I have been using an iPhone 4 for almost two weeks, and the only problem I have had with it was that every once in a while during the first few days — when I was in the middle of doing something else — I would suddenly get an error message on the screen saying “No SIM card installed.” The error was odd because it never happened when I was actively using the AT&T network, although I’m sure that my iPhone was communicating with AT&T towers in the background. One of the times that it happened, I snapped a picture of it so that I could post it here:
Whenever this happened, if I restarted my iPhone (hold down the button at the top for a few seconds, slide to power off, then press the button at the top to turn the iPhone on again), the iPhone would again see the AT&T network and not display the SIM card message. Nevertheless, it was annoying to have to restart my iPhone. At one point, I actually had to restart my brand new iPhone 4 twice during the same day.
I have seen all kinds of advice online regarding what to do in this situation. Some people suggested returning the iPhone to an AT&T store to get a new SIM card. Some people have suggested going to Settings –> General –> Reset –> Reset Network Settings. A third suggestion, and the one that I used, was to use a paperclip to eject the SIM tray on the side of the iPhone 4, take out the SIM card, put it back in again, and then replace the SIM tray. After doing that, I have now gone over a week since without seeing the error message again … long enough for me to decide to post here that this was a fix that worked for me, at least so far.
I was surprised to see that this is not an issue unique to the iPhone 4. People have been complaining online for years about seeing the same message on the iPhone 3GS and the iPhone 3G. I had just never heard about it before. And the problem isn’t even unique to the iPhone; there are lots of posts on the Internet with people making the same complaint about other phones that use SIM cards.
I have also seen a few posts that suggest that the problem is that there is dirt or a smudge on the SIM card. Thus, if the problem does happen to me again, I’ll try to gently wipe off the SIM card with a lint free cloth before I return it. Maybe there was a speck of dust on mine and the simple act of removing it and returning it knocked the dust off without me even noticing it. (And if there were any Whos down in Who-ville on that speck of dust, I apologize for not hearing you.) (Yes, perhaps I have been reading too many Dr. Seuss books to my kids.)
[UPDATE 8/5/10: After several weeks of everything being fine, the problem happened to me again last week IN THE MIDDLE OF A PHONE CALL. The call dropped, and I thought that maybe I just lost a 3G signal — something that doesn’t happen to me very often, but at the time I was in another city and wasn’t paying attention to the strength of the 3G signal in that area. But then I looked at the iPhone and saw the dreaded No SIM message. Arggh! So on Friday, July 30, I visited my local AT&T store, and the helpful salesperson said that the best fix is to replace the SIM card, which he did quickly. So far I’ve been using this new SIM card for about a week without any problems, but I’m keeping an eye on this. I’ll keep you posted on my experiences.]
[UPDATE 8/23/10: See this post.]
Hopefully this problem will never happen to any of you, but if it does, now you know some possible solutions.
I had this problem quite incessantly for the past week (curiously did not happen for the first week or so of ownership) and went to the Genius Bar yesterday to get a new phone – after failing to solve the problem by visiting AT&T to get a new SIM card. Good luck. So far, I have not had the problem yet – I’ll keep my fingers crossed.
When I got my iPhone 4 I gave my original iPhone to my daughter. It was locked up with that problem for two days. We took it back to the AT&T store and got a new SIM card. No problems since.
I had that problem with my 3g version. I put a piece of scotch tap on the back of the sim card. It fit much more tightly and solved the problem.
I had this problem with my 3G. At first the message was intermittent, then became more frequent. Replacing the SIM card worked for awhile, but ultimately the phone had to be replaced. Covered by the warranty.
I have that issue right now, and something is wrong with my SIM tray because it won’t eject. But here is the quickest way to get the message to go away and start using phone again, go to settings and turn airplane mode on and back off, that resets everything. The fact that changing a software setting or restarting the phone “fixes” the issue, makes me think that it has nothing to do with the actual SIM card being dirty or loose, because pressing a toggle wouldn’t have any affect on the card itself, yet it works every time.
Yes!!! This worked for me and my 4 day old iPhone4. I hope this doesn’t become a habit for my new baby, the first Gen was GREAT, never any problems!!
Same thing here on my IPhone 4. I even had one of the IT guys at work put a little piece of tape on the edge of the sim card and still get the errors. No matter what we each do to work around the error message, it shouldn’t be happeneing. I never had this with my IPhone 3G. It’s seriously annoying when it happens during a phone call. I don’t see Apple talking about this…
I had this happen twice and on both occasions it was after I had left the phone in the car on a 90 degree day – it’s hot in Denver this time of year. I think the heat causes expansion which causes a short.
apple tech said there is a batch that is prone to this problem
they are replacing mine
I have a first generation iphone that started showing this problem about 3 weeks ago. I took the simm card out and placed it back in and that fixed the problem for 3 weeks. It happened again today and I did the same thing again. Hopefully this does not become a frequent event.
