back In The Long Ago
You can't do anything without one....grab the cheapest pay as you go sim you can find and use it to activate the phone....Things work differently here in the UK and our phones are not normally locked unless you purchase from a carrier.

I buy my phones direct from Apple...If I want to change carriers I simply change sims.
 

nebo1ss

macrumors 68030
Jun 2, 2010
2,903
1,695
You cannot restore and activate your phone without a sim card but you can update. Under Itunes make sure you select update and the phone if already activated does not need to activate again.

I did this myself yesterday with my old 4S with no sim card in it.
 

aDRock1154

macrumors 65816
Nov 15, 2011
1,396
9
Ohio
You cannot restore and activate your phone without a sim card but you can update. Under Itunes make sure you select update and the phone if already activated does not need to activate again.

I did this myself yesterday with my old 4S with no sim card in it.

So, a 'restore' will cause the phone to go through an activation, but an 'update' will bypass this activation screen?

I'm asking because I've had issues with all of my iPhone 5s' and every time I've tried a restore it says 'SIM not valid' even though it is. Any help would be great because I'd love to update to 7.0.6 without another trip to the Apple Store.
 

patent10021

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Apr 23, 2004
3,505
794
So, a 'restore' will cause the phone to go through an activation, but an 'update' will bypass this activation screen?
This is what I have understood to be the case all along but came here to verify. I'm pretty sure that all the above posts besides #6 are misinformation.
 

aDRock1154

macrumors 65816
Nov 15, 2011
1,396
9
Ohio
This is what I have understood to be the case all along but came here to verify. I'm pretty sure that all the above posts besides #6 are misinformation.

That's good to know. I'll probably still wait until Saturday (when I'd have time to go), but feel better about updating. I'll report back.
 

aDRock1154

macrumors 65816
Nov 15, 2011
1,396
9
Ohio
yes, let us know. thanks

Well, I decided to update through iTunes and it worked! Although, I left the SIM card in. I'll probably stay away from OTA for a while...

I should add, there was no activation screen, so the theory is correct.
 
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aDRock1154

macrumors 65816
Nov 15, 2011
1,396
9
Ohio
UPDATE: I tried updating to 7.1 last night and it threw up the 'SIM not valid' after the phone updated/restarted. I'll be getting my 5th replacement iPhone 5s today.

I've tried a duplicate thread, but a mod took it down. I literally have no answers anywhere and was hoping someone here could help. Apple and Verizon have never seen this before...
 
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