How To Activate iPhone Without SIM Card [All Models] – 2024 Guide

Activating a brand new (even a second hand) iPhone without using a SIM card seems like a tedious task. The answer would probably be a NO. There are various tested methods to activate an iPhone even if you don’t have a SIM card of your own. Few of those popular methods are discussed in the article.

There is a chance that you might get glued to an unwanted network provider, to avoid the mess you can refer to this info down below to activate your iPhone without a SIM card.

How to Activate iPhone without SIM Card

Follow the given steps to activate your new iPhone without inserting a SIM Card in it. Using these methods you can bypass activation without SIM Card on iPhone6, 7, 8 and X.

1. Activate iPhone using iTunes on a computer

If you have iTunes on your computer then congratulations you just landed up to the first and the most effective method to activate an iPhone without a SIM card. Apple’s iOS management software is built for mostly this purpose and elaborately designed to serve such task. All you need to do is follow the instructions below.

If you need to start operating your iPhone at the earliest, straight away jump to iTunes to activate it. To get started, the latest version of iTunes software should be installed on a secure, compatible computer, could be Windows or Mac. If you don’t have it on your PC yet, the latest version is available to download for free on your computer from the official Apple website. Once the installation process is done (you won’t be needing a step by step for that definitely), these steps will lead you to activate your iPhone with iTunes:

1. Connect your iPhone to the PC using the Apple-supported USB cable (The white cool looking cable, yes). The iPhone is not locked to a carrier (iTunes probably assumes this), iTunes will pop up a message box with the ‘what to do next’ stepping process. The details are going to pop up next which you’ll need to fill in for the activation procedure.
2. Select the option ‘set up as new iPhone’ as soon as iTunes detects your iPhone, then click ‘Continue.’
3. A new Sync with iTunes screen will open up next. From there, click the ‘Get Started’ button and then ‘Sync.’
4. The process might take a bit to finish. Once it is done, you can disconnect your iPhone from the PC and start the setup process on it.
5. Once your iPhone is activated, you can finish off with the entire phone setup thingy by connecting to a Wi-Fi network and thereon it is just like any other Apple device.

** If an iTunes message saying ‘there is no SIM card installed in the iPhone you are attempting to activate’ pops up, this indicates that your iPhone is locked to a particular carrier. For this case particularly, you will have to use a SIM card so you can activate the iPhone. Borrowing one from a trusted friend would be helpful just for the sake of activation, it can be returned only after that. **

2. Activating an iPhone using R-SIM/X-SIM

If the carrier error is still popping, an R-SIM or X-XIM can be helpful to activate your iPhone instead of an actual SIM card. Here’s how the method works:

1. Insert the X-SIM/R-SIM through the SIM tray (always use the given pin to open the tray). A list of network providers will now be visible on the screen.
2. Select your preferred network provider. Click ‘Continue.’ If your carrier name is not visible, proceed with ‘input IMSI.’
3. Enter the 7-digit carrier code (all IMSI codes are available online).
4. Select your iPhone model from the new list.
5. After selecting your iPhone model, select your preferred screen-unlocking method.
6. The device takes a bit to process this request. Tap ‘Accept’ from the set-up prompt. iPhone reboots after this, and you’re good to go now.

Your iPhone is now ready to use. In case this method does not work, you always have ‘iPhone jailbreaking.’ But keep this as probably the last option to activate your iPhone without a SIM card. Nevertheless, the X-SIM/R-SIM method is quite reliable and will help you activate your iPhone without a SIM card.

3. Jailbreak your iPhone

Jailbreaking means getting ahead of all the restrictions in an iPhone. It is more or less tampering with the internal phone settings and exploiting iOS. It will also void your iPhone warranty (if any). It’s a tedious process, but there is readymade paid software that helps you jailbreak an iPhone.

If you have an old iPhone with a carrier-lock on it, this might be the best way to put it into use again.

4. The emergency call feature

There are hundreds of articles online suggesting the activation of an iPhone without a SIM card by calling the emergency or the SOS services.

We highly discourage you from calling the emergency services unnecessarily, and also for your notice, this method DOES NOT work at all. It is a trap so refrain from using this method. It violates various codes of conduct.

If you have any problems:

Although activating the iPhone is quite easy, there still might be some issues during the setup process. But all these problems have some widespread and straightforward solutions. Few of them are:

1. Restart your iPhone:

   The ‘tap the TV top method’ is to restart the device. You resume the activating process again after this.

2. Stable Wi-Fi:

   Connect your iPhone to a stable and high-speed Wi-Fi network while activating it for the first time.

3. An updated version of iTunes:

   You need to have the latest version of iTunes on your device if you go with the iTunes method else the operation won’t finish off smooth.

These are a few of the methods to activate the iPhone without using a SIM card.  Select any one of them to activate your iPhone, and you can use the features easily.