iPhone 5 - 'activation required' message appears repeatedly

[elaine_l]

I have an iPhone 5. Periodically my phone will go through a phase where I get 'activation required' message. It then prompts me to re-log into my iTunes account. It won't let me do this over 3G so I have to wait till I get home which usually means if I'm at work, I have a useless phone which will only make emergency calls. It seems to happen when I'm charging my phone. Quite often it will search for a network for a few times and then the activation message will appear. I read on a forum that the phone needs a new SIM card. I have done this and it hasn't made a difference. I have even been to the Apple store. They reset the phone but suggested it was a network problem. The activation message has still appeared since then. I'm going on holiday soon and don't want to end up worrying whether I can use my phone and ended up with a phone that can't take pictures, text etc while I'm away. Please help!

[Retired-Simon]

Hi @elaine_l

If the issue was down to a network error, you’d either get no signal showing permanently or a ‘No SIM in phone’ message.

Usually, iPhone’s get this error when the user has a developer account and is using beta (testing) software.

Do you have, or have ever had, an Apple developer account?

Thanks,

Simon

[elaine_l]

Hi Simon

Thanks for your reply. No, I have never had one of those accounts. Do you know what else might be causing this problem or how it could be fixed?

Thanks.
Elaine

[Retired-Matt_B]

Hi @elaine_l,

As resetting the phone has had no effect, I'd recommend booking it in for repair.

We can get our engineers to have a closer look at the phone and hopefully they'll resolve the issue.

Thanks,

Matt

[kids]

If Apple have said that there is nothing wrong with the phone I would be inclined to try setting the phone up in iTunes as a new phone. That will remove any bugs in the current software.

You could then restore an earlier backup but if it is a buggy app or something else that is causing the problem it could also be restored and the problem would persist. If that does not work I would go back to Apple and tell them what you have done and ask for their advice as to your next step.

Just make sure you make a backup of the phone before you do anything else.

[elaine_l]

Thanks for your replies. Apple did reset the phone and set it up as new from iTunes. I could book it in for a repair but probably won't be able to get it fixed before I go on my holidays now.

[MobileNinja]

Hi.

You said in your first post it happens periodically. How often are you getting the message pop.

There's loads about it on Google and the Apple support forum as well about this if you have a browse around.

[elaine_l]

I did have a look before a while ago but could find anything this time. It can happen a couple of times a day, every day for a few weeks and then not happen for months or just happen once in a while.