AT&T Community Forums

New iPhones reject sim card

I swap my SIM cards between multiple iPhones. Including one that doesn’t have eSIM. Therefore sim is mandatory for me. On my older iPhone (iPhone SE 1 and iPhone se 2020), I have no problems. I put in a sim and it works. I bought an iPhone 13 mini, then resold it and bought iPhone SE 2022. Both unlocked. Both have the same problem. They will not accept my SIM card.

I did the usual basic troubleshooting (reset network settings, manually choose AT&T as service, yes the phone is carrier unlocked, tried website and on device options, etc) , so let’s skip that here. I fixed my problem twice but both times the problem reverted.

first time I fixed my problem: it’s with iPhone 13 mini. I chat AT&T support. They are able to manually let my phone accept my SIM card. Great. I put my sim in my old phones. Great. I put it back in new phone. No service. Back in old phone, still works.

then I go to an AT&T store. They give me a new Sim card. I once again have service for my iPhone 13 mini. I put the Sim card in one of my old phones and it has service. I put the Sim card back in my iPhone 13 mini. No service. I put the Sim back in my old phone, I have service again.

So clearly, there is a persistent problem where my old devices can have service, but my new devices cannot. I sold the iPhone 13 mini and got an iPhone SE 2022. It has the same exact problem.

Is there any way to solve this problem in the long term?

Responses

formerlyknownas

ACE - Sage

•

117.5K Messages

17 days ago

I suspect the problem has something to do with the newer phones being 5G and the older phones being LTE. But that's just a guess.

0

Jbhphone

2 Messages

17 days ago

I bet you’re right. I heard something about a “5g SIM card” when I did some digging but I didn’t hear anything more specific than that

0

ATTHelp

Community Support

•

232K Messages

17 days ago

Hello @Jbhphone we hear you and want to help you.

If you get an alert that says Invalid SIM or No SIM Card installed, follow these steps.

Make sure that you have an active plan with your wireless carrier.
Restart your iPhone.
Check for a carrier settings update. Go to Settings > General > About. If an update is available, you'll see a prompt to select OK or Update.
If your device has an eSIM, contact your carrier.
If your device has a physical SIM card, remove your iPhone SIM card or iPad SIM card from the SIM card tray and then put the SIM card back. Make sure that the SIM tray closes completely and isn’t loose. If you use a SIM tray from a different model iPhone, iPad, or from another phone manufacturer, it might not fit properly.
If your device has a physical SIM card and you've completed the previous step, try using another SIM card. If you don't have one, go to your carrier's retail store and ask them to test with another SIM card. You might need to replace your SIM card.