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pooleman

Suspended
Original poster
Jan 11, 2012
1,769
425
Eastern CT
I have an old iPhone 4 that I want to use as an iPod. I erased all contents and settings and now he phone won't get past the activation screen due to there being no sim in the phone. How do I get this phone to the homescreen without a sim?
 

CEmajr

macrumors 601
Dec 18, 2012
4,451
1,241
Charlotte, NC
I have an old iPhone 4 that I want to use as an iPod. I erased all contents and settings and now he phone won't get past the activation screen due to there being no sim in the phone. How do I get this phone to the homescreen without a sim?

You can't. You must have a SIM card to activate it. You can buy a dead SIM card on eBay for like $1
 

T5BRICK

macrumors G3
Aug 3, 2006
8,313
2,387
Oregon
CEmajr is correct, a SIM is required for activation. Additionally, if the phone isn't unlocked I believe the SIM needs to be from the correct carrier.
 

pooleman

Suspended
Original poster
Jan 11, 2012
1,769
425
Eastern CT
CEmajr is correct, a SIM is required for activation. Additionally, if the phone isn't unlocked I believe the SIM needs to be from the correct carrier.

Ok. If I get a sim adapter can I just use my iPhone 6 plus sim to activate it, then remove it from the iPhone 4 and put it back in my iPhone 6?
 

IrishVixen

macrumors 68020
Jun 20, 2010
2,497
104
If the phone is locked to a carrier, you may need to keep a SIM in it even after activation. My husband's iPhone 5, locked to AT&T, won't function at all without a SIM in it; as soon as you pop the SIM out, it locks up with a message indicating it needs activation, and it won't work without a SIM from the carrier it's locked to. I finally stuck a no longer valid AT&T SIM from my previous account into it; since then, it makes a fine iPod.

Conversely, my own unlocked iPhone 5 is fine empty, just spits out a "No SIM" message at me once in a while.

Inactive SIMs work well for this type of thing, and as another poster said, they're cheap on eBay if you don't already have one of the right size.
 
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