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Can I restore an iphone 4 with out a sim card in it?

BigB

Well-known member
Sep 8, 2010
80
6
0
Can I restore an iphone 4 without a sim card in it?

odd question I'm sure..

if I was using the sim in another device, would I run into problems doing a restore and activate without the sim present?

I seem to remember running into that before on an iphone 2G...

Another question along those same lines, could I use an inactive sim in it's place for a restore? I know this works on my 3G, I restore it all the time and just use an old AT&T sim that doesn't have service to keep it happy..

Thanks.
 
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BreakingKayfabe

Well-known member
Sep 12, 2008
8,446
53
48
Yeah you can restore it with an AT&T sim card even if it's not active. Or even if you have to borrow
someone's active sim card.
 

paul100

Well-known member
Jul 6, 2009
444
21
0
With inactive sim card, you can restore iphone 4.
 
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BigB

Well-known member
Sep 8, 2010
80
6
0
Thanks guys!

I've got an extra sim card on the way and a micro sim adapter so I can use my active sim in my iphone 3G while I restore my iphone 4.

I'll tether to the 3G to my laptop while I restore. (No internet at my house right now)

It's a bit of a hack, but I think it'll work, and it's better than trying to borrow my wife's sim card..
 

Allyson Kazmucha

Well-known member
Apr 5, 2009
1,035
75
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You can restore an iPhone without a sim at all too. I do it all the time with my 3GS as my sim is never even there and I only use it for testing. It won't activate but it'll restore just fine and you can use it as an iPod after. It won't freeze or fail.
 

BigB

Well-known member
Sep 8, 2010
80
6
0
Thanks, I do that too with my old 3G, but I need the iphone 4 to activate.. which is why I need the tethered internet connection from the other phone.. (Normally I drive into town and activate in the starbucks parking lot on their wifi, lol)

I did have a problem with an iphone 2g that I could not for the life of me get it to restore without a sim. I thought it was dead for about a week...
 

iOS Gravity

Well-known member
Sep 24, 2013
4,075
0
0
Re: Can I restore an iphone 4 without a sim card in it?

By connecting the phone to iTunes and clicking restore.
 

mehmet2769

New member
Nov 21, 2014
3
0
0
Straight to the point, I have an iPhone 4s 16GB with iOS 7.1.2 installed in it.But ı cant pass activation?
and I cant see restore iphone 4 ios 4.3 again?