Activation issue--"SIM Not Valid" on new iPhone 5S
dragoncat
Enthusiast - Level 1

I picked up my new iPhone 5S today as a replacement for my one year old iPhone 5 (yes, I paid full price, but I got a nice return on the sale of my iPhone 5). I brought it home to set it up, but after several attempts, including swapping SIMs with my working iPhone 5, I had no success getting the 5S to activate.  The message "SIM Not Valid" appears with more info about contacting your carrier (in my case Verizon) or Apple for more info. 

I went to my nearby Verizon store to see if I could get the phone activated.  The SIM was ruled out as a problem by activating the SIM from the iPhone 5S on my iPhone 5.  Putting it back in the 5S yielded no success.

Finally, I went back to the Apple Store where I made my purchase and spoke to the Verizon rep there.  She informed me that this is a known problem as of this morning and that there is work being done to try to resolve it.  I hope they figure it out quickly because as of now I have a VERY expensive phone that doesn't do anything at all!!

So---if you purchase an iPhone 5S at full price and you're still within your two year contract, be prepared for some activation issues.  THIS SUCKS!!

Labels (2)
Re: Activation issue--"SIM Not Valid" on new iPhone 5S
belcherbryan
Enthusiast - Level 1

yeah you arent the only one Smiley Sad i am in the same dilemma as you. it sucks! i hope APPLE fixes this ASAP!!!

Re: Activation issue--"SIM Not Valid" on new iPhone 5S
rbfajardo
Enthusiast - Level 2

Same here... ugh frustrating!

Re: Activation issue--"SIM Not Valid" on new iPhone 5S
mahower
Enthusiast - Level 2

same here. I have 2 very expensive paperweights

Re: Activation issue--"SIM Not Valid" on new iPhone 5S
NinjaPuff
Enthusiast - Level 3

Same here.  I waited in line at the apple store because I had today off, I've never done it before, and my trusty iphone 4 was getting long in the tooth and it was time for an ugprade...  after some issues because I have mine through a business account with my family, I finally got the phone...  after all that waiting, it said it had issues activating and sim not valid.

They had verizon reps there, and they said they had issues since this the apple store opened at like 8am.  They said check every hour or so and hopefully verizon and apple get their act together.  He also said do a complete restart when you check, hitting try again probably wouldn't get the job done. Supposedly, the verizon rep said that apple and verizon are aware of the issue and are working on it.

The major issue is my old phone stopped working and the new one isn't either...  womp womp womp.

Re: Activation issue--"SIM Not Valid" on new iPhone 5S
Aobrazil
Enthusiast - Level 1

So frustrating since 10:25 AM EST this problem happen and nobody have the competency to fixing the problem that's is the worst no one on Verizon no one at apple that's is for a full price phone people almost 700 bucks for a phone beautifully but USELESS.

This is  so FRUSTRATING 

Re: Activation issue--"SIM Not Valid" on new iPhone 5S
JimDiver
Enthusiast - Level 1

It's not an apple problem. It's verizon.

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Re: Activation issue--"SIM Not Valid" on new iPhone 5S
JimDiver
Enthusiast - Level 1

Same problem with the same purchase situation here.

I am in an apple store right now and they are trying to work it out.

Re: Activation issue--"SIM Not Valid" on new iPhone 5S
Yollennium
Enthusiast - Level 1

I have 2 here and to make it worse I was told all I needed was my SIM from my previous phone, of course that doesn't work as well. 

I've been on the phone for hours with both Verizon and Apple....  each side tells me to call the other.  Verizon is sure it's an Apple issue, and tech support at Apple is telling me to go back to Verizon. 

We sold our previous iPhones, so both my wife and I are without a working phone at this point, this is ridiculous!!!  

Re: Activation issue--"SIM Not Valid" on new iPhone 5S
NinjaPuff
Enthusiast - Level 3

So... after calling Verizon, the guy on the phone said it could be one of two things...

1)  Bad SIM card (He says there's a 30% chance of this and I think this is less likely because the verizon rep at the apple store said lots of people were having issues, it's known, and apple and verizon are working on it)

2)  There is an issue with people connecting to the Apple iOS7 network...  I didn't really understand that part and I am not sure if that's the issue, but I the verizon guy over the phone said they were sent a note or an alert that this could be more likely.  He thinks there's a 70% chance that this is the issue... so not much extra information, but at least I got confirmed by two sources... lol

I'm hoping it's 2 and I'm hoping it's resolved quickly.  I really don't want to go back after waiting for several hours just to get the phone