I had the same problem after leaving my iPhone in a hot car. Taking out the SIM card worked for me.
went to apple store, they happily swapped my iphone 4 for a new one, took 5 minutes
I had the same problem and went to the network settigs and it is fixed, so thak you allllll!!!
My iPhone 4 is four days old and my SIM card was unable to be found. The reset worked for me- phew. I will be visiting the Apple store soon! Thank you all for your input 🙂
omg, i was freaking out. this iphone4 has caused me nothing but confusion and tears. Thanks for the tip!
Just got it today and am having this issue going to swap tomorrow!
Just got mine today and having the same issue. I love these phones but I had to replace my 3GS 3 times in the first year. Looks like the trend will continue with this one too.
My iPhone is a 3g..And I did this update then something happen the iPhone would say “the sim card inserted in this iphone does not appear to be supported”. so i used my cousin’s sim card and it worked but on top it says there is “No SIM”.. My iPhone is jailbreak and im using t-mobile.. so can someone help me ..thank you
JUst happened to my iphone 4, and i took it out reset, still nothing. finally i just cleaned the sim card and slightly scuffed up the surface to make sure the contacts were good. put it back in and immediately worked….
So much for a “Magical” Apple Device -____- I don’t see why this is the “it” phone. . .
got a new 3gs and have this problem big time. tried everything.. going for a replacement but i have to drive several miles or be without my phone for over a week while it gets mailed back and forth. got a new sim, took it out cleaned it, tried the tape thing.. all of it. VERY PISSED OFF ahem apple/att.. get it together
This happened to my 10 day old iPhone 4. Tried powering off to reset but still no SIM. I went to ATT store & they replaced SIM card, so far so good.
Took the advice of an above comment and turned on and off the airplane mode. Didn’t work the first two tries, but third times the charm! Give it a shot or three
3gs iPhone just over 1 month old began to exibit SIM card error messages and tried all recommended resolutions. I hit the phone in palm of my hand several times (SIM card end) and error was removed and connectivity returned. At ATT store very helpful- replaced card (note card that comes with phone can be in phone for some time as my card showed age). As this is known issue ATT should provide new card when purchasing) STOP – there is more . Apple design of the SIM card holder is the next issue on many of the phones. Replacing the SIM card did not work but when adding a new holder issue was corrected. Take receipt provided by AT&T for new SIM card when going to Apple. This appears to be Apple design issue because problem is with both 3 and 4 gs iphones
I have a brand new iPhone 4, which I purchased to replace my 3Gs, last week. Yesterday, I started getting this message, that the SIM card could not be found. On my own initiative, I restarted the phone and it “saw” the SIM card. But, it continued to happen, more and more frequently. I recalled reading something someplace about this problem. So searched and found this thread. I tried the Airplane mode switch, which didn’t help. So, I removed the SIM card, inspected it, and saw no visible damage. Wiped it clean with a soft rag and reinserted. The SIM card was immediately recognized. I’ll see how this works. If it doesn’t I’m taking the phone back. I have had iPhone’s since the first one. My partner has one of my older ones, a G3, my dad has my original. I’ve never had any problems with any of them, until now. Not a good sign, IMO.
Same problem as many mentioned above. Will try to get new sim card and if that doesnt resolve it, I will return the iphone4. Yep, Apple and AT&T didn’t get this right, too many people complaining about it.
The same thing is happening to my iphone 4 it is very frustrating. Will have to take it back and get a new sim card and hope that solves the problem.
I had the same problem with my IPhone 4 when I first got it from At&T. I took the SIM card out on the right side of the phone and used a pencil eraser on the gold contacts… This is the same treatment you do on any electronic contact. I have never had the trouble again. I was at the AT&T store to look at covers for the IPad and ask about the problem. They said the manufacturer of the SIM leaves an oily film on the contacts which must be cleaned… Depending on the batch ordered by AT&T, sometimes they are clean and other times they have the oil film…
I tried the wiping off technique. No good. I tried using an eraser – this worked. If it happens to you, try a clean eraser gently on the gold surface – removing oil? or does it just allow a better contact?
I just got my iPhone 4 a few days ago and I got the no SIM message! I got rid of it though by turning the airplane mode off then back on! Fixed the problem!
