My iPhone shows the message "Invalid SIM". How do I solve it?

Over the years, the problem that we are going to deal with in this post will be seen less and less, but that does not mean that it is not possible for us to experience it. This is a problem in which, when we insert our SIM card into our iPhone, we see the "Invalid SIM" message, which makes it impossible for us to use it. Why am I getting this message and what can I do to fix it?

First of all we have to explain why this message appears: initially, the message "SIM invalid" It should only appear on non-free phones, that is, in telephones that we have obtained by operator and are or have been blocked to be used only with their cards. In other words, if we buy a free iPhone we can rest assured that, except for a capital surprise, all the SIM cards on the market will work. The problem usually appears when the phone is not free or is only released for use with large companies (Movistar, Vodafone and Orange) and we try to insert a SIM card from a virtual mobile operator (MVNO), for example.

Solution to "invalid SIM" message on iPhone

Before taking more drastic measures, the first thing we will have to do is unlock the device. Unlocking an iPhone is very simple, but it is not free. All we have to do is the following:

1. We find out what the IMEI of our iPhone is. If you don't know how, you can learn it by visiting our tutorial How to find out the IMEI of your iPhone, where up to five different ways to find out this code are explained.
2. We also have to find out which carrier the iPhone is from. The best way to find out which operator an iPhone is from is to ask who has sold it to us, but since we cannot always trust ourselves, we can access this link, enter the IMEI and wait to see the originating operator of the iPhone that we just purchased.
3. Now knowing which operator our iPhone is, we can access a service that offers Actualidad iPhone to unlock the Apple phone that we can access from this link.
4. On this website, all we have to do is:
   1. Choose the operator of origin of our iPhone.
   2. Choose the option that interests us the most.
   3. We make the payment by clicking on the yellow button (Pay in EUR).
   4. Wait.
5. Unlike what happens when unlocking other phones, unlocking an iPhone is done using a system, so once it is released, what we will receive will be a notification that will warn us that we can now use any SIM card. Therefore, the last step will be to use the carrier card that we could not use until the moment of unlocking the iPhone.

What if I release my iPhone and I still see the message?

If we have unlocked our iPhone and still see the (damn) message, we have to think that the problem is not with our SIM, if not with our phone. On the one hand, it seems clear that the invalid SIM problem it should have nothing to do with the software, but we already know how these things are and I will add the following just to cover all the possibilities. In this case, I would evaluate two options:

• Software problem. To rule out this possibility, the best we can do is perform a clean installation, that is, restore the iPhone to the latest version and not recover a backup copy. If this is our choice, what we can do is keep a copy of our important files, such as photos, documents, etc. We can put these files back on the iPhone once the process is finished, but we will do it manually and in no case will we recover any previous settings.
• Hardware problem. If we have done everything, among what the most important thing will be to release the iPhone, and we continue to see the message, we may have an iPhone with a physical problem. That being the case, what I would do is return it to whoever sold it to me. But if the price is worth it, another thing we can do is take it to an Apple Store, have them connect it to their diagnostic software and tell us what is wrong with the iPhone. At that point, they will also tell us how much the repair will cost. If we value everything (purchase price + repair price + release price) and it is worth it, it is best if Apple fixes it for us.

Have you already managed to make the "invalid SIM" message disappear on your iPhone? How did you do it? Tell us about your experience.