Question

iPhone 15 Pro Max - FaceTime and iMessage activation Issues

  • 3 December 2023
  • 11 replies
  • 275 views
Y
Rank
Userlevel 1

Hello! I really really need help… firstly I work in IT so I’m pretty clued in with how to sort these things usually, fixed many a family members phone etc… I recently took out a new contract with iD with the plan of double porting my number out to another network and back in to the new contract… I got my new 15 Pro Max in the post yesterday (the day after all the network outages with Three/ID in the UK) and basically, I've had nothing but issues activating iMessage. It was working absolutely fine on my old phone, until I swapped the SIM card into the new one, suddenly I’m getting “iMessage Activation - An error occurred during activation. Try again.” No amount of flipping the switch on and off makes any difference. I’ve troubleshooted with Apple, ID customer service, Live Chat, in store at Curry's, I’ve restored my phone to factory settings- even got a new SIM card from Curry's and swapped onto that! you name it, I’ve done it. iMessage won’t activate on either phone, with my old number or the new SIM card with the new number… I can’t help but think this is maybe some glitchy fallout of all the issues over the last few days, but I can’t seem to see anyone having similar issues and everyone I’ve spoken to on the phone/live chat etc isn't aware of anything affecting activation. I’m on the latest software version, iOS 17.1.2. Any advice/help would be greatly appreciated! 

11 replies

andewhite
Rank
Userlevel 8
Badge +9

If your old handset was an iPhone, then perhaps Apple’s activation servers still ‘think’ the iD mobile number (for your new SIM) is linked to your old iPhone, even after it was inserted into your new iPhone 15 Pro Max. 

 

Kash
Rank
Userlevel 7
Badge +7

Hi @yarwoof,

Welcome to the Community!

Just checking how you got on with this?

If you require further assistance and we would be happy to help.

 

Kash

I hope I was able to help you with your question. If my answer resolved your issue, then please mark my answer as ‘Most Helpful’ using the button below the message with the answer.
Y
Rank
Userlevel 1

Thanks Both,

 

I ended up speaking to an agent on the Live Chat, and they logged a ticket with the technical team. Literally a few hours later everything is working as expected and imessage/facetime activated. 

 

I still have absolutely no idea what’s caused it, but needless to say it was probably the most frustrating issue i’ve ever come across 😂 

 

Thanks for your help, and to the technical team for doing whatever they did in the background. 

 

Matt

Tom
Rank
Userlevel 7
Badge +4

Hi @yarwoof 

 

Glad to hear that this got sorted.

 

Tom

I hope I was able to help you with your question. If my answer resolved your issue, then please mark my answer as ‘Most Helpful’ using the button below the message with the answer.
S
Rank

Hi.

I have exactly the same issue with the same phone. I put the SIM from my iPhone 12 Pro into a new iPhone 15 Pro Max. Everything works fine apart from iMessage and FaceTime via the phone number. I have also tried resetting just about everything but no joy so far. I used live chat to get help bit am still waiting to hear back from the technical team. It would be very helpful if the technical team that fixed this last time for @yarwoof could post the details of the fix here.

Many thanks!

Y
Rank
Userlevel 1

Hey @sjs73 - I didn’t actually do anything in the end to get it sorted on my side. It was after pushing to get a technical ticket logged on the ID Live chat, within a few hours my iMessage activated itself and the issue was resolved. 

I definitely suggest getting in touch with them, ask for a ticket to be logged for their technical team to take a look at and be persistent!! 

Hope this helps 😊

andewhite
Rank
Userlevel 8
Badge +9

Hi.

I have exactly the same issue with the same phone. I put the SIM from my iPhone 12 Pro into a new iPhone 15 Pro Max. Everything works fine apart from iMessage and FaceTime via the phone number. I have also tried resetting just about everything but no joy so far. I used live chat to get help bit am still waiting to hear back from the technical team. It would be very helpful if the technical team that fixed this last time for @yarwoof could post the details of the fix here.

Many thanks!

Perhaps Apple haven’t registered that your mobile number needs to be linked to the new iPhone 15, and not the old iPhone 12, @sjs73.

S
Rank

Thanks for the replies so far.

Apple advised that it was an issue with the network provider, so I had another chat with the online iDMobile tech support and went through some more reset options. They were very helpful but I it isn’t so easy trying to do everything via a chat window. Unfortunately, nothing seems to have worked. The next advice was to go to Curry's to get a replacement SIM. I’m not sure if that will work as the SIM itself seems to work fine for everything else. I have moved between iPhones in the past (when I was with EE) and never experienced such an issue. Hopefully it gets sorted soon. Next stop Currys. Will update later...

andewhite
Rank
Userlevel 8
Badge +9

Others have solved activation issues with a replacement SIM card. 

Apple do advise activation can take up to 24-hours, and every time iMessage is toggled ON, the activation process starts again. 

It might be best to wait it out, as this seems to fix things in most cases, judging by other posts.

S
Rank

Hopefully, the final update. I left the phone switched-off last night and when I switched it on this morning, the all important “tick” had appeared beside the phone number for iMessage and FaceTime, so it all now looks fine. I still don’t entirely know what made it work, but as @andewhite suggested, maybe it is a case of waiting it out. It took around 48 hours since I first tried to get it to work, but perhaps leaving it alone for long enough (>12 hours) after my last “toggling” of the iMessage switch did the trick.

Anyway, for future reference in case anyone finds themselves searching on here for a solution, I list below the steps that I went through, as suggested by iDMobile technical support.

Thanks for everyone’s comments and suggestions and good luck to anyone else with this issue.

 

Suggested procedure:

Go to Settings.

Tap Phone.

Tap My Number.

Use the delete button to remove the old number.

Use the keypad to enter the new number.

Tap Save.

1. Go to Settings

2. Messages

3. Turn off iMessage.

4. Go to General

5. Reset

6. Reset Network Settings.

7. Once the iPhone is open.

8. Go to Settings

9. Messages Turn ON iMessage.

10.This will recognise the new sim and have it verified.

 

 

 

Kash
Rank
Userlevel 7
Badge +7

Hi @sjs73,

Thanks for sharing your experience.

Hopefully the information that you have provided will help others.

If you require further assistance, please let us know.

 

Kash

I hope I was able to help you with your question. If my answer resolved your issue, then please mark my answer as ‘Most Helpful’ using the button below the message with the answer.

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