Ouch. I am new to the iphones with a iphone 4. I was using a Palm Treo. Great little phone for what it does. I have had it for 1 week. Today it showed the no sim card message after charging it with a Mophi external battery. Turning it off & on fixed it. I then looked at the sim card. I didn’t try cleaning it yet. I don’t like that the sim card is smaller than the palms so I can’t go back in a emergency. I have trouble at work with low voltage 5v contacts for car air bags. The contacts get just a little dirty they set the check air bag light. Should be 1.3 ohms or less. 1.4 ohms or more will set the light. Cleaning the contacts & adding dielectric grease fixes them. Probably same concern here. Sounds like the eraser cleaning trick is the best fix. Also getting a new card. If mine does it again I will try the eraser fix & maybe some dielectric grease. Here we go. Again. Yuch. Bob.
Does Apple or ATT have an official position on this?
I’ve been having this problem for a week, at increasing frequency. Tried airplane mode on and off, tried new SIM card, tried back up reinstall and reset, tried bumper case, no luck.
ATT shop person told me since the iPhone 4 is more than a year old, no warranty coverage…..
I had this issue, I cleaned the sim card with my thumb and now it seems to be working. But I’ll give it a few more hours.
I tried to restart phone and restore- didn’t work.
If it keeps doing it, hello brand new iphone! (:
My phone is less than 24hours old-tried the hard reset, power off, air plane mode-still didn’t work! The tip for using the clean eraser to clean sim card did the trick!! Hope I don’t run into this issue again 🙁
Eraser did it.
Just started happening to me.. ive had my phone for around 6 months with no issues until today.. did it around 6pm. and i hard reset the phone and it fixed it.. then around 9pm it did it again with no luck, reset network settings, toggled airplane mode. reseated sim card. eraser to sim card, hard resets after each troubleshooting step. ugh this pisses me off so bad, but thankfully i hadn’t got the liquipel waterproofing on it yet. hopefully they replace it for me, but gotta get a new sim tomorrow from the at&t store first and see how that goes. good luck to anyone else with this issue.
Airplane mode “on and off” FOUR times finally worked! I’m going in for a new sim card next. This has happened frequently with my phone .. Not a year old yet…
I put in a microsim by cutting a normal sim but it says no sim
My phone was perfect for about 2.5 months then it happened — Invalid SIM. I wondered what that was, took it to the store and they reset the network settings. Great I thought – for about 2 weeks. So, I reset the network settings and rebooted. Then a week later it happened again. So, I reset and restarted again. Today, while I was in Google, it happened again. Of course my husband insisted that I was doing something wrong. It’s nice to know that I’m not the only one out there who has this problem. From reading all of the other comments, I think there, definitely, is something wrong the SIM card and the next time it happens I’m going directly to the store for a new SIM card. In no way is this a complaint. I love my 4g phone, I love SIRI, but stuff happens and maybe a bad batch of SIM cards went into the phones. i just don’t want to be calling 911 some night and get the “no SIM card installed” message.
I used rubbing alcohol to clean the aim card and it worked.
I had with same problem this , my closet friend has brought me iphone 5s version 6.0.2(101551), i inserted a new semi-card , i met same problem that met, and i replaced new in same problem, so my phone is new , and finding the network of the simcard, so when ever insert the sem-card my phone deplays a massage saying (searching network) looking for network, leave for more then 24 hours, so not find it,
so how can come over this problem?? or how we can fixed it ??
I’ve had the same problem with my Iphone saying no Sim card. It seems to be happening more frequently. I just did the airplane mode on and off thing so maybe this will fix this problem. It is so very annoying!
thanks for posting this the same thing happened to me just now and i am currently turning my power off and giving it a break for awhile … to be continued
Seems my phone is constantly updating something. I had a similar issue, reset phone, updated firmware, replaced sim and nothing. Then just out of the blue the phone started to work again. Now after two months, the problem has resurfaced again. Wondering if the issue is carrier software related? Looks to be an issue with the carrier and not the phone, as I see similar posts regardless of phone.
I took my SIM card out(due to all of the above mentioned issues) and now my iphone 4s works fine!
My iphone 4s used to work in Peru but now that I moved to Norway I changed SimCards and the phone just works when I do the Airplane Mode ON – OFF :'(
I had the NO Sim Card message. Someone posted to take a paperclip and stick it in the hole on the side of my iphone 5. That pop’s out the sim card. I was told to push it back in to reset it in it’s cradle,and it work’s so far. Thanks for the help.
It’s not just the iPhone 4, my iPhone 5 has been doing it too. It’s getting really annoying!