iPhone Setting up iPhone 4 with no Sim Card.

[Tatharion]

I apologize in advance if this is the wrong forum, but I was told this would be the best place to get help.

Recently my friend dropped his iphone in the ocean, and when he bought a new one he gave me this one and said I could have it if I fixed it. I opened it up, cleaned the corrosion off the inside, and bought a new battery and it works fine!

I tried to factory reset it via my PC, and the phone is telling me it can't continue without a Sim card, which I do not have. I read that I could use Redsn0w to get past this, but I'm having trouble finding a guide or process that is useful.

Is it possible to setup the phone without a Sim card? I don't even want to make calls on it I just want to use wifi for apps and put some music on it.

 

[Applejuiced]

Borrow your friends sim for a minute and activate. Or any sim will do if it's carrier unlocked. If locked to a specific carrier any SIM card from that carrier would do it.

 

[BrettApple]

This is something that I really hate about iPhones. I factory reset one to sell once and the buyer couldn't get past the setup screen without a SIM card, quite stupid really. Now days I just reset and then do a quick setup with no personal info to demo it. Any Android/BB device lets you just pass right through the setup and be on your merry way. You used to have to plug the whole thing into iTunes to set it up at all before iOS 5.

That being said, you'll have to find a proper sized sim card for it just long enough to make it happy. The one I use isn't even activated on a line but it works (VZW LTE SIM). It grabs a signal and passes through setup at least.

 

[Tatharion]

I was able to borrow a SIM card and it worked well, but it has me registered as having his phone number on messenger. Will this be a problem or should I just avoid using messenger?

 

[Applejuiced]

You can log off from messenger and remove his phone number so you don't get his messages.

 

[doxielover]

Borrow your friends sim for a minute and activate. Or any sim will do if it's carrier unlocked. If locked to a specific carrier any SIM card from that carrier would do it.

I'm trying to activate a new iPhone that's a sim free version. It didn't come with a sim. Do I need an activated sim or will a non activated t-mobile sim work?

 

[Applejuiced]

I'm trying to activate a new iPhone that's a sim free version. It didn't come with a sim. Do I need an activated sim or will a non activated t-mobile sim work?

Any sim card will work. Even if the sim is inactive.
Just stick it in and plug it to itunes or connect the phone to wifi.