Categories
Apple

iPhone 4S Not Recognizing SIM Card – Shows "Invalid SIM" Or "SIM Failure"

As Apple tackles complaints made against battery life for the new iPhone 4S, they could have another problem to solve – SIM Cards. And the two issues could be linked.

Apple CEO Tim Cook, when launching the iPhone 4S, placed a lot of emphasis on an improved battery to cope with the faster processing speed in the new device. A better phone, he claimed, did not mean a reduced battery life. Despite his assurances some users complained on Apple forums of the device’s battery running down in under a day. Others claimed the battery would drop while the phone was inert. Apple posted suggestions and tips online for reducing battery drainage, including switching off location services and data usage when without signal. Now Apple has promised an iOS update, iOS 5.0.1 will solve the issue. But the battery problem may have created another.

Some users have taken to forums suggesting when they have received their iOS update their smartphone no longer recognises their SIM card. One user wrote that they re-inserted the card to be met with a note reading “SIM Failure”, another “Invalid SIM”. Without a SIM card users are unable to make calls or send texts making their iPhone 4S largely useless. Others have reported on the Apple help forums that while the SIM appears to have been recognised they have not been able to connect calls or receive texts. Others have complained that after the iOS 5.0.1 update they have still had a battery issue and even found it difficult to connect to Wi-Fi.

For Apple, the on-going issue of battery life and user complaints will have uncomfortable memories of what the press and bloggers dubbed “Antenna-gate”. When the iPhone 4 launched users quickly spotted a design flaw. When held in the left hand to make a call the user covered a sensor which meant the signal dropped off, making it difficult to make and receive calls. It was, they claimed, the fault of the antenna which was in the wrong place. When designing the iPhone 4S Apple took this issue seriously and wanted no repeat of the same issue. Two antennae were fitted to the new device. Yet while one problem is solved, another crops up.
The new iOS 5 has been rolled out on all compatible devices but so far the issues with the update only seem to be affecting iPhone 4S users, some of whom claim they are going back to using their iPhone 4. Form responses claim re-starting the phone can solve the problem temporarily or restoring from iTunes. Others claim it works if they switch off the 3G network. But none of these are solutions with any real longevity.

The success of the iPhone 4S, its status as the fastest selling smartphone despite its not so cheap mobile phone deals, have made this a bumper quarter for Apple who must have been hoping this would close the door on the marred launch of the iPhone 4. However, while one iOS update does not appear to have solved the battery issues on the new device, another will have to be forthcoming before a second software issue affects another new smartphone launch. Apple has so far made no comment about the SIM problems reported.

Categories
Apple

The iPhone 4S: How And Why Is It Better Than The iPhone 4?

Why did Apple call this one a 4S, and not the much-anticipated iPhone 5? Some were disappointed, feeling the 4S is not so new and improved as they’d hoped, and Apple’s share price even dropped a little. The good news is that with Apple releasing the iPhone 4S on contract, the iPhone 4 should become a lot more affordable and the 3GS will be available for free on many phone contracts.

Still, there were a couple of good reasons for naming it the 4S. Firstly, Apple does have a reputation for honesty and integrity, and wants to maintain that positive reputation. So, the new model number will be reserved for the genuinely next generation of iPhones, which means a full-blown 4G-capable smartphone, rather than a hodgepodge of 3G and 4G chips. Plus, naming the new version 4S means that the iPhone 4 can be repurposed as a budget-level device, but still at least theoretically a part of the current generation of top-of-the-range smartphones. It even allows the 3GS to seem to stay reasonably commercially viable, since it’s only one generation worse than the top of the range iPhone 4S. It makes good business sense for Apple to finally be addressing the budget end of the market, rather than continuing to assume that its products are so good, so unique, that people will always pay a premium price for them.

So what do you get if you are happy to pay the premium price, to snag the very latest model? Well, what you won’t get is a restyled phone – the 4S looks exactly the same as the iPhone 4 on the outside. What you will get is improvements in almost every other area, though. As Mark Hirst, Managing Director of Best Mobile Contracts has said: “The improved specs, including the A5 dual core processor, and 8 megapixel camera with 1080p HD video recording make the iPhone 4S a welcome addition to the iPhone family.”

This is a much faster iPhone than ever before, with a dual-core 1 GHz processor offering twice the processing speed of the iPhone 4. In fact, the processor is the same A5 processor found previously in the iPad 2, somehow squeezed into the much smaller device. The graphics card is even more nifty, being seven times as fast as that of the 4, which further paves the way for a major upgrade of the iPhone camera.

The new camera offers a full 8 megapixels, compared to the iPhone 4’s 5Mp camera. Megapixels aren’t everything, but the new camera delivers in every other respect, too, finally putting paid to the concept that the camera was the iPhone’s weak spot. It has a much-improved image processor, a back-illumination sensor for improved low-light photography, amazing colours, and a new face-recognition feature. Overall, it’s as good as almost any standalone compact digital camera on the market, a significant achievement. The only real drawback to it is that there’s still no optical zoom function.

In video camera mode, you can now shoot 1080p HD movies, another notable improvement on the iPhone 4’s 720p HD. Image stabilisation software lets you get a professional look even in tricky conditions, so your home movies no longer have to look like the Blair Witch Project.

Many people have already blogged about the amazing Siri virtual assistant, now an iPhone 4S exclusive. Less flashy, but probably just as useful to most phone buyers, are the leaps forward in battery and antenna technology. Improvements in battery life now allow for up to 8 hours’ talk time or 40 hours’ music playback, while the antenna boasts significantly improved download speeds and more reliability.