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Verizon iPhone 4S Requires SIM Card

Prof.

Prof.

macrumors 603
Original poster
Aug 17, 2007
5,305
2,016
Chicagoland
I was at the Apple store today getting my iPhone swapped out due to a 'crunchy' home button, and much to my surprise, the Verizon iPhone 4S requires a SIM card - it can't function without one. Traditionally, 3G CDMA phones don't need a SIM, but apparently the iP4S needs one... Am I the only one who didn't know this? haha
 
Last edited:
R

RainCityMacFan

macrumors 6502a
Jun 10, 2007
929
4
NC
Prof. said:
I was at the Apple store today getting my iPhone swapped out due to a 'crunchy' home button, and much to my surprise, the Verizon iPhone 4S require a SIM card - it can't function without one. Traditionally, 3G CDMA phones don't need a SIM, but apparently the iP4S needs one... Am I the only one who didn't know this? haha
Click to expand...

I was not.. aware of that.

I never carry a SIM card in my 4S and it works fine with Verizon's network. Only time I ever put in a SIM card is when I go overseas, and even then I don't use a Verizon SIM.
 
jav6454

jav6454

macrumors Core
Nov 14, 2007
22,303
6,257
1 Geostationary Tower Plaza
Prof. said:
I was at the Apple store today getting my iPhone swapped out due to a 'crunchy' home button, and much to my surprise, the Verizon iPhone 4S require a SIM card - it can't function without one. Traditionally, 3G CDMA phones don't need a SIM, but apparently the iP4S needs one... Am I the only one who didn't know this? haha
Click to expand...

You have proof? Have you tried using it without the SIM module?
 
Prof.

Prof.

macrumors 603
Original poster
Aug 17, 2007
5,305
2,016
Chicagoland
Unfortunately, i do not have proof. However, when he took the SIM Card out of my iPhone, the iPhone said no sim and there was no service. I even said to the guy, "Wait... the Verizon iPhone has a SIM card? I thought Verizon phones don't need them..." His response, "Yeah, all Verizon 4S's have a SIM card"
 
R

RainCityMacFan

macrumors 6502a
Jun 10, 2007
929
4
NC
Prof. said:
Unfortunately, i do not have proof. However, when he took the SIM Card out of my iPhone, the iPhone said no sim and there was no service. I even said to the guy, "Wait... the Verizon iPhone has a SIM card? I thought Verizon phones don't need them..." His response, "Yeah, all Verizon 4S's have a SIM card"
Click to expand...

Then just toggle the Airport mode on and off. It should pick up a Verizon CDMA signal without the SIM card.
 
Mac.World

Mac.World

macrumors 68000
Jan 9, 2011
1,819
1
In front of uranus
reclusive46 said:
It is a sim card for international roaming
Click to expand...

^^^ This. And the sim should be identical to this:

photo taken from member hbah427
SIMCard.JPG
 
A

ace198

macrumors regular
Oct 8, 2007
157
1
My Verizon iPhone 4S works fine with and without the micro sim card. Not sure if you would need the sim inside when activating.
 
macMD

macMD

macrumors 6502
Nov 25, 2005
358
27
New York
So will a 4G LTE Verizon iPhone use a larger SIM slot with a single SIM for both world use and 4G US use?
 
J

JerseyDoug

macrumors 6502
May 10, 2012
286
27
Learned something today.. Thanks.

Took the sim out of my purchased from Verizon 4s and phone works normally. Good to know. My daughter is going to Europe in 2 weeks and I am betting she is going to loose the verizon sim when she replaces it with a local one. (based on previous experience.) so her phone will still work when she returns home, regardless.
 
R

RainCityMacFan

macrumors 6502a
Jun 10, 2007
929
4
NC
JerseyDoug said:
Learned something today.. Thanks.

Took the sim out of my purchased from Verizon 4s and phone works normally. Good to know. My daughter is going to Europe in 2 weeks and I am betting she is going to loose the verizon sim when she replaces it with a local one. (based on previous experience.) so her phone will still work when she returns home, regardless.
Click to expand...

Call Verizon to have them unlock the SIM slot though.

The Verizon 4G LTE iPhone will probably end up using a microSIM. Probably...
 
J

Jimbo47

macrumors 6502a
Jun 21, 2010
728
3
My sim card accidentally got locked as I was fiddling around with the settings. Rather than calling vzw to get the code to unlock it, I simply took it out, and my phone worked again. So now if I put in the sim card, I lose service.
 
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